| Mohini Bhasmasur | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Dadasaheb Phalke |
| Written by | Dadasaheb Phalke |
| Produced by | Dadasaheb Phalke |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Dadasaheb Phalke |
| Distributed by | Dadasaheb Phalke |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Languages | Silent film Marathi intertitles |
Mohini Bhasmasur is a 1913 Indian mythological film directed by Dadasaheb Phalke and starring Kamlabai Gokhale and Durgabai Kamat. It is India's and Phalke's second full-length feature film. Mohini Bhasmasur is the first Indian film to have a female actor. In Raja Harischandra , India's and Phalke's first film, the role of the female was played by Anna Salunke, a male. [1] [2]
The plot of the film revolves round the theme of the Hindu mythological story of Mohini and Bhasmasur(a) ("ash-demon"), an asura (demon). The god Shiva grants Bhasmasura the power to turn anyone into ashes by touching their head. The demon decides to try the power on Shiva himself. Shiva runs terrified. The god Vishnu, witnessing the unfortunate turn of events, transforms into the seductress Mohini and enchants Bhasmasura. Bhasmasura asks her to marry him. Mohini agrees, but only on the condition that Bhasmasura follows her move for move in a dance. In the course of the dance, she places her hand on her head. Bhasmasura mimics the action, and in turn, reduces himself to ashes.
The film was of 32,554 feet (9,922 m) length. [3]
Mohini Bhasmasur was the first Indian film to cast a female in the woman's role. Kamlabai Gokhale (1900–1998), then called as Kamla Kamat, a Marathi stage actress, was cast as the heroine Mohini and Durgabai Kamat her mother played the role of Parvati. Kamala was only 13 years old at the time. [2] [4] [5] However, in an era where women in performing arts were compared to prostitutes, [6] this did not set a trend and male actors continued to perform female roles in cinema for years.
Mohini Bhasmasur was the second feature film on a Hindu mythological theme in black and white of the silent movie era produced and directed by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (1870–1944), popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke. He was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, costume-designer, editor, processor, printer, developer, projectionist and distributor all rolled in one, known as the father of Indian cinema, and his first film was Raja Harishchandra, which released on 3 May 1913. [7] Soon after, Mohini Bhasmasur was screened for the first time in November 1913. [8] A one-minute short comedy film Pithache Panje (Dough Claws) was released as a "side attraction" with the film. [9]
Phalke produced four films in succession under the banner "Production Company" including Mohini Bhasmasur, Savitri Satyavan (1914), Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra (1917) and Lanka Dahan (1917). [4] His wife Saraswati Phalke was the woman behind the scene who was the manager and technical assistant to her husband in film making. Phalke was inspired into film making after he watched the movie "Life of Christ" in 1910. This led him to London for training in filmography under Cecil Hepworth of Walton Studios, in 1912. He had bought the camera Williamson make for his film production, which he used for his first five Phalke Films. [10] [11] In creating the mythological themes for his films, Phalke was influenced by Raja Ravi Varma, the famous painter of mythological themes. He also introduced the screen play format for the film and rehearsed his actors before recording the scenes. [12] Departing from "declamatory" style of Sanskrit drama (where mythological themes were prevalent), Phalke used nataka (folk theater) dividing the screenplay into acts. [6] Most of Mohini Bhasmasur was shot in the open countryside. [6] The scene where Bhasmasur keeps his hand on his head and reduces to ashes, Phalke shot with the actor and then retracted the film and shot some spoilt film being burnt in the actor's position, giving the effect of Bhasmasur burning. [3]
Phalke's first three films were created in eight months together without a film studio, by hand-driven machines and using a crew who had no prior film experience. [13] All three films were highly successful and Phalke was able to pay off his debts, which he had acquired to make the films. [14] They were shown by Phalke in London, in 1914. [1]
Kamala who was a stage actress performed the first dance number in the role of a heroine in Indian cinema. In the dance item, she played the role of Mohini enticing Bhasmasura, the demon or asura, with her seductive dancing to bring about his death. Phalke was the choreographer of the dance item and he had been inspired by Hindu temple sculptures, Buddhist murals in the Ajanta Caves, devadasi (temple-dancer) tradition and dancing (see Lavani) from the Tamasha folk form. [15]
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in the field of cinema. It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The recipient is honoured for their "great and outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema" and is selected by a committee consisting of eminent personalities from the Indian film industry. The award comprises a Swarna Kamal medallion, a shawl, and a cash prize of ₹1,000,000 (US$13,000).
Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke, was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as "the Father of Indian cinema".
Mohini is the Hindu goddess of enchantment. She is the only female avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu. She is portrayed as a femme fatale, an enchantress, who maddens lovers and demons, sometimes leading them to their doom. Mohini is introduced into Hinduism in the narrative epic of the Mahabharata. Here, she appears as a form of Vishnu following the Churning of the Ocean, a mesmerising beauty who distributes the amrita to the weakened devas (gods) and depriving it to the dominant asuras (demons), allowing the former to defeat the latter with their newfound immortality.
Raja Harishchandra is a 1913 Indian silent film directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke. It is often considered the first full-length Indian feature film. Raja Harishchandra features Dattatraya Damodar Dabke, Anna Salunke, Bhalchandra Phalke. and Gajanan Vasudev Sane. It is based on the legend of Harishchandra, with Dabke portraying the title character. The film, being silent, had English, Marathi, and Hindi-language intertitles.
