This black & white educational film is about the new “modern” India vs the traditional, simple India that has existed for thousands of years. The movie compares rural village life to that of people who live in a modern city. At the time the film was made, India was a British Colony. This film was made in 1942 by the Film Advisory Board, a British government entity charged with making informational and propaganda movies. It features a wonderful score, and a commentary by Robert Stimson and was directed by Ezra Mir and A. Bhaskar Rao.
Title: The Film Advisory Board presents The Changing Face Of India (:08-:44). Clouds in the sky. Indian woman and children. A woman walks. A woman makes pottery. Children and an older man, who wraps a turban around his head. A little girl has her hair done by an older woman. A performing bear is shown, moving his arms as spectators cheer. A grassy field. A man waves his arms. Children sit in a village school, a male teacher watches as they draw in the dirt. A woman and her child visit a village doctor. A little girl and others make baskets. A man plays a clarinet. A marionette puppet dances as others play instruments, other marionette puppets in action. An old man controls the puppet. Multiple marionette puppets (:45-4:07). An Indian city, located near a village. Well dressed people dance in a hall. Men play instruments. A woman sings as people dance. A woman sips a drink. Cars and people cross a bridge. Buildings. Exterior of Forest Research Laboratory. Buildings near the waterfront. Hospital building. Doctors and nurses. People watch an an operation is performed. A doctor speaks to an assistant. Doctors at work. Vaccines in bottles. The Indian Institute of Science located in Bangalore. Sir CV Raman. Indian students do chemistry experiments (4:08-6:59). Industrialization. J.J. Gandhi, manager of an arms/steel company. A factory makes glasses on machines. Men do research. A man whips the cattle who plow. Workers in a farming field doing cultivation. Workers pick the leaves (7:00-8:50). A scientist at work. Cattle near working men. Men walk their cattle. Children look ahead. A progressive school, children play with blocks while blindfolded. A teacher teaches. Children teach one another. A building’s skeleton. Men on the trains. A large group of people. People walk in the city. Cars drive in the city. The face of an ancient statue is shown as the film concludes (8:51-11:06). End credits (11:07-11:12).
The Indian Institute of Science shown in the film is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute was established in 1909 with active support from Jamsetji Tata and thus is also locally known as the “Tata Institute”. It is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in India and has the highest citation per faculty among all the universities in the world.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
