Remembering Dadasaheb Phalke on his birthday: Some lesser known facts about the father of Indian Cinema

Dadasaheb Phalke is called the father of Indian cinema. The most prestigious award of Indian cinema is given in his name. Dadasaheb, the first person to start cinema in India, was born on 30 April 1870. His real name was Dhundiraj Govind Phalke. He was a producer, director, screenwriter. 

Today it is very easy to make films, but when Dhundiraj thought about it, the film did not exist in our country. He had to face all kinds of difficulties, but it is said that only those who follow stubbornness and passion write history, and Dadasaheb Phalke created history.

First Film in Indian History

It is not easy to imagine making the first film of Dadasaheb Phalke, who became immortal by making 'Raja Harishchandra', the first film in the history of Indian cinema. The first full length feature film was made in 1913. The idea of making this film actually came in the year 1910. Went to see 'The Life of Christ' at the American Indian Picture Palace in Bombay.

Heartfelt tribute to Dadasaheb Phalke on his birth anniversary pic.twitter.com/mXmW392ogP

— Abdul Karim Chowdhary-MLA (@MLA_AKChowdhary) April 30, 2022

Facts about Dadasaheb Phalke

• Dhundiraj Govind Phalke was born in a Marathi speaking Brahmin family at Trimbakeshwar in Nashik, Maharashtra. His father was an accomplished Sanskrit scholar.

• At the age of 15, Dadasaheb joined J.J School Of Art in Mumbai where he studied sculpture, drawing, painting and photography.

• In 1890, he moved to Vadodara, Gujarat to work as a small-time photographer.

• Dadasaheb quit his photography job after losing his first wife and child, who were victims of Bubonic Plague.

• A life-turning moment for Phalke was when he watched the silent film, 'The Life of Christ' by Ferdinand Zecca and envisioned Indian Gods on the screen, finally making his first short film was 'Growth of a Pea Plant' in 1910.

• To cast in the lead role of his film, Dadadsaheb was looking for some handsome faces and gave out advertisements for the same. However, after encountering some inadequate options, he was forced to write “ugly faces need not to apply" in his subsequent ads

• Phalke did everything for the project – production, writing and direction. He even built the set himself and shot it for seven months and 21 days. Interestingly, Dadasaheb’s entire family contributed to the making of the legendary film ‘Raja Harishchandra’. His wife designed the costumes of the actors and cooked food for the whole cast and crew, while their son played the role of Harishchandra’s son in the movie.

• For making the entire feature, Dadasaheb spent 15 thousand rupees and had to cast a man for the female lead as no woman was willing to work.

• His last silent movie Setubandhan was released in 1932 and later released with dubbing. 

• During 1936-38, he produced his last film Gangavataran before retiring to Nashik, where he died on 16 February 1944.