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 .