Motion Picture Industry

Film Industry: From Hollywood, Bollywood......to Tollywood!!!

The film industry consists of the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking: i.e. film production companies, film studios, cinematography, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post production, film festivals, distribution; and actors, film directors and other film crew personnel.

Though the expense involved in making movies almost immediately led film production to concentrate under the auspices of standing production companies, advances in affordable film making equipment, and expansion of opportunities to acquire investment capital from outside the film industry itself, have allowed independent film production to evolve.

The major business centers of film making are in the United States, Indiaand Hong Kong. In Europe France, Germanyand United Kingdom are the countries that lead movie production.

Distinct from the centers are the locations where movies are filmed. Because of labor and infrastructure costs, many films are produced in countries other than the one in which the company which pays for the film is located. For example, many U.S. and Indian movies are filmed in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand or in Eastern European countries.

Source: www.india-forum.com

Source: www.siliconrepublic.com

Source: www.tumblr.com

Acknowledgement:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_industry

 

 

 

 

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Women in Cinema

Women in Cinema

It can be said with no exaggeration that without women there would be no cinema. Sadly, this is so not because the natural concerns of genuine womanhood have been addressed in film, but because from the very beginnings of cinema a woman has been made the centerpiece of attraction, an object of desire. This systematic cultivation of women as objects of desire has been akin to the gradual process of drug addiction: at first, the effects were rather mild and pleasantly stimulating - and thus considered not only harmless by both men and women, but even liberating - however, as time went on and doses increased, a feverish state of dependency set in. What has started out as a quest for liberation from convention ended up being a different form of enslavement.

Marilyn Monroe in "Seven Years' Itch"
Source:www.telegraph.co.uk

Today women can be seen to have divided themselves into roughly two groups: those, who continue to perceive this enslavement as "liberation"; and those, who vaguely sense that the real search for the true liberation of women has not even begun.

Cinema, in particular, has made a devastating contribution here. One definition of 99% of cinema would be to say that it specializes in creating beauty-substitutes. Through personality cults of stars, through promotion of escapism into fantasy, it creates images, which encourage superficiality and vanity - the two qualities that are already sufficiently developed as it is within all of us. And since women, due to their superior intuitive faculty, are more susceptible to suggestions through imagery than men, the effect on the female population has been nothing short of catastrophic. Most women are no longer able to separate vanity from beauty; to be an object of desire has become synonymous with being beautiful. During her televised funeral, Princess Diana (a role-model for millions of girls and women around the world) was eulogized (by an anchor-woman) as "an object of every man's desire".

Acknowledgement:
www.hal-pc.org/~questers/womanhood/women_in_film.html

 

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Film Noir: Black Film

Film Noir: Black Film

Film noir is a cinematicterm used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classical film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Great Depression.

The term film noir, French for "black film," first applied to Hollywood films by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unrecognized by most American film industry professionals of that era.^[2] Cinema historians and critics defined the category retrospectively. Before the notion was widely adopted in the 1970s, many of the classic films noirs were referred to as melodramas. Whether film noir qualifies as a distinct genre is a matter of ongoing debate.

Source:woodyhaut.blogspot.com

Acknowledgement

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir
 

           

 

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A Date with Ramsay Movies

A Date with Ramsay Movies

Some people can’t get enough of scary movies. They’ve seen scores of scary films – over and over. They catch horror flicks on opening night. They have DVD collections at home.

Personally, I wouldn’t be caught dead watching a scary movie. They freak me out, leaving me unsettled for days — the images a record player in my mind. In fact, I have a hard enough time sitting through the scarier scenes of “Sons of Anarchy.”  I was curious to find out why some people savor scary movies. And others, like me, can’t stand them.

Some people turn to scary movies because they’re novel. All of us are wired to pay attention to anomalies in our environment, Sparks said. Since danger disrupts routine, curiosity about change is important for survival. Sparks equated the pull of frightening films to stopping at the scene of a gory accident: “You don’t see that every day,” he said.


