A friend asked recently if there was a decent Bollywood sci-fi he could watch. Without Googling, I could only think of three— Mr. India , Ra.One and Koi... Mil Gaya . His question made me wonder why Bollywood doesn’t make many sci-fi films in the way we have come to define them.
A close look at Hindi cinema from the 1930s to the 60s illustrates how Bollywood’s idea of sci-fi has been very different from that of the West. First, it is difficult to separate sci-fi from our fantasy films. Second, our spy thrillers have had plenty of sci-fi elements that are integral to the narrative.
Changing formula
Our spy thrillers often involve scientists who are abducted because they have found a ‘formula’ that will change the world. In fact, this crucial formula is the quintessential sci-fi component. I call these formulas sci-fi since they are all about launching rockets using tiny light bulbs, creating fake locusts to destroy crops or involving plastic surgery that can make Amjad Khan look like Hema Malini. The list is endless. These films may not fit the Western construct, but I will safely call them quasi-sci-fi. As to when exactly this trend started, I can only make some informed guesses.
One of the earliest Indian sci-fi films could well be Professor Waman M.Sc . made by Ranjit Studios in 1938. It claimed to be a “Scientific Mystery Drama, A picture full of thrills, chills and pills.”
Like most films from the 1930s, this one too is lost now. What we do have are the reviews of the film that were somewhat, but not entirely, positive and several mentions of it having been a commercial success. From what has been written about it, the film appears to have been about, guess what, a lost formula!
Dara Singh’s Trip To The Moon (1967)
Another 1938 film called Dynamite had Sagar Studios declare in posters and lobby cards: “The picture that will make you go bald with thinking and trying to solve [a?] mystery which you will never solve. A dynamic presentation of the life of “Dynamite public enemy No.1 who terrorised (sic) even the elements.” This film revolved around a super-villain planning on world domination and using ‘science’ to achieve it.
An iconic and influential a person as Baburao Patel, the editor of Filmindia , branded these films as undesirable. He was of the opinion that they encouraged youngsters to take up crime by portraying villains and gangsters as attractive ( Bombay Chronicle , June 3, 1939). These films never got critical acclaim. However, the genre remained popular. In fact, a couple of decades later, the 60s’ B movie landscape came to be dominated by spy thrillers. With the success of James Bond, they remained popular right up to the 80s.
The blog, Pedro (The Ape Bomb), mentions an unreleased film called Daughter of the Sea, which looked quasi-sci-fi, and also mentions the Indian version of Godzilla called Gogola , made in the 1960s.
Cop and crime
Earlier, in 1947, Mohan Studios [the banner is Mohan Pictures] made Mr. Dynamite (not to be confused with Dynamite ), a mystery thriller revolving around a police detective and a criminal mastermind called Shankar Rao. Interestingly, the character of Mr. Dynamite is very similar to that of Mr. Harley Quin from Agatha Christie’s novels. For those of you who may not have read the books, Mr. Quin is a mysterious character who appears from nowhere and helps Mr. Satterthwaite solve a crime. Similarly, in this film, Mr. Dynamite comes to the police officer’s aid. Once again, this film contained elements of sci-fi mixed with a certain mysticism.
Mohan Studios’ Mr. Dynamite (1947)
This nebulous zone between mysticism, mythology and science is another way of looking at sci-fi in Bollywood. For example, in the film Air Mail (1960), the hero (played by Ranjan, a popular fantasy film actor) risks his life to protect his friend’s ‘formula’ (yes, again). To help him in this endeavour, a saint bestows him with the power of invincibility. He can fly. Bullets cannot kill him and he has superhuman strength. The plot contains a clear message: scientific growth is essential, but you can’t have it without acknowledging traditional knowledge.
To the moon and back
Similarly, in Dara Singh’s Trip to Moon (1967), the protagonist is an astronaut who travels to the moon and discovers another kingdom there plus an evil king living on Mars.
N.A. Ansari’s Wahan ke Log (1967) combines a ghost story with sci-fi. On the one hand, there are thieving Martians who use flying saucers to steal and on the other, a 200-year-old female ghost who haunts the detective solving the extraterrestrial crime.
Invisibility is another favourite theme. Before Mr. India made history in 1987, Mr. X (1957) with Ashok Kumar and Mr. X in Bombay (1964) with Kishore Kumar, were less successful forays. The director of the latter film, Shantilal Soni, had to use invisibility as a plot device again in 1994 when Sanjeev Kumar died suddenly without completing Professor ki Padosan .
Today, Bollywood seems to have a much more nuanced understanding of the genre. Films like Jaane Hoga Kya , Aa Dekhen Zara , Ra.One and so on have all been consciously made in the Western sci-fi mould. But that shouldn’t take away from Bollywood’s own unique blend of spies, monsters, and other fantastic creatures.
The writer is a historian based at Queen’s University, Canada. Watching old Bollywood films keeps her going.
