Yesteryears Special: Dadasaheb Palke’s ‘Raja Harichchandra’

The month of April is marked as the month which gave birth to the history of Indian Film Industry that has seen drastic and dramatic changes from 1913 to present. Let’s take a look at this historical moment in our Yesteryears Special.

Though there were two short films made in 1897 and 1899, Dadasaheb Phalke’s ‘Hari Harishchandra’ was the very first full length silent feature film release in India in 1913. The film was premiered on April 21st, 1913, that’s exactly 102 years ago today. Films run time was 40 minutes, much less compared to today Hindi films. Yes, that was the silent birth of ‘Bollywood’ that is making noise in every corner of the world today.

Acting was considered an immodest profession for women so the lead female role was played my male in Raja Harishchandra. Marking another record in Indian cinema, Anna Hari Salunke played a role of Rani Taramati of King Harishchandra which was the first female role played by a male in the film.

The film opens with a Ravi Varma te showing King Harishchandra, his wife Taramati and his young son. The King is teaching his son archery. At the request of the citizens, the King goes out on a hunting excursion. The King enters an area controlled by the Sage Vishwamitra. Three fairies appear before the King caught in flames. The King tries to rescue them. These fairies try to seduce the King into renouncing his kingdom for his love of truth. The King endures much hardship including being banished from his kingdom before a god appears to reassure everyone that the whole narrative was merely a test of the king’s integrity.”

The surprising thing about this first film was that it had things that you wouldn’t expect being the in first film. It had fairies in the film, it included murder scene and even a wet-sari scene.