To mark the 100th year of Indian cinema, here we bring you certain interesting tidbits about India's first full-lenght feature film Raja Harishchandra, released in 1913.
>>> Raja Harishchandra, directed by Dadasaheb Phalke, was based on the life history of king Harishchandra, recounted in Ramayanam and Mahabharatham.
>>> Since no woman was available to play the leading lady, the film had men playing all the roles.
>>> The film reel was 3700 feet long, roughly 40 minutes.
>>> Interestingly in 1913 working in a film was a taboo, so director Dadasaheb advised all his artist to pretend as if they were working in Harishchandra factory.
>>> The film was screened on May 3, 1913 at Mumbai's Coronation Cinema. Following huge demand, the film's producer made more prints to screen it in rural areas. And that marked the beginning of Indian films.
>>> So now we know why Dadasaheb Phalke is known as the father of Indian cinema.
>>> The film was remade in 1917 by the same name and in 2010, Harishchandrachi Factory, a film based on the making of Raja Harishchandra was released.
>>> It is said that Dadasaheb Phalke's wife cooked the food alone for the entire cast and crew (which comprised of more than 500 members) during the shooting of the film.
>>> The star cast includes Dattatraya Damodar Dabke as Raja Harishchandra, P.G. Sane as Taramati, Bhalachandra D. Phalke and G.V. Sane as Vishwamitra.