A poster of a Ramsay horror flick 'Purana mandir'
Source:www.ayay.co.uk

Something else you don’t see are the visual effects, which tend to be fantastic, he said. Some people get enamored with effects and like to figure them out, said Joanne Cantor, Ph.D, Professor Emerita and Outreach Director at the Center for Communication Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Still, negative emotions can trump novelty, Sparks said. If we experience high levels of fright, seeing a scary movie just isn’t worth it. “Negative emotions are stored in the amygdala [which] in contrast to positive emotions are particularly resistant to being extinguished,” Sparks said.

Individuals might “suffer lingering emotional fallout if something in the environment reminds them of a scene,” he said. After seeing “Jaws,” some people stopped swimming in the ocean and felt eerie about lakes and pools, Cantor said.

Others might avoid films that come too close to home. Students have told Sparks they avoid films featuring a terrorized babysitter because they babysit.

Acknowledgement:

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/10/31/why-some-people-love-horror-movies-while-others-hate-them/

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Pages from their lives

Pages from Their Lives

Biopic Films (or biographical pictures) are a sub-genre of the larger drama and epic film genres, and although they reached a hey-day of popularity in the 1930s, they are still prominent to this day. 'Biopics' is a term derived from the combination of the words "biography" and "pictures." These films depict and dramatize the life of an important historical personage (or group) from the past or present era. Sometimes, historical biopics stretch the truth and tell a life story with varying degrees of accuracy.

Big-screen biopics cross many genre types, since these films might showcase a western outlaw; a criminal; a musical composer; a religious figure or leader of a movement; a war-time military hero; an entertainer; an artist; an inventor, scientist, or doctor; a politician or President; a sports hero or celebrity; or an adventurer.

In many cases, these films put an emphasis on the larger events (wartime, political or social conditions) surrounding the person's entire life as they rise to fame and glory. Some begin with the person's childhood, but others concentrate on adult achievements. Biopics have existed since the earliest days of silent cinema in films such as French filmmaker Georges Melies' feature-length epic Jeanne D'Arc (1899) (and Cecil B. DeMille's Joan the Woman (1916) with opera star Geraldine Farrar), D.W. Griffith's religious epic Judith of Bethulia (1914), Abel Gance's innovative six-hour-long epic Napoleon (1927), and director Lloyd Ingraham's Jesse James (1927) with Fred Thomson as the western outlaw.

According to some sources (although not confirmed), the most represented historical character on the screen is French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. Others that are very often represented include: US President Abraham Lincoln, Jesus Christ, Vladymir Ilich Lenin, Adolf Hitler, Cleopatra, Queen Victoria, Henry VIII, and Queen Elizabeth I. Western characters often portrayed include William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody, William Bonney ("Billy the Kid"), Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickock, General George A. Custer, and Wyatt Earp.

Poster of the Oscar-winner film 'Lincoln'
Source:www.filmofilia.com

Various actors and actresses have won Academy Award acting Oscars for their tour-de-force biopic performances, such as James Cagney as George M. Cohan in Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942), George C. Scott as the cantakerous WWII General Patton in the widely-acclaimed Patton (1970), Katharine Hepburn as King Henry II's Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter (1968), Sissy Spacek as country singer Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), Daniel Day-Lewis as Irish cerebral palsy victim Christy Brown in My Left Foot (1989), and Ben Kingsley as the charismatic, pacifist, 20th century Indian spiritual leader Mahatma in Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi (1982).

 

Acknowledgement:
http://www.filmsite.org/biopics.html

 

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The magicians

The Magicians

Producers and directors are in charge of creating motion pictures, television shows, live theater, and other performing arts productions. They interpret a writer’s script to entertain or inform an audience.

