111 years of Raja Harishchandra.

111 years of Raja Harishchandra (03/05/1913). Raja Harishchandra is a silent movie made in India in 1913. It’s directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke. Many people think it’s the first big Indian movie ever made. The movie tells the story of Harishchandra, played by Dattatraya Damodar Dabke. Even though it’s silent, it has words on the screen in English, Marathi, and Hindi. Phalke wanted to make a full movie after watching a film in Bombay in 1911. He went to London to learn about making movies, then came back and started his own film company. He got equipment from different countries and made a short film to get investors. He couldn’t find women to act, so men played the female roles. Phalke did a lot of work on the movie, like writing, directing, and editing. The filming took about six months. The movie premiered in Bombay in April 1913 and was shown in theaters in May. It did well, which helped start the Indian film industry. Only parts of the movie are left today. Some people think Phalke made a remake in 1917 called Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra. There’s a debate about whether Raja Harishchandra was really the first Indian movie. Some people say another movie called Shree Pundalik was first. But the Indian government recognizes Raja Harishchandra as the first. Phalke had a hard time finding a theater to show his movie because some people were already criticizing it. He had a special premiere in April 1913. Important people liked the movie, and it was shown in theaters for weeks. It was also shown in other cities and even in other countries with subtitles in Marathi and Hindi. In the movie, Dattatraya Damodar Dabke played Harishchandra, Anna Salunke played Taramati (Harishchandra’s wife), Bhalchandra Phalke played Rohitashva (Harishchandra and Taramati’s son), and Gajanan Vasudev Sane played Vishvamitra. Other actors included Dattatreya Kshirsagar, Dattatreya Telang, Ganpat G. Shinde, Vishnu Hari Aundhkar, and Nath T. Telang.