Links to the Hindi movie collections for the periods covered in this section:
1970s 1980s 1970s & 1980s (All) 1970s & 1980s GEMs
Commentary:
The 1970s saw the emergence of the first superstar of Hindi movies Rajesh Khanna, whose meteoric rise had started in 1969 with the release of Aradhana and several other hits. He had an unbelievable streak of 17 consecutive hits from 1969 to 1971 and his sky-high popularity continued for a few more years, until the emergence of the next Hindi film superstar Amitabh Bachchan in 1973, with the release of the film Zanjeer. Another movie released in 1973, Namak Haraam, featured both superstars and in a sense marked the passing of the torch from one to the other. Although Rajesh Khanna continued to make successful films until the mid-1980s, he no longer had the superstar status he had in the early 1970s.
Amitabh ruled the roost for many years to come and had a string of commercial blockbusters until the late 1980s, though the quality of his films went through a sharp decline starting in the late 1970s (although they continued to be commercially successful). This was also true for movies featuring other actors, and in many ways the 1980s are the ‘lost decade’ of Hindi films (and of Hindi film music as well). Fortunately, the late 1970s also marked the coming of Hindi ‘parallel cinema’, with directors like Shyam Benegal and actors like Girish Karnad, Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi and Smita Patil, who made non-commercial films of very high quality.
Besides the above-mentioned luminaries, the following actors and movie-makers made their mark in the 1970s and 1980s:
1970s
- [Male stars] Amol Palekar, Amjad Khan, Amrish Puri, Danny Denzongpa, Navin Nischol, Rishi Kapoor, Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna
- [Female stars] Jaya Bhaduri, Jaya Prada, Moushumi Chatterjee, Neetu Singh, Parveen Babi, Rakhee, Reena Roy, Rekha, Tina Munim, Zeenat Aman
- [Producers/Directors] Basu Chatterjee, Gulshan Rai, Gulzar, Manmohan Desai, Ramesh Sippy
- [Screenwriters] Salim-Javed (the duo revolutionized Hindi cinema and pioneered the concept of ‘masala films’ and super-villains, often receiving top billing in the firms along with the movie stars)
1980s
- [Male stars] Aamir Khan, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol
- [Female stars] Amrita Singh, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit, Meenakshi Seshadri, Rati Agnihotri, Sridevi
- [Producers/Directors] Govind Nihalani, Mahesh & Mukesh Bhatt, Mansoor Khan, Rakesh Roshan, Subhash Ghai, Vidhu Vinod Chopra
The end of the 1980s brought a lot of fresh blood to Hindi cinema which rejuvenated the industry and started the Revival Period in the 1990s. Waiting in the wings was Shah Rukh Khan, who would make his debut in 1992 and, along with the two other Khans Aamir and Salman, establish a new ‘Big Three’ superstar trinity which has dominated Bollywood for three decades.