Duties Producers and directors typically do the following:

·         Select scripts

·         Audition and select cast members and the film or stage crew

·         Approve the design and financial aspects of a production

·         Ensure that a project stays on schedule and within budget

·         Approve new developments in the production

Large productions often have associate, assistant, and line producers who share responsibilities. For example, on a large movie set an executive producer is in charge of the entire production, and a line producer runs the day-to-day operations. A TV show may employ several assistant producers, whom the head or executive producer gives certain duties, such as supervising the costume and makeup team.Similarly, large productions usually employ several assistant directors, who help the director with tasks such as making set changes or notifying the performers when it is their time to go onstage. The specific responsibilities of assistant producers or directors vary with the size and type of production they work on.

Producers make the business and financial decisions for a motion picture, TV show, or stage production. They raise money for the project and hire the director and crew. The crew may include set and costume designers, a musical director, a choreographer, and other workers. Some producers may assist in the selection of cast members. Producers set the budget and approve any major changes to the project. They make sure that the film or show is completed on time, and they are responsible for the way the finished project turns out.

Steven Spielberg looking into camera.
Source:www.filmschoolrejects.com

Directors are responsible for the creative decisions of a production. They select cast members, conduct rehearsals, and direct the work of the cast and crew. During rehearsal, they work with the actors to help them portray their characters better.

Directors work with designers to build a project’s set. During a film’s postproduction phase, they work closely with film editors to make sure that the final product comes out the way the producer and director want.
Although directors are in charge of the creative aspects of a show, they ultimately answer to the executive producer.

Acknowledgement:
www.bls.gov/ooh/entertainment-and.../producers-and-directors.htm

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The Pantomimes

The Pantomimes

Charlie Chaplin's 1936 classic "Modern Times"
Source:houseofgeekery.com

Many moviegoers think the silent era ended with the advent of sound. Yet cinema history is not so simple. While Al Jolson’s first performance in 1927’s The Jazz Singerwas certainly a shot heard round the world, some film artists chose to stick with the quiet old ways for a while, and some national cinemas were slower to adopt the new talking-picture technology than others. As a result—and as demonstrated by the silent films in the Criterion Collection—presound cinema extended into the thirties, for financial and cultural reasons (in Japan, for instance, silent and sound films coexisted until 1938, out of necessity and popularity) or aesthetic ones (Charlie Chaplin was still perfecting the art of silent comedy in 1936’s partly sound Modern Times). Investigate Criterion’s collection of nontalkies, which includes groundbreaking early works from such legends as Cocteau, DeMille, Dreyer, Micheaux, Ozu, Pabst, Sternberg, and more!

http://www.criterion.com/explore/108-silent-cinema

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R.I.P., the movie camera

R.I.P., the movie camera: 1888-2011

We might as well call it: Cinema as we knew it is dead.

An article at the moviemaking technology website Creative Cow reports that the three major manufacturers of motion picture film cameras — Aaton, ARRI and Panavision — have all ceased production of new cameras within the last year, and will only make digital movie cameras from now on. As the article’s author, Debra Kaufman, poignantly puts it, “Someone, somewhere in the world is now holding the last film camera ever to roll off the line.”

A director shooting his film with Panavision camera
Source:thinbluelinewallpaper.blogspot.com

 

shoot movies on film, film itself will may become increasingly hard to come by, use, develop and preserve. It also means that the film camera — invented in 1888 by Louis Augustin Le Prince — will become to cinema what typewriters are to literature. Anybody who still uses a Smith-Corona or IBM Selectric typewriter knows what that means: if your beloved machine breaks, you can’t just take it to the local repair shop, you have to track down some old hermit in another town who advertises on Craigslist and stockpiles spare parts in his basement.

As Aaton founder Jean-Pierre Beauviala told Kaufman: “Almost nobody is buying new film cameras. Why buy a new one when there are so many used cameras around the world? We wouldn’t survive in the film industry if we were not designing a digital camera.” Bill Russell, ARRI’s vice president of cameras, added that: “The demand for film cameras on a global basis has all but disappeared.”

