A Reel Tribute

“He made 130 films,which is a great feat considering the technology that was available then. He struggled against all odds and despite the displeasure of the British,the advent of the World War and his own financial struggles,he accomplished his dream of an Indian film industry,” says Summanwar,whose book The Silent Film captures both personal details of Dadasaheb Phalke’s life and his prolific film career. She notes that it was after watching The Life of Jesus Christ at a local theatre that her great grandfather got inspired to make a film. With Rs 25,000 and a staff of 40 people,in 1912,he began filming Raja Harishchandra,a silent film. However,the movie captured the imagination of thousands of Indians,who were delighted with the subject and the smooth trick photography and technology that was used.

Summanwar has also written another book,Shaurya ,in the past. Ironically,it was only when the book was about to be converted to a movie that she decided to research how her great-granduncle would have done it. Her research recorded all the anecdotes she had heard about Phalke through her childhood. She read old publications,watched his films and read copies of Kesari and Navayug ,both popular Marathi publications during that period,which featured regular columns about filmmaking by Phalke. “We grew up with stories about him; with anecdotes from his personal life,but we were never encouraged to get close to the film industry simply because it wasn’t accepted then and because Dadasaheb himself had to struggle a lot,” she says,adding,“We used to hear stories about how he lived a grand life in Nasik. He entertained over 40 people at the house everyday.”

The great grand-niece is proud that Phalke was not just a master filmmaker but knew how to market films. She states,“In those days you could watch a three-hour play for three annas and for the same amount of money people did not want to watch a short movie running for one and a half hours. So,he told them it was a show with two mile long collection of pictures. People flocked to the theatres to watch his shows after that.”