Father Of Indian Cinema Prepared by : Devashish G. Bhave, Class 5, Div. F

Born on April 30, 1870 At Tryambkeshwar a religious place near city of Nasik in the State of Maharashtra in Central India Named as Dhundiraj In the later years became famous as Dadasaheb Phalke Dadasaheb left us on February 16,1944

 His father was an accomplished Sanskrit scholar and young Dhundiraj hence was well versed with Indian mythology.  He studied at famous J J School of Arts in Mumbai  After passing out from there in 1890 he went to famous Kala Bhawan ( Art Academy ) in Baroda where he studied sculpture, engineering, drawing, painting & photography !!  So many capabilities & so much talent bundled into one individual !!

 He began his career as a small town photographer  Later he worked first as assistant to famous German magician Carl Hertz. Later he performed himself as magician !  Then he worked as a draftsman for Archeological Survey of India for some time.  But he was restless with the constraints on creativity and hence started his own business of lithography and even worked with the world famous Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma  He started his own printing press and even visited Germany to learn latest printing technology. In those days, a foreign trip of this type and for such purpose with borrowed money was absolutely unheard of !

 Around 1910 he chanced upon to see the film ‘ The Life of Christ ’. And the curiosity was aroused.  “Could we the sons of India, ever be able to see Indian images on the screen!” curiosity thus became an obsession!!  He raised money from friends, against his own insurance policy and went to London in February 12 to learn the art & craft of film making  He bought a Williamson camera & returned to India to set up Phalke films in Mumbai !

 It was on 3 rd May 1913 that the film “Raja Harischandra” was premiered at the Coronation Cinematograph in the city of Mumbai  Trials & tribulations of producing that movie have been brilliantly chronicled in a movie “Harischandrachi Factory” which was one of the nomination in foreign film category for Oscar in 2009

 People were apprehensive as to whether the society will appreciate moving pictures in place of live dramas which were popular  Moneyed people were reluctant to invest money in this industry  Manpower was not available for carrying out various activities connected with this industry  No women would be willing to come forward to enact female roles  But nothing could stop persevering Dadasaheb  His wife Saraswatibai Phalke became an active partner in this venture. She not only managed the studio but also looked after the technical aspects of film-making.

 Inspite of all these odds Dadasaheb completed his first film in just 6 months!  “Nobody knew anything about this industry in India at that time. Shooting in the day, doing lab work & editing in the evening was how I worked ”.  And mind you editing had to be done manually using scissors in those days ! There was nothing like modern day editing software !!  Dadasaheb was the writer, director, costume designer,photographer, editor, processor and later even had to do himself the projection of his films in theaters in theaters !!! ALL FUNCTIONS BUNDLED IN ONE PERSON !

 Success of Raja Harischandra further enthused Dadasaheb. In a span of only 19 years after that till 1932 he made 95 movies and 26 short films !!  His success encouraged many others to take this industry seriously, in which today thousands of crores are being earned and lacs are employed  In 1932, movies got voice. The age of silent movies receded back. He made only one talkie “Gangavataran” in 1932 which was not very successful commercially. After that he retired.  During his hey days he constructed a laboratory and a studio in Nasik, a city close to his birth place.

 In 1969 Indian government and the greatful Indian film industry instituted ‘The Dadasaheb Phalke’ award in his honor. This award is India’s highest award in cinema given every year to a personality for his / her lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.  A stamp was also released in his honor by department of Indian post & telegraph.  A studio has been named after him.

Dadasaheb has become immortal in the hearts of Indian film industry !

THANK YOU