Dadasaheb Phalke is regarded as the Father of Indian
Cinema. Phalke was a visionary gifted enough to foresee the awesome
potential of the film medium almost a century ago. Phalke's film 'Raja
Harishchandra' was not the first ever Indian film. Rather it was
Ramchandra Gopal Torne who bagged the honor by making the film Pundalik
in 1912. But Dadasaheb Phalke is the true pioneer of Indian cinema for
he laid the basic building blocks of the industry with his creative zeal
and persistent efforts.
Phalke's decision to join the film-making bandwagon was indeed a bold
one, given that the global film industry spawned by the Lumiere Brothers
was itself in a nascent stage. He was faced with staggering odds and
cynics mocked at his efforts. But unfazed by this brutal skepticism,
Dadasaheb Phalke went ahead and brought out his first film in 1913. He
was a one-man army and donned many hats. Phalke was a cameraman,
art-director, costume-designer, editor, processor, printer, developer,
projectionist and distributor, all rolled into one.
Even the successful culmination of Dadasaheb Phalke's efforts could not
shake off the stigma associated with the medium of films. People made
derogatory remarks and most of his initial films were dogged by a dearth
of acting talents. Nevertheless Phalke persisted with his efforts and
often used his ingenuity to break stalemates. For example, with no
female actors coming forward to enact the role of Taramati in Raja
Harishchandra, Phalke chose a young man with delicate features to play
the role.
