Development On 14 April 1911,
Dadasaheb Phalke with his elder son Bhalchandra went to see a film,
Amazing Animals, at the America India Picture Palace,
Girgaon. Surprised at seeing animals on the screen, Bhalchandra informed his mother, Saraswatibai, about his experience. None of the family members believed them, so Phalke took his family to see the film the next day. As it was Easter, the theatre screened a film about Jesus,
The Life of Christ (1906) by the French director
Alice Guy-Blaché. He set up a processing room and taught his family to perforate and develop the film. Though Phalke was certain of his idea of filmmaking, he could not find any investors. So, he decided to make a short film to demonstrate the techniques. He planted some peas in a pot, placed a camera in front of it, and shot one frame a day for over a month. This resulted in a film, lasting just over a minute, of the seed growing, sprouting, and changing into a climber. Phalke titled this short film
Ankurachi Wadh (
Growth of a Pea Plant) and showed it to selected individuals. Some of them, including Yashwantrao Nadkarni and Narayanrao Devhare, offered Phalke a loan.
Story , depicting Harishchandra parting with his wife and son In his
Marathi language magazine
Suvarnamala, Phalke had published a story
Surabaichi Kahani (
A Tale of Sura). The story, which depicted the ill effects of alcoholism, was the first he considered for filming. After watching several American films screened in Bombay, he observed that they included
mystery and romance, which the audiences liked. His family members suggested that the storyline should appeal to middle-class people and women and it should also highlight
Indian culture. After considering various stories depicted in
Hindu mythology, Phalke's family shortlisted the legends of Krishna,
Savitri and Satyavan, and
Harishchandra. At the time, a play based on the legends of Harishchandra was popular on
Marathi and
Urdu stages. Friends and neighbours had often called Phalke "Harishchandra" for having sold all his belongings, except his wife's
mangala sutra, to fulfil his filmmaking dream. He agreed to work in films when Phalke offered him a raise of five rupees. Phalke auditioned many boys for the role of
Rohitashva, son of Harishchandra and Taramati, but none of the parents would allow their children to work in the film as the character would have to live in the forests and was to die. Finally, Phalke's elder son Bhalchandra was assigned the role, becoming the first child actor in Indian cinema.
Pre-production Phalke hired around forty people for his
film studio known as a factory in those days. Since working in films was a
taboo, Phalke advised his artists to tell others they were working in a factory for a man named Harishchandra. Phalke watched several foreign films to learn about
screenplay writing and then completed the script for
Raja Harishchandra. The film had an all-male cast as no women were available to play female leads. After coming to the studio, male actors playing female roles were asked to wear
saris and do women's chores like sifting rice, and making flour to help Saraswatibai. Though some actors were associated with theatres, most of the cast did not have any prior acting experience. Phalke ran several rehearsals with the actors. Often, he had to wear a sari himself and act out the scene.
Filming as
Sita in
Lanka Dahan (1917) Production design for the film started after the
monsoon season of 1912. While the
sets were being erected at Phalke's bungalow at
Dadar, an outdoor shooting was scheduled at
Vangani, a village outside Bombay. Some of the male actors playing female roles, including Anna Salunke who was playing the female lead, were not ready to shave off their moustaches because it is part of one of the
Hindu rituals to be performed after the death of one's father. Phalke persuaded the actors and their fathers to have the moustaches shaved and the unit left for Vangani. The unit was lodged at the village temple and continued their rehearsals until Phalke arrived from Bombay. The villagers were frightened to see the troupe of people wearing costumes, wielding swords, shields, and spears while practising the scenes. They informed the
Patil (village headman) that
dacoits (robbers) had entered the village. He immediately reported to the
Faujdar (commander) who visited the temple. The unit explained film-making to them, but the
Faujdar did not believe their story and arrested everyone. When Phalke reached the village, he immediately met the
Patil and the
Faujdar explaining to them again about cinema and filming by showing them the equipment. Without loading film into the camera, he asked his unit to enact one of the film's scenes and went through the motions of filming a scene. After viewing the scene, the
Faujdar understood Phalke's new venture and released everyone. While playing with other children, Bhalchandra fell on a rock and his head started bleeding. Phalke treated him with a
first aid kit, but he remained unconscious. Various unit members suggested that Bhalchandra should be taken to Bombay for further treatment and once he was completely recovered, shooting could be resumed. The scene that was to be filmed showed Rohitashva, Bhalchandra's character, dead on a funeral pyre. Resuming the outdoor shoot after Bhalchandra's recovery would have delayed the production and incurred costs. To avoid both, Phalke stoically decided to shoot the scene with the unconscious Bhalchandra. It was financially challenging for Phalke to go to Kashi and shoot scenes there. So, he took his unit to
Trimbakeshwar, where they camped for about a month and filmed the required scenes. Phalke used to develop the film at night for the scenes that were shot throughout the day. He would re-shoot the scenes next day if they were not of the desired quality. Filming was completed in six months and twenty-seven days to produce a film of ; about four
reels. Phalke used
trick photography to shoot one of the scenes where the god appears and disappears from behind the smoke of sage Vishvamitra's
Yajna-kund. The
film negative stocks used were of limited
spectral sensitivity with low sensitivity to the red band of the
spectrum; thus, sets, costumes, and artists' make-up artists avoided the colour red. During the early nineteenth century, plays had an introductory episode, a compere or a person who introduces the performers in a show. Unit members suggested the film should also have similar introductory episode with Phalke and his wife playing the roles of Sutradhar and Nati. Phalke agreed to the idea but could not convince Saraswatibai to act in front of a camera. Finally, Padurang Gadhadhar Sane played the role of Nati. == Release ==