Raja Harischandra ( 1913): India's First Movie

 The film revolves around the noble and righteous king, Harishchandra, who first sacrifices his kingdom, followed by his wife and eventually his children to honour his promise to the sage Vishwamitra. Though, in the end, pleased by his high morals, the Gods are pleased and restore his former glory, and further bestow him with divine blessings.

Phalke was greatly influenced by the style of painter Raja Ravi Verma in the making of this film. The film had an all-male cast; no woman was available for playing female leads, so the men played all the roles.The film reel was 3700 feet long, roughly 40 minutes.

In 2008, Harishchandrachi Factory, a film based on the making of Raja Harishchandra was announced. The title is based on the fact that, when the film was made, working in films was taboo, so Dada Saheb advised his artists to tell others that they were working in the factory of one 'Harishchandra'.

The film was first shown in public on 3 May 1913 [at Mumbai's Coronation Cinema, Narayan Choyal, Girgaon, where crowds thronged the roads outside the hall, as it marked the beginning of the Indian film industry. The film was so successful that Dada Saheb had to make more prints to show the film in rural areas as well. The film was a grand success and soon established Phalke as a producer and paved the way for the Indian film industry. Dada Saheb's wife cooked food alone, without any help, for the whole cast and crew, which were more than 500 people. She also washed the clothes and costumes, helped in the posters and production of the film, and co-operated with the cast, satisfying them with food and water.

Publicity poster for film, Raja Harishchandra (1913) show at 'Coronation Hall', Girgaum, Mumbai

The original film was in four reels, and the National Film Archive of India has only the first and last reels, though some film historians believe that they belong to a 1917 remake of the film, by the same name.

( Inputs from Wikipedia)