Not only has the film Harishchandrachi Factory won numerous awards at prestigious film festivals, it is also India’s selection for the Academy Awards. The film is about India’s first feature film Raja Harishchandra and the road director Dadasaheb Phalke took to get it made. Starring Nandu Madhav, Vibhawari Deshpande, Mohit Gokhale and directed by Paresh Mokashi the film is set to release on January 29th.
Here is a look at not only the synopsis, but also the theatrical trailer as well.
Dadasaheb Phalke had abandoned a well established printing business after a quarrel with his business partner. He gave his word to the worried partner that he would never enter into the printing business again as competition! Phalke got instantly unemployed and workless. The family was struggling to survive.
One day he accidentally stumbled across a tent theatre that was screening a silent motion picture. He was awestruck with the film. The idea of film making struck him. Along with his hardworking wife and two enthusiastic kids by his side, he ventured into a field unknown to contemporary India. Making of India’s first feature film, Raja Harishchandra was an amazing adventure. The Phalke family encountered mostly funny but also a few grave situations during their journey of film making.
They were a team of crazy yet lovable people that helped in winning over patrons and eventually money. Together, not only did they deliver the first Indian film, but they had ensured it to become the first super hit film too! In 1914, Phalke refused offers from his English friends to make films in London. His reason for the refusal was – “I must keep making films in India, so that it gets established as an industry at home”. The rest is history.
