DADASAHEB PHALKE - THE FATHER OF INDIAN CINEMA

DADASAHEB PHALKE - THE FATHER OF INDIAN CINEMA

The Indian cinematic history illustrate Dadasaheb Phalke as "The Father of Indian Cinema".

 

 

The "Dadasaheb Phalke Award" instituted for Cinematic Excellence is popular in the Film World and amongst the fans.

 

In recognition of Phalke’s contribution to the Indian cinema, the India government instituted the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1969, an award presented annually by the president of India for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.

 

 

 

 

Dadasaheb Phalke was a film producer, director, screenwriter, editor, art director, costume designer and make-up artist.

Dhundiraj  Govind Phalke was born on 30th April, 1870, Trimbak,  Bombay Presidency, British India (the present-day Maharashtra, India) and died on 16th February, 1944 (Aged 73 years) at Nashik, Bombay Presidency, British India (the present-day Maharashtra, India).

Dadasahed Phalke was Born into a Marathi-speaking Chitpavan Brahmin family.  His father, Govind Sadashiv Phalke alias Dajishastri was a Sanskrit scholar and worked as a Hindu priest conducting religious ceremonies and his mother, Dwarkabhai was a homemaker.

 

Dajishastri taught Phalke to conduct religious rituals like yajna and dispensing of medicines. When he was appointed as a professor of Sanskrit in the Wilson College, Bombay, the family shifted its base to Bombay. Phalke completed his primary education in Trimbakeshwar and matriculation was done in Bombay.

 

As a child, Phalke displayed great interest in the creative arts. Determined to pursue his dreams, he joined the Sir J.J. School of Art, Bombay (now Mumbai), in 1885. While there he pursued a variety of interests, including photography, lithography, architecture, and amateur dramatics, and he became adept even at magic. He briefly worked as a painter, a theatrical set designer, and a photographer. While working at the lithography press of celebrated painter Ravi Varma, Phalke was significantly influenced by a series of Varma’s paintings of the Hindu gods, an impression that was evident in Phalke’s own portrayal of various gods and goddesses in the mythological films he later made.

 

At the beginning of 1886, he accompanied his elder brother, Shivrampant, to Baroda where he married a girl from Marathe family. Later, he joined Kala Bhavan, the Faculty of Fine Arts, at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and completed a course in Oil painting and Watercolor painting in 1890. He also achieved proficiency in architecture and modelling. In the same year, Phalke bought a film camera and started experimenting with photography, processing, and printing. He was awarded a gold medal for creating a model of an ideal theater at the 1892 Industrial Exhibition of Ahmedabad. While his work was much appreciated, one of his fans presented him a "costly" camera, used for still photography. In 1891, Phalke did a six-months course to learn the techniques of preparing half-tone blocks, photo-lithio, and three-colour ceramic photography.  Principal Gajjar of Kala Bhavan sent Phalke to Ratlam to learn three colour blockmaking, photolitho transfers, colotype and darkroom printing techniques under the guidance of Babulal Varuvalkar.

 

It was Phalke’s chance viewing of the silent film The Life of Christ (1910) that marked a turning point in his career. Deeply moved by the film, Phalke saw it as his mission to bring all that was Indian to the moving picture screen. He went to London in 1912 to learn the craft from British pioneer filmmaker Cecil Hepworth. In 1913 he released India’s first silent film, Raja Harishchandra, a work based on Hindu mythology. The film, scripted, produced, directed, and distributed by Phalke, was a huge success and an important milestone in Indian cinematic history. Likewise important, he introduced a female actor in the leading role in his film Bhasmasur Mohini (1913) at a time when professional acting was taboo for women.

 

Phalke, with the help of several partners, established the Hindustan Film Company in 1917 and went on to produce several films. A talented film technician, Phalke experimented with a variety of special effects. His employment of mythological themes and trick photography delighted his audience. Among his other successful films were Lanka dahan (1917), Shri Krishna janma (1918), Sairandari (1920), and Shakuntala (1920).

 

 

                                            Dadasaheb Phalke on the editing table

 

 

 

His debut film "Raja Harishchandra" was the first Indian film released in 1913, and is now known as the India's first full-length feature film.  He made 95 feature length films and 27short films in his career, spanning 19 years, until 1937 including  his most noted works : Mohini Bhasmasur (1913), Satyavan Savitri (1914), Lanka Dahan (1917), Sri Krishna Janma(1918) and Kaliya Mardan (1919).

With the introduction of sound in cinema and the expansion of the film industry, Phalke’s work lost popularity. He left film making in the 1930s and died lonely, embittered, and sick.

