Dadasaheb Phalke is one of the greatest Indian filmmakers ever and gave Indian cinema its first motion picture, Raja Harishchandra. He died on February 16, 1944. This year marks Dhundhi Govind Phalke’s 76th death anniversary.
Known as the father of Indian cinema, he was born on April 30, 1870 in Maharashtra’s Nashik.
Here are some interesting facts about the legend that you probably weren’t aware of:
-- Not just a filmmaker, Dadasaheb was a great artist as well. He had joined Sir JJ School of Art, Mumbai at the age of 15 and learned sculpting, sketching, painting as well as photography.
-- He lost his family (wife and child) to Bubonic Plague – a disease caused by a type of bacteria.
-- Dadasaheb Phalke went to Germany to study the latest technology of those times, about machines as well as art.
-- The ace filmmaker also worked with the famous Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma.
-- Phalke himself built the set for Raja Harishchandra. His wife designed the costumes and cooked food for the actors while his son acted in the movie.
-- Sharayu Phalke Summanwar, the great-grandniece of Dadasaheb, wrote a biography of him, describing his career as well as his personal life. The book is called The Silent Film.
--Apart from Raja Harishchandra, he made dozens of films in his career. Some famous ones being Mohini Bhasmasur, Satyavan Savitri, Setu Bandhan, Kaliya Mardan among others.
-- He made 95 feature-length films and 27 short films in his career, spanning 19 years.
-- The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is given every year for lifetime contribution to cinema. The award was created in his honour by the Government of India in 1969.
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