Theaters, movies, moviegoing and other core components of what we once called “cinema” persist, and may endure. But they’re not quite what they were in the analog cinema era. They’re something new, or something else — the next generation of technologies and rituals that had changed shockingly little between 1895 and the early aughts. We knew this day would come. Calling oneself a “film director” or “film editor” or “film buff” or a “film critic” has over the last decade started to seem a faintly nostalgic affectation; decades hence it may start to seem fanciful. It’s a vestigial word that increasingly refers to something that does not actually exist — rather like referring to the mass media as “the press.”

Acknowledgement:

http://www.salon.com/2011/10/13/r_i_p_the_movie_camera_1888_2011/
www.thinblueline.blogspot.com
 

 

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Top five Legal Drama Movies

Top 5 Legal Drama Movies

Legal and courtroom dramas have always been a staple of Hollywood and independent film making. They are thrilling and you learn some things along the way. With authors such as John Grisham, Michael Connelly and Scott Turow producing some of the best selling novels in this category, Hollywood has taken legal dramas to the big screen. I take a look at the five best legal dramas that have changed the face of the courtroom drama.

Number 5: The Client (1994)

The movie is based on the novel of the same name by John Grisham. Starring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones, it tells the story of two young brothers who accidentally witness the suicide of mob lawyer Jerome Clifford. Clifford revealed before his death to Mark (the older of the two boys) that he is taking his own life instead of being murdered by the nephew of the local kingpin. It becomes clear to the mob that Clifford may have also revealed the location of the body of a senator that was killed by them. The younger of the two boys is hospitalised with shock and his older brother Mark seeks out a lawyer to help protect him.

In her Academy Award nomination role, Sarandon is the recovering alcoholic lawyer that Mark eventually finds. Tommy Lee Jones stars as a narcissistic US attorney that is trying to solve the case to further his own career. The script is well paced, brilliantly acted and exciting to watch. Each of the characters become desperate to save themselves within their own terrifying situation. The film is notable for it being the late Brad Renfro’s debut feature film as Mark Sway.

Number 4: Primal Fear (1996)

A relatively unknown gem starring Richard Gere as Martin Vail, a big shot defence attorney in Chicago and Edward Norton’s debut feature as Vail’s client Aaron Stampler. Stampler is arresting after fleeing the scene of the murder of beloved Archbishop Rushman. Vail takes on Stampler pro-bono relishing the media publicity that the case will bring. It soon appears to Vail that Stampler is innocent much to the disagreement of the prosecuting lawyer (and Vail’s former lover) Janet Venable (Laura Linney).

Some critics have accused the film of being lacklustre with an over the top side plot to keep the viewers interested, however, what is fantastic about this film is the performance of a young Edward Norton. He steals the show from veterans Gere and John Mahoney (Fraiser) as the troubled alter boy who hides a very dark secret. This has a few fantastic scenes particularly one between Norton and Gere in the police holding cell.

Number 3: A Time to Kill (1996)

Another John Grisham adaptation on my list. A star studded cast that includes Matthew McConaughey, Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, Keifer Sutherland and Donald Sutherland. Set in a fictitious bible belt town in Mississippi, the first part of the film tells the story of the rape of a young black girl by two white hicks who are then murdered by her father Samuel L. Jackson. The second part of the film deals with Jackson’s defence by young lawyer Jake Briggance (McConaughey).

Although this film shamelessly tugs on the aul heartstrings, it doesn’t demean the film in the slightest. Its an enthralling watch by a great cast and good script. John Grisham worked with the writers of the film, but wasn’t entirely satisfied with the end product. The book does differ quite a lot from the book but still manages to keep the basic plot going. A great watch.

Number 2: A Few Good Men (1992)

A screen adaptation by Aaron Sorkin (writer of The West Wing) based on his own play of the same name, the film stars Tom Cruise as LTJG Daniel Kaffee as a bright inexperienced Naval lawyer who leads the defence of two court-martialed marines for the murder of their fellow marine.

Say what you will about Tom Cruise, he delivers an amazing performance as Kaffee, perhaps his best performance. His personal life and his religious beliefs shadow how talented of a dramatic actor Cruise is. The film is gripping and wastes no time on unnecessary sub-plots or images for the sake of it. It quickly paced and Jack Nicholson does a fantastic turn as the villain (who’d have thought!). Cruise and Nicholson have a good supporting cast in Demi Moore, Keifer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon and Kevin Pollack. The film is noted for it’s infamous line “You can’t handle the truth!”.

