Probashi- Cover Story
Probashi- Cover Story
The Firsts in Indian Cinema
1913 First heroine ‐ A young boy, Salunke, who plays Taramati in Dadasaheb Phalke’ s Raja Harischandra. The first female heroine is Kamalabai Gokhale. 1913 First hero ‐ Dattatraya Damodar Dabke becomes the first hero, as Raja Harischandra, India’ s first full‐length feature 1915 First animation ‐ Agkadyanchi Mouj, made by Phalke, is the first animation film after his earlier unreleased attempt of 1912, called The Growth of the Pea Plant 1918 Indian Cinematograph Act ‐ The terms of censorship and licensing are spelt out. In 1920, censor boards set up in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras 1921 First censorship controversy ‐ Kanjibhai Rathod ' s Bhakt Vidur, released around the time of the Rowlatt Act, is seen as“ politically subversive” and banned in Madras and Karachi 1923 First film poster ‐ Baburao Painter creates a poster for his film Maya Bazaar, also known as Vatsala Haran 1931 First film song ‐ De De Khuda Ke Naam Par Pyare, sung by W. M. Khan for Alam Ara; its composer was Phiroz Shah Mistry, the first music director 1931 First talkie ‐ Ardeshir Irani ' s Alam Ara releases on March 14 at Bombay ' s Majestic Cinema. Audiences actually hear a film for the first time. 1935 First stunt film ‐ With Hunterwali, starring Fearless Nadia, the stunt film is accepted as a respectable big‐budget genre 1937 First international recognition ‐ Sant Tukaram, released at Central Cinema, Bombay, in 1936, receives Special Jury mention at the 5th Venice International Film Festival 1937 First colour film ‐ Kisan Kanya, by Moti B. Gidwani, is the first colour film processed in India. The earlier colour effort, Sairandhri, was processed in Germany. 1938 First camera crane ‐ Wadia Movietone uses the camera crane, built in its own workshop under B. M. Tara’ s supervision 1943 First certified blockbuster ‐ Gyan Mukherjee ' s Kismet has leading man Ashok Kumar plays an anti‐hero. 1945 Rafi’ s first screen appearance ‐ Mohd Rafi makes an appearance in Laila Majnu 1946 Lata Mangeshkar ' s Bollywood debut ‐ Paa Laagu Kar Jori Re in the film Aap Ki Sewa Mein is her first Bollywood song 1946 Cannes Grand Prize ‐ Chetan Anand ' s Neecha Nagar wins Grand Prize at the first Cannes Film Festival 1950 First ' A ' film ‐ Akash Chitra ' s Hanste Aansu is the first Hindi feature film to get an‘ A’ certificate. 1952 IFFI ‐ The first International Film Festival of India is organised by Films Division( set up in 1949) in Bombay, Madras and Calcutta 1954 First National Awards ‐ The Marathi film Shyamchi Aai, directed by P. K. Atre, and Jagat Murali ' s short film Mahabalipuram win the very first National Awards 1957 First Academy Awards entry Mother India releases. It is India ' s first submission for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958, and is nominated.
The first heroine of Indian Cinema Anna Salunke was actually a male. He made his debut in the first Indian film Raja Harishchandra and acted the part of Rani Taramati. Dabasaheb Phalke the director of the film after having failed to convince any woman to act in his film, had to settle for Anna Salunke, whom he spotted at an eatery on Grant Road, Mumbai where Salunke was a waiter. Salunke acted as the female lead in five films and later became a cinematographer.
First singer in Indian films was Wazir Mohammad Khan who played the role of Fakir in the first Indian talkie Alam Ara released in 1931. He sang the song“ De De Khuda Ke Naam Par Pyaare”. For the song recordings, only a harmonium and tabla were used out of the camera range and the singer sang into a hidden microphone. The print and the recording of Alam Ara have been lost. WM Khan died in Bombay in 1974.