The Phalke Talkies

The Mumbai-based filmmaker’s world changed almost 23 years ago,when he decided to work on a biographical project on Dadasaheb Phalke,the father of Indian cinema. This was in the early ’90s and Swaroop was still reeling from the after-effects of his film Om Dar-Ba-Dar (1989). Touted as a cinematic masterpiece by some and a surreal piece of work by others,the film was famously banned in India.

That is when he stumbled upon Phalke and his story. “While researching,we heard of a missing autobiography,which he had written and dictated to his wife,Saraswati,and daughter Mandakini. It was an interplay of dreams,memories and fantasies,his encounters with famous personalities that shaped his character and destiny,” says Swaroop. It was more like a snowball project for him. Essentially,he wanted to reconstruct that missing book.

Most of the research that Swaroop had done required him to assemble various bits of newspaper cuttings,photographs,photocopies and hand-written notes. Armed with glue and scissors,Swaroop would obsessively cut and paste all the bits of information in a giant scrapbook. Tracing Phalke is also designed like that. It’s a giant eponymous compilation tracing the life of Phalke.

Born near Nashik in Maharashtra,Phalke studied art from JJ School of Arts in Mumbai and also studied sculpture,engineering and photography at Kala Bhavan in Vadodara,Gujarat.

At first,Swaroop,who has worked with noted filmmakers such as Mani Kaul,Mira Nair,Aparna Sen,Saeed Akhtar Mirza,Shyam Benegal and Sai Paranjpe,had decided to showcase the life and times of Phalke through short films. Over the course of 20 years of research,he made over seven short films on the legend. “I visited the cities he had lived and worked in,” says the filmmaker,who has also worked with Richard Attenborough for Gandhi. The latest short film in the series is set in Varanasi,a place where Phalke wrote and directed a play titled Rangabhoomi.

But Swaroop feels that Project Phalke is a long-term venture. Armed with a brand new script,he is now working on a full-length feature film. “I am working on making a mainstream film on Phalke’s life. It is part fantasy,part fiction and will revolve around how Phalke worked with noted artistes of that time such as Raja Ravi Verma and Shantaram,” says Swaroop. He would like Aamir Khan to play the role of Phalke.