Cinema Arrival in India and Pioneers of Indian Cinema

1. Presented by: Santhoshkumar.P, MFA.,
INDIAN CINEMA

2. Lumiere Brothers
Auguste Marie Louis
Nicola
s
Louis Jea
n

3. Cinema Arrived India
❖ The Lumiere brothers were French Cinematographers
who arrived in India after having proved their
cinematic excellence in Paris
.
❖ On July 7th 1896, The lumiere Brothers showcased six
Film at the Watson Hotel, Mumbai- birth of Indian
cinema, the ticket was priced at Rs.
1
❖ The Times of India referred to this event as the “miracle of
the century”.

4. ❖ Entry of Cinematography,
❖ The Sea Bath,
❖ Arrival of a Train
,
❖ A Demolition,
❖ Ladies and Soldiers on Wheels an
d
❖ Leaving the Factory.

5. ❖ The second
fi
lm screening by the Lumiere Brothers took
place on July 14th at a new venue, the Novelty Theatre,
Bombay and twenty four
fi
lms were screened that day
,
❖ A Stormy Sea and The Thames at Waterloo Bridge.
Alternating between these two venues, the shows
culminated on August 15th 1896.

6. Bhatavdekar
❖ H.S. Bhatavdekar was one of the
fi
rst witnesses to the Lumiere
Brothers
fi
lm show in 1896 in
Mumbai
.
❖ was the
fi
rst Indian to make a
fi
lm,
or a motion picture, in India, way
back in 1899
.
❖ He started his professional career
as a portrait photographer. -
a business dealing with cameras
and
fi
lm equipments - was very
popular, and affectionately called
Save Dada.

7. Film Making
❖ He decided to make such
fi
lms in India, and immediately ordered a
cine camera from UK.
❖ He soon acquired a movie camera from London and a projector
and went on to make some
fi
lms on day-to-day life of the city as
also some important events
.
❖ In 1899, Bhatavdekar made his
fi
rst movie, titled ‘The Wrestlers’,
which was the
fi
rst
fi
lm by an Indian
fi
lm-maker. He
fi
lmed a
wrestling match in Hanging Gardens at Mumbai. The
fi
lm was sent
to UK for processing, and then brought back to India. During this
time he also bought a projector and screened foreign-made
fi
lms.

8. ❖ In 1902, he shot a
fi
lm titled Sr. Wrangler Mr. R.P. Paranjpye.
It showed the return of the mathematics scholar and
Minister of Education in Bombay Presidency, R.P. Paranjpye
from Cambridge, England and his landing in India by ship.
This can be considered as the
fi
rst Indian news
fi
lm
.
❖ In 1903, he made ‘Delhi Durbar’, a short documentary,
which showed Lord and Lady Curzon on an elephant at the
coronation of King Edward VII in Calcutta, now called
Kolkata. In 1911, he also made Coronation Darbar in Delhi
which showed the coronation of King George V as the
Emperor of India. This
fi
lm is considered to have historical
signi
fi
cance.

9. Filmography
• The Wrestlers (1896
)
• A man and his monkeys (1899
)
• Local Scenes: Landing of M. M. Bhownuggree (1901
)
• Atash Behram (1901
)
• Sir Wrangler Mr. R. P. Paranjpe (1902
)
• Delhi Durbar of Lord and lady Curzon (1903
)
• Delhi Durbar (1903/I)

10. DADA SAHEB PHALKE
❖ Dada Saheb Phalke is well
known as The father of Indian
cinema
❖ was born on 30 April 1870 at
Trimba
k
❖ In 1891, Phalke did a six-
months course to learn the
techniques of preparing half-
tone blocks, photo-lithio, and
three-colour ceramic
photography.

11. ❖ In 1895, he decided to become a professional photographer and
relocated to Godhra for doing business
.
❖ He started the business of painting the stage curtains for the drama
companies. This got him some basic training in drama production
and fetched him a few minor roles in the plays
.
❖ In 1903, he got a job as a photographer and draftsman at the
Archaeological Survey of India.
❖ 1906 and set up a printing press at Lonavla under the name of
“Phalke Engraving and Printing Works“
.
❖ On 14 April 1911, Phalke with his elder son Bhalchandra went to see
a
fi
lm, Amazing Animals, at the America India Picture
Palace,Girgaon, Bombay(The Life of Christ).

