1944: Key Events

• The Indian National Army fights the British at Arakan, near Mandalay, and on Assam’s north- east frontier. They ‘liberate’ 15,000 square miles including Japanese-occupied Andaman and Nicobar islands.

• The Dravidar Kazhagam Party is founded by Periyar E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker in Madras.

• The Bombay Plan, presented by a group of industrialists, commits the Indian private sector to nationalist responsibilities, envisaging the possibilities of a free-market economy coalescing into the socialist ideal of a planned economy.

• K. C. S. Panicker starts the Progressive Painters Association in Madras, later institutionalised into the Cholamandal artists’ village (1966).

• Prithviraj Kapoor launches the Prithvi Theatres in Bombay.

• War profiteers increasingly launder their gains through the film industry, inflating star salaries and budgets, speeding up the shift away from studios towards independent production. The Navajyothi Studio is started in Mysore.

• The government appoints a Film Advisory Committee.

• Entertainment tax is increased in UP, Central Provinces, Bombay and Madras.