Dr. Vartika Nanda: Media Educator & Prison Reformer

Behind the Silver Screens & Scenes: Father of Indian Cinema

Disclaimer: The photographs included in the article have been procured from various sources across the internet. The sources of these photographs have also been mentioned below them. These photographs have been used purely for educational and illustrative purposes.

Source-https://bollyy.com/the-last-days-of-dadasaheb-phalke-the-father-of-indian-cinema/

Harishchandrachi Factory is a 2009 Indian Marathi-language biographical film written and directed by Paresh Mokashi. It is about how motion pictures came to life and the man behind it all - Dadasaheb Phalke. The 2013 Oscar entry from India, Harishchandrachi Factory, vividly describes the hard work & effort that went into making the first Indian feature film or a moving picture on the screen. 

The Beginning of an Era

Dadasaheb Phalke was indeed a man of true sight who made his dreams come true! In his early career, Phalke was an oil painter, photographer & even did printing business for some time. He then went on to learn magic tricks from a German & hosted shows with his son. However, one day they stumbled upon moving pictures. He was fascinated with the ideas of moving pictures. The sight of moving pictures or what Phalke first saw at the Bombay theatre was a feature film on the life of Christ in the year 1913. He was a man who truly believed in roots & therefore decided to bring Indian stories such as mythological stories on screen.

Struggling Days

This marked his struggle to do something out of the box. He went against the norms of the society. People around him called him a mental person. He had to face various societal, financial & social hurdles. He even had a temporary eye loss in the process of his research & discovery!

Phalke's strong belief & conviction made him sell & bet a lot of things to gather all the resources needed. After much effort he was able to gather enough to visit London; that was his only hope to translate his thoughts in true sight!

Big Dreams in the Big City

In the year 1912 he went to London. He did not have any prior knowledge of the country or its people. However, he went ahead without any hesitation. He had big dreams in the big city of London. He was a sharp-witted man due to which he succeeded in learning a filmmaking course for 2 weeks.

After leaving a good impression in London, he went on to launch his own company “The Phalke Film Company '' in India. He imported all required hardware & learnt all the techniques to bring moving pictures to the Indian audiences. Phalke later went on to make the first feature film on Raja Harishchandra. Phalke had an intelligent mind. He first made a short picture on the growth of a pea plant. He named it Ankurachi Wadh.

This attracted a lot of investors to trust in his ideas. He further led on to start the process of casting & hiring actors & actresses. However, since acting wasn’t considered “Sanskari” during those times for women, many refused him, well even his wife did! Ultimately, a man was disguised to be a female to play the role in the film.

Battling the societal stigmas, working day & night, depleting finances & with the constant support of his wife & children he successfully made the first Indian Feature film in India.

Foundation of Film Industry in India

His hard work finally paid off when the film premiered at the Olympia Theatre, Bombay, on 21 April 1913, and had its theatrical release on 3 May 1913 at the Coronation Cinematograph and Variety Hall, Girgaon. It was a big success and laid the foundation for the film industry in the country.

In his 19-year career, he worked on 95 feature films and 27 short films. His last film, Gangavataran (1937) was the only film made by Dadasaheb which was with sound and dialogues. After his death in 1944, the Government of India initiated an award in his name titled the “Dadasaheb Phalke Award” in 1969. It is the highest award for film personalities in the country. In 1971, India Post released a stamp bearing Dadasaheb’s character in his honour & remembrance.

He once said, there has to be a start somewhere & today he is known as the father of Indian cinema.

Written by:
Bhumi Kukreja
Batch of 2023, B.A. (Hons.) Journalism
Lady Shri Ram College for Women, New Delhi