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Manisha Koirala, Konkona Sensharma, Armaan Malik, Neeti Mohan, Farida Jalal, Amit Sadh and Manish Paul among others were honoured at the Dadasaheb Phalke Film Foundation Awards 2018 held on April 29 in Mumbai. Other guests seen at the event were Arshi Khan and Rakhi Sawant. Scroll to see photos. (Source: Photo by Varinder Chawla)
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Google on Monday commemorated the 148th birth anniversary of Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, one of the pioneering figures in Indian cinema, with a doodle. Phalke, who is fondly remembered as Dadasaheb, has the distinction of directing India’s first full-length feature film, Raja Harishchandra, in 1913.
In the doodle, a young Phalke is seen instructing actors, getting behind the camera, and examining rolls of film, which he would then artfully develop into motion picture. His oeuvre, spanning 19 years, includes 95 full-length feature films and 27 short films.
Phalke was born near Nashik, in 1870. He displayed interest in subjects as varied as lithography, architecture, engineering, and magic. After graduating from the J. J. School of Art, Mumbai in 1885, he began a career in photography in the town of Godhra, in Gujarat. However, his job as a small-town photographer was halted when he lost his wife and child to the bubonic plague.
He soon moved to lithography, after a stint with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as a draftsman. Phalke was deeply influenced by the work of Raja Ravi Varma, with whom he collaborated in bringing out prints of the latter's paintings. It was during this phase of his life that he watched Alice Guy's silent film, The Life of Christ (1910), a movie that strengthened his resolve to bring the rich tapestry of Indian culture to the silver screen.
The resetlessness which would haunt Phalke's creative spirit forced him to quit the printing business shortly thereafter, and he travelled to London to learn film-making from Cecil Hepworth, a director who was at the vanguard of a nascent British film industry. After returning to India, Phalke completed filming Raja Harishchandra in 1912, and it was screened on May 3, 1913 at Mumbai's Coronation Cinema.
Phalke, who secured the financial backing of five Mumbai-based businessmen, set up Hindustan Films with the hope of making cinema mainstream. His association with the banner lasted till 1920. After a hiatus, he returned to the production company, but his second coming was short lived. Silent films were rendered obsolete. Talkies, or movies featuring dialogues, had taken over the market.
Unable to adapt his craft to the hubbub of the Bombay film industry that had suddenly found its voice, Phanlke walked away from movies. His last silent film, Setubandhan, was released in 1932.
Abandoned by an industry he helped father, Phalke moved to Nashik on February 16, 1944. By then a new wave of Indian cinema had taken root, but its origins could be traced back to Dadasaheb's Raja Harishchandra. The government instituted the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for lifetime achievement in cinema in 1969. A postage stamp was also issued in his honour in 1971.
A post shared by Vignesh Nagabushanam Viggu (@im_vnv) on Apr 29, 2018 at 12:03pm PDT
भारतीय सिनेमा के जनक की उपाधि पाने वाले दादासाहेब फाल्के का जन्म 30 अप्रैल, 1870 को महाराष्ट्र के नासिक शहर में हुआ था. दादासाहेब फाल्के (Dadasaheb Phalke) के 148वें जन्मदिवस के मौके पर गूगल ने डूडल बनाकर उन्हें याद किया है. लंदन में फिल्म से जुड़ी बारिकियां सीखने के बाद दादासाहेब मुंबई लौटे. उन्होंने फाल्के फिल्म कंपनी की स्थापना की और अपने बैनर तले 'राजा हरिश्चंद्र' नामक फिल्म बनाने का निर्णय लिया. हालांकि, भारतीय सिनेमा की पहली फिल्म बनने के लिए उन्हें भारी मुश्किलों का सामना करना पड़ा था.दादासाहेब की फिल्म पर पहले कोई पैसा लगाने को तैयार नहीं था. थोड़ी मशक्कत के बाद उन्हें फाइनेंसर मिले, लेकिन असली मुसीबत तब आई जब कोई महिला उनके साथ काम करने को तैयार नहीं थी. मराठी स्टेज एक्टर दत्तात्रेय दामोदर दाबके ने फिल्म में 'राजा हरिश्चंद्र' का किरदार निभाने के लिए हामी भरी. दादासाहेब के बेटे बालाचंद्रा ने हरिश्चंद्र के बेटे रोहितश्व का कैरेक्टर प्ले किया था. लेकिन रानी तारामति का रोल निभाने के लिए उस दौर की कोई भी महिला तैयार नहीं थी. दसअसल उस समय महिलाओं का काम करना अच्छा नहीं माना जाता था.महिला एक्ट्रेस की तलाश में दादासाहेब ने कोठे तक के चक्कर लगाए, लेकिन बात न बनीं. आखिरकार एक भोजनालय में बावर्ची के तौर पर काम करने वाले व्यक्ति अन्ना सालुंके से दादासाहेब की मुलाकात हुई. अन्ना बावर्ची के तौर पर काम करके 10 रुपये कमाते थे, दादासाहेब ने उन्हें 15 रुपये देना का वादा किया और वह मान गए.
Tribute to DADASAHEB PHALKE on birth anniversary.
Father of Indian cinema, born as Dhundiraj Govind Phalke at Trimbakeshwar. He produced 95 feature films & 26 short films in 19 years.
