Down Melody Lane..::..Down The years..::..1931

India's first talkie film Alam Ara was released on 14th March 1931, at Bombay's Majestic cinema hall. It had seven songs and was 10,500 ft. long and ran for seven weeks. It was a costume drama and was directed by Ardeshir Irani. Music was composed by Phiroz Shah Mistry and Behram Irani. Master Vitthal, Zubeida, Zillo, Prithviraj Kapoor, W M Khan, Jagdish Sethi were the main cast.

Dada Sahab Phalke released his 'Setubandhan' with background music and sounds.

Kalidaas, first Tamil talkie film, Bhakt Prahlad , first Telugu talkie film and Jamai Sasthi, first Bangali talkie film got released in the same year.

Krishna Tone's 'Ghar Ki Lakshmi' was released in Bombay in 1931 as the second talkie film with songs.



Alam Ara : Ardeshir Irani Vitthal, Zubeida, Prithviraj, W M Khan Daulat Ka Nasha : Pesi Karani Zillo, Khalil, Tara, Hadi Davei Devyani : Chandulal Shah Gauhar, Bhagwandas, Billimoria Noor Jahan : Izra Meer Vimla, Mubarak, Zillo, Nayampalli	De De Khuda Ke Naam Par Pyare : Alam Ara W M Khan Badla Diwayega Ya Rab Too : Alam Ara Zubeida Note : W M Khan became the first film singer with Alam Ara. No records were issued.	Total Films Released : 28 Hindi : 23 Bengali : 4 Tamil : 1 Total Silent Films : 64

Vitthal was the hero of the first talkie film Alam Ara. He was trained in horse riding and sword playing. He was pretty comfortable in doing emotional as well as romantic scenes. Initially he worked for Sharda film co. for 3 years and after that he joined Imperial film co. for Rs. 200 per month. His prominent films are: Alam Ara, Vande Matram Ashram, Ramshastri, Chhatrapati Shivaji, etc.

With the release of Alam Ara, talkie films came into existence. W M Khan played a begger in Alam Ara and he got the chance of being the first film song singer of Indian cinema. He sang ' De De Khuda Ke Naam Pe Pyaare, Taaqat Ho Gar Dene Ki, Kuchh Chahe To Maang Le Mujhse, Himmat Ho Gar Lene Ki..'. He died in Bombay in 1974.