Number 1: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

My number one legal drama film is based on the novel by Harper Lee, and is considered a golden oldie by our generation. Even if you were made read the book for your Junior Certificate just like I was, there’s no doubt that it left an impression on you good or bad. The same can be said of this film. Gregory Peck delivers the finest performance of his long and prolific career as lawyer Atticus Finch, defending a black man in 1930s for the rape of a young woman. The film also follows Finch’s children and their fascination with their neighbour Boo Radley around whom many urban legends have started.

Gregory Peck and Brock Peters in a court scene in 'To kill a mockingbird'
Source: www.frankwbaker.com

 Peck’s performance is seen as one of the great performances of all time. Harper Lee even stated herself that he was perfect for the role. The film is preserved by the United States National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant”. I strongly urge everyone to see this film. Do not be put off by it’s age or the fact that it’s in black and white, this is a wonderful film, that is very near perfect. Atticus Finch may even turn out to be your hero after watching it. The film is the screen debut of legendary actor Robert Duvall.

Ackowledgement:
http://galway.studenty.me/2012/07/25/top-5-legal-drama-movies/

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Adaptations: books to movies......movies to books

Adaptations: Books to Movies……Movies to Books

A film adaptation is the transfer of a written work, in whole or in part, to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.

A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film. Other works adapted into films include non-fiction (including journalism), autobiography, comic books, scriptures, plays, historical sources, and even other films. From the earliest days of cinema, in nineteenth century Europe, adaptation from such diverse resources has been a ubiquitous practice of film-making.

Poster of 'Life of Pi' written by Yann Martel, adopted as a film by Ang Lee
Source: en.wikipedia.org

 

When a film's screenplay is original, it can also be the source of derivative works such as novels and plays. For example, movie studios will commission novelizations of their popular titles or sell the rights to their titles to publishing houses. These novelized films will frequently be written on assignment and sometimes written by authors who have only an early script as their source. Consequently, novelizations are quite often changed from the films as they appear in theaters.

Novelization can build up characters and incidents for commercial reasons (e.g. to market a card or computer game, to promote the publisher's "saga" of novels, or to create continuity between films in a series)

There have been instances of novelists who have worked from their own screenplays to create novels at nearly the same time as a film. Both Arthur C. Clarke, with 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Graham Greene, with The Third Man, have worked from their own film ideas to a novel form (although the novel version of The Third Manwas written more to aid in the development of the screenplay than for the purposes of being released as a novel). Both John Saylesand Ingmar Bergman write their film ideas as novels before they begin producing them as films, although neither director has allowed these prose treatments to be published.

Acknowledgement:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_adaptation

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Film festivals: a celebration of cinema

Film Festivals: A Celebration of Cinema

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of filmsin one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. Increasingly film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings. The films may be of recent date and, depending upon the focus of the individual festival, can include international releases as well as films produced by the organisers' domestic film industry. Sometimes there is a focus on a specific film-maker or genre (e.g., film noir) or subject matter (e.g., horror film festivals). A number of film festivals specialise in short films, each with its defined maximum length. Film festivals are typically annual events.

Emblem of the Berlin Film Festival
Source: www.logosociety.blogspot.com

 

Probably the best-known and most noteworthy film festival in the world is the Cannes Film Festival. Other important and prestigious film festivals include that held in Berlin and Venice (oldest film festival).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_festival
 

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Special FX: make-up, CGI and everything else...

Special FX: Make-up, CGI and everything else...

Special effects (or SFX) are used in the film and entertainment industry to create effects that cannot be achieved by normal means, such as travel to other star systems. They are also used when creating the effect by normal means is prohibitively expensive, such as an enormous explosion. They are also used to enhance normal visual effects.

