American film director Ellis R. Dungan moved to India in 1935. Over the next fifteen years, he directed several Tamil movies and introduced a number of American cinematic techniques to the Indian film industry – including modern makeup, moving cameras, and cabaret dance numbers – influencing later Bollywood productions. Dungan released Meera, starring celebrated singer M. S. Subbulakshmi, in 1945 and two years later debuted a version in Hindi.