 

 

Selected filmography :

• Raja Harishchandra (1913)
• Mohini Bhasmasur (1913)
• Satyavan Savitri (1914)
• Lanka Dahan (1917)
• Sri Krishna Janma (1918)
• Kaliya Mardan (1919)
• Budhadev (1923)
• Setu Bandhan (1932) 
• Gangavataran (1937) 
  

Dadasaheb Phalke Award Winners List

National Awards	Year	Winner	Occupation
66th	2019	Rajinikanth	Actor, Producer and Politician
66th	2018	Amitabh Bachchan	Actor
65th	2017	Vinod Khanna	Actor, Producer and Politician
64th	2016	Kasinadhuni Viswanath	Filmmaker and Actor
63rd	2015	Manoj Kumar	Actor and Director
62nd	2014	Shashi Kapoor	Actor, Director and Producer
61st	2013	Gulzar	Poet, Lyricist and Director
60th	2012	Pran	Actor
59th	2011	Soumitra Chatterjee	Actor
58th	2010	K. Balachander	Director
57th	2009	D. Ramanaidu	Producer
56th	2008	VK Murthy	Cinematographer
55th	2007	Manna Dey	Singer
54th	2006	Tapan Sinha	Director
53rd	2005	Shyam Benegal	Director
52nd	2004	Adoor Gopalakrishnan	Director
51st	2003	Mrinal Sen	Director
50th	2002	Dev Anand	Actor, Director and Producer
49th	2001	Yash Chopra	Director and Producer
48th	2000	Asha Bhosle	Singer
47th	1999	Hrishikesh Mukherjee	Director
46th	1998	B.R. Chopra	Director and Producer
45th	1997	Pradeep	Lyricist
44th	1996	Sivaji Ganesan	Actor
43rd	1995	Rajkumar	Actor
42nd	1994	Dilip Kumar	Actor
41st	1993	Majrooh Sultanpuri	Lyricist
40th	1992	Bhupen Hazarika	Composer (Music Director)
39th	1991	Bhalji Pendharkar	Director, Producer and Writer
38th	1990	Akkineni Nageswara Rao	Actor
37th	1989	Lata Mangeshkar	Singer
36th	1988	Ashok Kumar	Actor
35th	1987	Raj Kapoor	Actor and Director
34th	1986	B. Nagi Reddy	Producer
33rd	1985	V. Shantaram	Actor, Director and Producer
32nd	1984	Satyajit Ray	Director
31st	1983	Durga Khote	Actress
30th	1982	L. V. Prasad	Actor, Director and Producer
29th	1981	Naushad Ali	Composer (Music Director)
28th	1980	Paidi Jairaj	Actor and Director
27th	1979	Sohrab Modi	Actor, Director and Producer
26th	1978	Rai Chand Boral	Composer and Director
25th	1977	Nitin Bose	Cinematographer, Director and Writer,
24th	1976	Kanan Devi	Actress
23rd	1975	Dhirendranath Ganguly	Actor and Director
22nd	1974	Bomireddi Narasimha Reddy	Director
21st	1973	Ruby Myers (Sulochana)	Actress
20th	1972	Pankaj Mullick	Composer (Music Director)
19th	1971	Prithviraj Kapoor	Actor (Posthumous)
18th	1970	B. N. Sircar	Producer

 

 

The first lady of Indian Cinema Devika Rani was the winner of Dadasaheb Phalke Award 1969. 

Devika Rani Choudhuri, usually known as Devika Rani, was an Indian actress from Visakapatnam who was active in Hindi films during the 1930s and 1940s.  Devika Rani had a successful film career that spanned 10 years.  She merited the first Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1969 for her lifetime achievement.

 

Hrithik Roshan (Film: Super 30) was adjudged the Best Actor and received Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2020.

 

Dev Menaria gets honored with The Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2021 for his impeccable journey.  

Dev Menaria is an Indian actor, producer and model (Age: 30 years). He is known for his work in The Lost Night and Saajish The Conspiracy. He has won many awards in his career including Dadasaheb Phalke Award 2021 and GCMA Best Actor Cine Award. Dev is active in glamour industry since 2016.

 

Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2022 was declared recently and the best actor award was won by the matinee idol Ranveer Singh for his role in 83 (World Cup 1983 featuring Kapil Dev). 

 

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award, considered the most honored and highly ranked film award, is received by very few creative individuals in the film industry.

 

Dadasaheb Phalke's contribution to Indian Films is immense  and extraordinary.  He deserves highest accolades  for the same.  Dadasaheb Phalke Award instituted by the Government of India for cinematic excellence is noteworthy and befitting his life time contribution towards his sphere of work.