Kamat or Kamath is a surname from Goa, Maharashtra and coastal Karnataka in India. It is found among Hindus of the Goud Saraswat Brahmin, Saraswat and Rajapur Saraswat Brahmin communities following Madhva Sampradaya of either Gokarna Matha or Kashi Matha.
Marathi Cinema, also known as Marathi Chitrapat, is the segment of Indian cinema, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Marathi Language widely spoken in the state of Maharashtra. It is based in Mumbai. It is the oldest film industry of India and one of the leader in Filmmaking in India's film industry. The first Marathi talkie film was Ayodhyecha Raja, released in 1932, just one year after Alam Ara the first Hindi talkie, before releasing the Aayodhyecha Raja, all the Marathi films until then were Silent films with Intertitles.
D. D. Dabke or Dattatraya Damodar Dabke was an actor in the first ever Indian full length silent film Raja Harishchandra, directed by Dadasaheb Phalke in 1913. He co-starred with Anna Salunke. He acted in three more movies Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra (1917), Lanka Dahan (1917), Shri Krishna Janma (1918) and later became a cinematographer, as well as a director. He directed the 1924 remake of Raja Harishchandra
In Hinduism, Bhasmasura is an asura or demon, who was granted the power to burn up and immediately turn into ashes (bhasma) anyone whose head he touched with his hand. The asura was tricked by the Vishnu's only female avatar, the enchantress Mohini, to turn himself into ashes.
Coronation Cinematograph and Variety Hall was a hall in the Girgaon area of south Mumbai, India, used for variety entertainment shows, dramas and to screen movies.
Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra is a 1917 silent black and white Indian film based on Hindu mythology, directed by Rustomji Dhotiwala. It was produced by J. F. Madan's Elphinstone Bioscope. Credited as the first remake in Indian cinema, the film is a remake of the first Indian feature film, Raja Harishchandra (1913) and was also inspired by an Urdu language drama, Harishchandra. The film is based on the mythological story of a Hindu King Harishchandra, the 36th king of the Solar Dynasty, who donated his entire kingdom and sold himself and his family to keep the promise given to the sage Vishvamitra in the dream. It is also the first feature film made in Calcutta. The intertitles used in the film were in Bengali language as the film was a silent film. The film was released on 24 March 1917 at New Tent Maidan, Calcutta.
Yana is a tourist destination located in forest of Katgal Range, which is also a part of Malenadu region of Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka state in India. Yana is one of the wettest villages in the world. It is the cleanest village in Karnataka and the second cleanest village in India. The two unique rock outcrops after the village are tourist attractions and easily approachable by two routes one from Kumta-Sirsi Highway by a small trek through 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) the thick forests from the nearest road head and another from Sirsi-Ankola Road.
Harishchandrachi Factory is a 2009 Indian Marathi-language biographical film written and directed by Paresh Mokashi. It is about Dadasaheb Phalke, who made the first Indian feature film Raja Harishchandra (1913), and starring Nandu Madhav as him and Vibhavari Deshpande as his wife Saraswati. Harishchandrachi Factory focuses on the struggle Phalke faced during its production.
Gangavataran is a 1937 Indian film by Dadasaheb Phalke, who is known as the "father of Indian cinema". It was the first sound film and the last film to be directed by Phalke. When Phalke directed this film, he was 67 years old. He directed Gangavataran on behalf of Kolhapur Movietone.
Shree Pundalik, which was released on 18 May 1912 at the Coronation Cinematograph, Girgaum, Mumbai, is sometimes considered the first feature-length Indian film by a minority. The government of India and most scholarly sources consider Raja Harishchandra to be the first Indian feature film, and detractors argue Pundalik was only a photographic recording of a popular play. It was produced and directed by Dadasaheb Torne.
Durgabai Kamat was a Marathi actress, who was the first actress in Indian cinema.
Kamlabai Gokhale was one of the first actresses in Indian cinema, along with her mother Durgabai Kamat.
Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra is a 1917 silent black and white Indian short film directed and produced by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke. The film is a shorter version of the first Indian feature film, Raja Harishchandra (1913), also directed and produced by Phalke. The intertitles used in the film were in Marathi language as the film was a silent film. The film is based on the mythological story of a Hindu King Harishchandra, the 36th king of the Solar Dynasty, who donated his entire kingdom and sold himself and his family to keep the promise given to the sage Vishvamitra in the dream.
Lanka Dahan is a 1917 Indian silent film directed by Dadasaheb Phalke. Phalke also wrote the film based on an episode of the Hindu epic Ramayana, credited to Valmiki. The film was Phalke's second feature film after the 1913 Raja Harishchandra, which was the first Indian full-length feature film. Phalke also directed various short films in between.
Anna Hari Salunke, also known as A. Salunke and Annasaheb Saluke, was an Indian actor who performed female roles in very early Indian cinema and also a cinematographer. He is the first person to perform as a heroine in Indian cinema when he played the role of Queen Taramati in Dada Saheb Phalke's first full-length film, Raja Harishchandra (1913). In 1917, Salunke became the first to play a double role in Indian cinema, by playing the roles of both the hero and heroine in Lanka Dahan.
