• The National Museum of Indian Cinema in Mumbai that had remained closed during the pandemic lockdown, reopened to the public on February 26.

• In January 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the National Museum of Indian Cinema (NMIC) that seeks to portray the over a century-old journey of movies in India.

• The state-of-the-art museum has been built at a cost of Rs 140.61 crore and is housed in two buildings – the New Museum Building and the 19th century historic palace Gulshan Mahal – in the Films Division campus in Mumbai.

• It aims to take its visitors through an absorbing journey of over a century of Indian cinema in a story telling mode with the help of visuals, graphics, artifacts, interactive exhibits and multimedia expositions.

• The creation of the museum was guided by the Museum Advisory Committee headed by noted filmmaker Shyam Benegal.

The New Museum building has four exhibition halls divided under the categories:

1) Gandhi and Cinema - It depicts movies made on the life of Mahatma Gandhi and also showcases the deep impact his life had on cinema.

2) Children’s Film Studio - It gives visitors, particularly children, an opportunity to explore the science, technology and art behind filmmaking. It offers hands-on experience on various facets associated with making cinema like camera, light, shooting, experience of acting, etc presented in an interactive format. The exhibits displayed include chroma studio, immersive experience zone, stop-motion animation studio, virtual makeover studio, etc.

3) Technology Creativity and Indian cinema - It showcases the creative use of technology by Indian filmmakers over the years to produce cinematographic impact on the silver screen.

4) Cinema Across India - It showcases the charismatic kaleidoscopic presence of the vibrant cinematographic culture across India.

• Gulshan Mahal is a heritage structure which has been restored as part of the NMIC project. 

• The displays present here showcase the journey of over a hundred years of Indian cinema.  

It is divided into nine sections:

• The origin of cinema

• Cinema comes to India

• Indian silent film

• Advent of sound

• The studio era

• The impact of World War II

• Creative resonance

• New wave and beyond

• Regional cinema.

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