12. ❖ On 1 February 1912, he boarded a ship for London. At London,
Phalke saw a nameboard of “Bioscope Cine-Weekly” near Piccadilly
Circus. He was impressed with Phalke’s dedication and introduced
him to the
fi
lm director, producer, and screenwriter Cecil Hepworth
of Walton Studios
.
❖ On 1 April 1912. He founded the “Phalke Films Company”

13. Film making
❖ Phalke decided to make a short
fi
lm. The short
fi
lm titled
Ankurachi Wadh (Growth of a Pea Plant) and was
showed selective individuals
.
❖ Phalke decided to make a
fi
lm based on the legends of
Harishchandra and wrote the script for it
.
❖ In that movie female roles were performed by male actor
s
❖ The
fi
lming was completed in six months and 27 days
producing a
fi
lm of 3,700 feet (1,100 m), about four reels.

14. ❖ The
fi
lm premiered at the Olympia Theatre, Bombay on
21 April 1913, and had its theatrical release on Saturday,
3 May 1913 at the Coronation Cinema, Girgaon,
Bombay.
❖ “RAJA HARICHANDRA”, which was a silent
fi
lm in
Hindi
.
❖ It was a commercial success and laid the foundation for
the
fi
lm industry in the country.Thefi lm is often
considered the
fi
rst full-length Indian feature
fi
lm

15. ❖ It was a 40 minutes
movie
❖ It was premiered on
21 April 1913 at
Olympia theatre,
bombay

16. ❖ Travelling drama company, Chittakarshak Natak Company,
visited Nashik. Durgabai Kamat was cast as Parvati and her
daughter Kamlabai Gokhale as Mohini and became
fi
rst women
to act in the Indian cinema was released on 2 January 1914
.
❖ A short comedy
fi
lm Pithache Panje (Paws of Flour) was
released as a “side attraction” with the
fi
lm.Phalke made his
third
fi
lm Satyavan Savitri based on the legends of Satyavan
and Savitri
.
❖ On 1 January 1918, the “Phalke Films Company” was converted
into the “Hindustan Cinema Films Company” where Apte was
appointed as managing partner, Phalke as working partner and
others as
fi
nancial partners

17. ❖ The
fi
rst
fi
lm Phalke directed after joining the
Hindustan Cinema Films Company was Sant Namdeo
which was released on 28 October 1922.Thereafter, he
directed
fi
lms for the company till 1929
.
❖ Phalke continued to have differences with the company
owners and he left it twice until 1929. Gangavataran
was the only sound
fi
lm directed by Phalke. He retired
from the
fi
lms due to his old age before retiring to
Nashik, where he died on 16 February 1944.

18. Filmography
❖
Raja Harishchandra (1913)
❖
Mohini Bhasmasur (1913)
❖
Satyavan Savitri (1914)
❖
Lanka Dahan (1917)
❖
Shri Krishna Janma (1918)
❖
Kaliya Mardan(1919)
❖
Buddhadev (1923)
❖
Setu Bandhan (1932)
❖
Gangavataran(1937)

19. Hiralal Sen
❖ Hiralal Sen (1866-1917),
who worked out of
Calcutt
a
❖ Sen was running a
successful photography
business
❖ Sen was a pioneer who
made movies –
documentaries and
product commercials

20. Film making
❖ In 1898, a
fi
lm troupe en route to Paris screened a certain
Professor Stevenson's short
fi
lm along with the stage show,
The Flower of Persia at the Star Theatre in Calcutta.
Borrowing Stevenson's camera, Sen made his
fi
rst
fi
lm, "A
Dancing Scene" from the opera The Flower of Persia. With
assistance from his brother, Motilal Sen,
❖ he bought an Urban Bioscope from Charles Urban's
Warwick Trading Company in London. In the following
year, with his brother, he formed the Royal Bioscope
company.

21. ❖ In a creative career that extended up to 1913, Hiralal Sen
made over forty short
fi
lms.
❖ Most of the
fi
lms he made depicted scenes from theatrical
productions played at Amarendra Dutta's Classic Theatre
in Calcutta. At that time raw
fi
lm was imported into the
country.
❖ Between 1901 and 1904, he produced many
fi
lms for
Classic Theatre including Bhramar, Hariraj, and Buddhadev.
❖ His longest
fi
lm, produced in 1903 and titled Alibaba and the
Forty Thieves, was also based on an original Classic Theatre
performance.

22. ❖ He produced a number of advertising
fi
lms and
news
fi
lms taking commissions.
❖ Having made twofi lms advertising Jabakusum Hair Oil
and Edwards Tonic, he became the
fi
rst Indian to use
fi
lm
for advertising purposes.
❖ In 1905, Sen advertised a "genuine Swadeshi
fi
lm of our
own make". Documenting the "Anti-Partition
Demonstration and Swadeshi movement at the Town Hall,
Calcutta, on the 22nd September 1905", it is, according to
critic Samik Bandyopadhyay, India's
fi
rst political
fi
lm.