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Raja Harishchandra was made through the resourcefulness of filmmaker Dadasaheb Phalke and a compact production operation in Bombay. Its place as India’s first full-length indigenous feature is widely recognized, though the label “first” has limits: earlier film activity included Shree Pundalik (1912), and historians dispute whether footage now associated with Phalke’s film comes from the 1913 original or his 1917 remake.
What “first Indian feature film” means
Government of India accounts identify Raja Harishchandra as India’s first feature film or first full-length silent feature. In common film-history usage, that means the first full-length feature made indigenously in India—not the first motion-picture activity in the country. The distinction matters because Dadasaheb Torne’s Shree Pundalik, released in 1912, is sometimes raised as a possible earlier first. The Tuli Research Centre describes Raja Harishchandra as the film officially recognized by the Government of India as the landmark first feature. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting’s account and the Tuli Research Centre entry support that careful wording.
How Phalke set the project in motion
Dhundiraj Govind Phalke—later known as Dadasaheb Phalke—brought experience in art, photography, magic, performance and printing to filmmaking. The Government of India’s 63rd Official Catalogue presents this varied background as part of the context for his inventive work.
The Tuli Research Centre says Phalke’s decision to make a feature followed a Bombay screening of The Life of Christ in 1911. In early 1912, he went to London for a two-week filmmaking course. After returning, he established Phalke Films Company and imported equipment from England, France, Germany and the United States, according to the same specialist reference.
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- RAJA HARISHCHANDRA (1913) *D.D. Dabke, P.G. Sane, Bhalchandra D. Phalke- MAJHLI DIDI (1967) * Meena Kumari, Dharmendra, Lalita Pawar - KASHINATH (1943) * Asitbaran, Amar Maullick, Manorama Debi, Bharati Devi ( 3 IN 1 DVD ) golden era - Classic Combos
To attract investors to the unfamiliar venture, Phalke made a short film, Ankurachi Wadh (Growth of a Pea Plant). The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting also connects the feature’s inspiration to Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings and says Phalke chose a popular mythological story. Its official account describes the film as commercially successful at the time and as helping pave the way for Indian silent cinema; it does not give ticket sales or a box-office total. Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, 29 April 2023.
Making a film with a small, concentrated team
Production accounts describe an improvised studio in Bombay and a company made up largely of family and friends. The film-history discussion reproduced by Indiancine.ma portrays Phalke as handling or supervising much of the work, from producing and scripting to set and costume design, camerawork, processing and special effects. These are secondary historical accounts rather than a surviving day-by-day production record. Indiancine.ma’s discussion of the film.
Phalke’s many roles
The Tuli Research Centre credits Phalke with the script, direction, design, makeup, editing and film processing. It names Trymbak B. Telang as cinematographer. The breadth of Phalke’s responsibilities helps explain why the production is often described as a concentrated, largely one-man operation, even though others carried out essential work.
Recruiting the cast
Newspaper advertisements were used to recruit cast and crew, according to Tuli. The entry says women were unavailable or unwilling to act, so men played female characters. Its listed cast includes Dattatraya Damodar Dabke, Anna Salunke, Bhalchandra Phalke and Gajanan Vasudev Sane. These details come from the centre’s specialist film entry, not a complete set of primary production records.
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Scale and duration
Tuli reports that filming lasted more than six months and that the finished film measured 3,700 feet, roughly four reels. These are reported figures; the source does not present them as independently corroborated production records. The consulted accounts do not establish an authenticated production budget, audience count or ticket-sales figure.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.When it was first shown
The dates in the available accounts refer to different events, not necessarily a contradiction. Tuli reports a premiere at Olympia Theatre in Bombay on 21 April 1913, followed by commercial release on 3 May at Coronation Cinematograph and Variety Hall in Girgaon. Indiancine.ma’s reproduced film-history account also gives 3 May 1913 for the release at Coronation Cinematograph.
| Event | Date and place | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Reported premiere | 21 April 1913, Olympia Theatre, Bombay | Tuli Research Centre |
| Commercial release | 3 May 1913, Coronation Cinematograph and Variety Hall, Girgaon | Tuli Research Centre |
| Release date also reported | 3 May 1913, Coronation Cinematograph, Bombay | Indiancine.ma discussion |
What survives—and why its date is disputed
The complete 1913 film is not established as surviving. Tuli says the first and last reels are preserved at the National Film Archive of India, while also noting that historians have questioned whether they belong to Phalke’s original or his 1917 remake.
The Indiancine.ma discussion reproduces Suresh Chabria’s account of evidence presented by V. Dharamsey. The surviving print shows Anna Salunke as Taramati, whereas the 1913 version reportedly used Pandurang Sane for the role. Chabria’s discussion treats that casting difference as evidence that the extant reels date from the 1917 remake. The dating claim should be attributed rather than treated as settled fact: the preservation history is contested, and the surviving footage should not be presented as the complete 1913 original. Indiancine.ma’s reproduced discussion; Tuli Research Centre.
Further viewing and reading
Harishchandrachi Factory, directed by Paresh Mokashi, chronicles the making of Raja Harishchandra, according to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting. It offers a dramatized route into the story rather than a substitute for the film-history record. Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.
For a broader account of Indian silent cinema, Indiancine.ma cites Light of Asia: Indian Silent Cinema 1912–1934, edited by Suresh Chabria and published by Niyogi Books with the National Film Archive of India in 2013. Indiancine.ma’s discussion and references.
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