Dadasaheb Phalke Birth Anniversary: Did You Know The Director's 1913 Film Raja Harishchandra Is a Remake of Its Own?

Dadsaheb Phalke is considered the pioneer of Indian filmmaking. His first full-fledged film Raja Harishchandra is arguably the one that started it all. In those days, having women as actresses was unacceptable and hence, Phalke had to do with men playing female characters. He had to do a host of jobs on the film to keep the budget controlled. But would you believe us if we say the film that you can see on YouTube isn't the original one? Yes, 1913 original no longer exists! Dadasaheb Phalke Birth Anniversary: Did You Know The Filmmaker Screened his Short Comedy Pithache Panje as Side Attraction During Mohini Bhasmasur?

The film archivist and restorer Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, who runs the Film Heritage Foundation in Mumbai revealed this during the 17th Mumbai Film Festival. He added, "Phalke was taking them [the prints] in a bullock cart when they got burnt. He had to reshoot the film. And that’s the version we have today. We don’t have the 1913 version. It’s gone.” Dadasaheb Phalke Birth Anniversary Special: 5 Facts About The Father Of Indian Cinema That Every Movie Buff Should Know About.

Dungarpur went on to add that Phalke had the costumes and other props from the shoot. He filmed the entire story once again after a few years. This trivia was discovered in Dadasaheb Phalke's diary which was found by PK Nair, who was the founder and director of the National Film Archive of India (NFAI).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 30, 2023 08:10 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).