Dhundiraj Govind Phalke
Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (also called Dadasaheb Phalke , Marathi धुंडिराज गोविंद फाळके ; born April 30, 1870 in Trimbak , Presidency of Bombay , British India ; † February 16, 1944 in Nashik , Presidency of Bombay, British India) was an Indian film director . He is considered to be the founder of the Indian film industry.
Life
Phalke studied art and architecture in Bombay at the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art . He initially worked as a landscape painter, photographer, stage make-up artist and as an assistant for a German magician. He turned down an offer to start as an art printer in Germany and instead went to England in 1912 to purchase equipment for film production.
A friend gave him the financial support he needed to produce India's first feature film. The result was Raja Harishchandra , who hit theaters on May 3, 1913. It is about a king who sacrifices his kingdom and his family for the sake of his principles before he gets them back from the gods, impressed by his sincerity. The film won over the audience because, unlike the usual western films, they got to see a story they were familiar with.
Phalke went to Nashik and produced other films. Offers to stay in Europe, which he received on a visit to England in 1914, he again turned down and returned to India with new film equipment. From 1917 to 1919 he made his greatest and most successful films there, all depicting mythological stories. His film Kaliya Mardan , made in 1919, is Phalke's most fully preserved film today. Like his colleagues Georges Méliès and David Wark Griffith in the West, Phalke dealt with special effects , elaborate sets and the technical aspects of filming.
The mythological film dominated Indian cinema for a while, but in the 1920s audience tastes shifted to more action-heavy subjects and the film became more commercial. Phalke made the majority of his films in the 1920s, but began to feel more and more like an outsider and retired from filmmaking in 1928. However, he made one film each in 1931 and 1937, without this being granted any major success. When he died in 1944, he was already forgotten.
The most prestigious film award in India, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award , today commemorates the pioneer of Indian film . Paresh Mokashi's marathic film Harishchandrachi Factory (2009) about Phalke's film work was India's nominee for an Academy Award .
Films (selection)
- 1913: Raja Harishchandra
- 1913: Mohini Bhasmasur
- 1914: Satyavan Savitri
- 1917: Lanka Dahan
- 1918: Shri Krishna Janam
- 1919: Kaliya Madan
- 1931: Setu Bandhan
- 1937: Gangavataram
Web links
- Dadasaheb Phalke in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Satish Bahadur : DG Phalke: The First Indian Film Director (1967)
- Article about Dhundiraj Govind Phalke by Suresh Chabria in indiatoday.in of April 11, 2008
- Dadasaheb Phalke's family wants Bharat Ratna for him in The Times of India from April 28, 2013
Individual evidence
- ↑ Krishna consciousness - A silent classic comes back to Mumbai ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Phalke, Dhundiraj Govind |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Phalke, Dadasaheb; Phalke, DG |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Indian film director |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 30, 1870 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Trimbak , Bombay Presidency , British India |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 16, 1944 |
| Place of death | Nashik , Bombay Presidency, British India |