Cinema made during the Golden Era of Indian Cinema are often referred as Hindustani Cinema. It was rather the Hindustani language that set the tone for Hindi cinema (later got the name Bollywood) from 1940s to 1960s. The films were primarily made in Hindi language and in some cases Urdu language was also used as these were spoken all over the northern and western part of India.

The Hindustani cinema included all the popular genres-family oriented dramas, melodramas, thrillers, action films, historical and costume films, musical comedies, pure comedy and farce. The Hindustani cinema brought with it a cultural symbiosis, which was to stay in Indian cinema especially, the Hindi film industry for a long time.

Inspite the trauma of the partition of India, both Hindus and Muslims worked harmoniously together in all spheres of cinematic art. Besides the characteristics of Persian civilization which have been passed on to Indian civilization, mainly music and dance, the Urdu language is one the legacies of Islam in India. Urdu became a literary dialect from the 14th to15th century onwards. It was largely used along with Persian in royal courts. The splendour of these courts is evoked with nostalgia in films such as, Mirza Ghalib, Pakeezah, Umrao Jaan, Shatranj Ke Khiladi and others.

The era of Hindustani cinema also witnessed the contribution of great talents who are members of the Muslim community. Amongst the directors were the likes of Mehboob Khan and Kamal Amrohi. actors and actresses like Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Nargis, Waheeda Rehman,; and great music directors, such as, Ghulam Haider, Naushad, Ghulam Mohammed and others are a few example of the talent of this community.

The Hindustani cinema also witnessed the rise of neo realists like Guru Dutt who presented realistic films, even to the extent 50 of being autobiographical. The cult films of Guru Dutt have been immortalised in the history of Indian cinema. Another film that too can be treated as a cult film is Mother India by Mehboob Khan.

It is one of the earliest woman centric films with superb performances by the entire cast. Hindustani cinema attained new heights mainly because of four great directors namely Bimal Roy, Mehboob Khan, Guru Dutt and Raj Kapoor. The last phase of this period is referred to as the Raj Kapoor Era. If not politically these directors were socially committed who often dealt with serious social problems that existed in pre-independent India. Some of the films by these directors are hailed as masterpieces in Indian cinema as their magic still remain unrivalled.