Many different visual special effects techniques exist, ranging from traditional theater effects, through classic film techniques invented in the early 20th century, to modern computer graphics techniques (CGI). Often several different techniques are used together in a single scene or shot to achieve the desired effect.

Special effects are often "invisible." That is to say that the audience is unaware that what they are seeing is a special effect. This is often the case in historical movies, where the architecture and other surroundings of previous eras is created using special effects.

 

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger in 'Terminator'
Source: www.amazon.com

 

Visual special effects techniques (in rough order of invention):

 

• practical effects -
• in - camera effects -
• miniature effects
• matte paintings -
• Hitchcock zoom
• optical effects
• travelling matte -
• bluescreen
• prosthetic makeup effects
• motion control photography
• animatronic - models
• digital compositing
• wire removal
• morphing
• Computer Generated Imagery

 

Notable special effects artists:

• Richard Edlund
• Ray Harryhausen
• Derek Meddings
• Ken Ralston
• Douglas Trumbull

 

Notable special effects companies:

• Cinesite
• Computer Film Company
• Digital Domain
• Industrial Light and Magic
• SGI
• Weta Digital

 

Acknowledgement:

http://www.cinemateca.org/movies/special_effects.htm

 

 

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Top Ten Indian Child Artists

Top Ten Indian Child artists

1. Daisy Irani: Daisy Irani was the most famous child actor of Indian cinema. Born on 1952, she acted in many films as a child artist. Her some popular films are Jagte Raho, Naya Daur, Bhabhi etc.

2. Sachin Pilgaonkar: Popularly known as Sachin, he was born on 17 August 1957. He started his career as a child artiste and acted in about 65 films as a child artiste and his first film was a Marathi film called Ha maza marg ekla (1962) for that he won National Film award. As a child actor he acted in some films like Mela, Brahmchari, Manjhali Didi and Jewel Theif.

3. Sarika: She started her filmy career as a child actor and often played a boy. As a child artist she worked in many films like Aashirwad, Satyakaam, Chhoti Bahu, Hamraaz etc.

Master Raju, Daisy Irani and Sarika
Source: en.wikipedia.org

 

4. Master Raju: Master Raju was the cutest child actor ever. He acted in many movies as a child artist. Some of his popular films as a child actors are Parichay, Bawarchi, Amar Prem, Faraar, Daag and many more.

5. Baby Guddu (Shaista Khan): A very popular and cute child artist Baby Guddu acted in several films as a child artist like Amrit, Ghar Ghar ki Kahani, aakhir Kyon, Kudrat Ka Kanoon etc. she also appeared in a Colgate ad.

6. Kunal Khemu: Before starting his career as an adult actor, he acted in Hindi films as a child artist. After doing a television serial Gul Gulshan Gulfaam on Doordarshan in 1987, Kunal Khemu started his Hindi film career as a child actor in a movie called Sir. After that he acted (As a child actor) in some very popular films like Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke, Raja Hindustani, Bhai and Zakhm.

7. Satyajeet Puri: Born in 1960, Satyajeet Puri started his filmy career as a child artist. His first film was Mere Lal. Later he worked in many films like Hare Raama Hare Krishna, Anuraag, Shor etc.

8. Master Bitto (Vishal Desai): Vishal desai popularly known as Master Bitto was one of the most famous child actor of Indian film industry. As a child actor he acted in many films like Amar Akbar Anthony, Anokha Bandhan, Mr. Natwarlal etc.

9. Parzan Dastur: One of the sweetest kid stars ever, Parzan dastur is popularly known as the Jalebi kid from the Dhara ad. As a child actor, he worked in several films like Kuchh Kuchh Hota Hai, Mohabbatein, Zubeida, Parzania etc.

10. Swini Khara: Born on 12 July 1998, Swini Khara is a popular child actor of Bollywood. She acted in many popular Bollywood films like Cheeni Kum, Kaalo - The Desert Witch, Chingaari etc.


Acknowledgement:
www.itsmycountdown.com/.../top-10-child-artists-of-indian-cinema....

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