Called the Father of Indian cinema, Dhundiraj Govind Phalke or Dadasaheb Phalke was responsible for bringing cinema to the people of India in the era of silent films. He directed 95 full-length feature films in his career. Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra (1913) is the first Indian feature-length silent film, of which only a portion survives. Mohini Bhasmasur (1913), Satyavan Savitri (1914) and Lanka Dahan (1914) are among his other noteworthy mythological films. On Phalke’s 77th death anniversary, we take a look at some key events in his journey to become the progenitor of cinema in India.
A Painter
Dadasaheb Phalke was a painter before he became a filmmaker. He enrolled on Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art and later studied oil painting and watercolour at Kala Bhavan in Vadodara. The interest in art led him also to explore architecture, modelling and eventually photography. Knowledge in these fields came in handy when he ventured into cinema.
Poverty & family tragedy
Phalke decided to use his extensive knowledge in photography and printing to make a living but was not financially successful. The bubonic plague claimed the lives of his first wife and child.
Influence of theatre
Phalke’s failure to succeed as a photographer forced him to use his other skill, which is painting, to earn a living. This led him to paint the stage curtains for theatre productions, which allowed him to soak up the details of the art. He also got to act in a few of them, giving him a first-hand idea about performance.
Trick photography
Phalke is known for his use of trick photography in his mythology-centric films. He happened to learn such tricks from the German magician Carl Hertz who had visited Baroda. Phalke even became a magician himself, briefly.
Introduced the first female actor
Phalke’s Mohini Bhasmasur was the first Indian film to feature a female role which was played by a woman. Male actors used to play such roles at the time. Kamlabai Gokhale (nee Kamat), then 13-years-old, played the lead role of Mohini in the film.
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