In 1896, India was first exposed to motion pictures when the Lumiere Brothers' Chinematographe showed six soundless short films on July 7 in Bombay.

BOMBAY WATSON HOTEL 1886-IN THIS HOTEL THE FIRST FILM WAS SHOWN

[Watson's Hotel, currently known as the Esplanade Mansion, is India's oldest surviving cast iron building. It is located in the Kala Ghoda area of Mumbai (Bombay). Named after its original owner, John Watson, the building was fabricated in England and constructed on site between 1860 and 1863. (Wikipedia)]

On 7th July 1896 (120 years ago), first cinema show was screened. Thanks to the Lumiere brothers who were French cinematographers, the screening of 6 films took place in Watson Hotel in Mumbai (then Bombay).

Can you guess the price of the tickets? It was Re 1! That’s right, it was just Re 1.

The Times Of India called this incident as the “Miracle Of The Century”.

Here’s the advertisement that appeared in the newspaper:

Six films were screened that day – “Entry of Cinematographe”, “The Sea Bath”, “Arrival of a Train”, “A Demolition”, “Ladies and Soldiers on Wheels” and “Leaving the Factory”.

The second screening took place on July 14, 1896, at the Novelty Theatre, Bombay.

The motion pictures were then introduced in Kolkata and Chennai.

How does it make you feel that Indian cinema was screened on this date, 120 years ago!

Among the hotel's notable guests was Mark Twain, who wrote about the city's crows he saw outside his balcony in Following the Equator. It was also the first place in India to screen the Lumière Brothers' Cinematographe invention in 1896. However this was witnessed only by Europeans.

A popular myth surround the hotel was that the staff at Watson's Hotel denied Indian industrialist Jamsetji Tata

access to the hotel. In retaliation he opened the Taj Hotel,

a hotel that stands near the Gateway of India, in 1903. However, author and historian Sharada Dwived idebunks this legend. She points out a lack of evidence to prove that Tata was a man of vengeance.

On 13 June 2010, the Mumbai Heritage Conservation Committee (MHCC) gave its approval for the 130-year-old structure to be restored. The restoration work will be carried out by the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).

The Lumière Brothers Les frères Lumière
Auguste Lumière (left) and Louis Lumière (right)
Place of birth	Besançon, France
Auguste	Auguste Marie Louis Nicolas Lumière October 19, 1862 April 10, 1954 (aged 91) (Lyon, France)
Louis	Louis Jean Lumière October 5, 1864 June 6, 1948 (aged 83) (Bandol, French Riviera)
Occupation	Filmmakers
Education	La Martiniere Lyon
Parents	Claude-Antoine Lumière (1840–1895)
Awards	Elliott Cresson Medal (1909)

Bombay(Mumbai) Esplanade 1905

Watson's hotel, now known as Esplanade Mansions at Kala Ghoda

Coordinates	18.9283°N 72.8311°E
Structural system	Cast iron
Town	Mumbai
Country	India
Client	John Watson
Started	1867
Completed	1869
Architect	Rowland Mason Ordish
Engineer	Rowland Mason Ordish

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The world's first film poster, for 1895's L'Arroseur Arrosé

l'arroseur arrosé:-FILM

Cinematographe Lumière. Museu del Cinema[FILM PROJECTOR

1896]

The Frenchman Louis Lumiere is often credited as inventing the first motion picture camera in 1895. But in truth, several others had made similar inventions around the same time as Lumiere. What Lumiere invented was a portable motion-picture camera, film processing unit and projector called the Cinematographe, three functions covered in one invention.

In 1895, Lumiere and his brother were the first to present projected, moving, photographic, pictures to a paying audience of more that one person.