'1960: Key Events

• Bombay State is divided into Maharashtra and Gujarat. Steel production starts at the Durgapur plant.

• Indian Navy’s first aircraft carrier, the INS Vikrant, is commissioned in Belfast.

• The National Museum opens in New Delhi.

• The government implements the 1951 Film Committee recommendation and starts the Film Finance Corporation to give low- interest loans to selected projects.

• In the late 60s, the FFC emphasises the financing of the independent sector.

• The Film Institute is started at Pune, on the former Prabhat Studio premises; the Institute for Film Technology is started in Madras.

• The Hindustan Photo Film Manufacturing Co. starts making b&w X-ray film.

• Mughal-e-Azam, the most expensive feature to date, is completed.

• Ranadheera Kanteerava is the first big Kannada hit, establishing its star, Rajkumar.

• Shri Venkateshwara Mahatyam inaugurates N. T. Rama Rao’s political persona of the ‘living god’.

• The weekly tabloid Movieland is launched in Madras.

• Gandhian Sarvodaya workers start a series of protests against indecent film posters and hoardings.