18 May (1912) Shree Pundalik


On this Day The first Indian movie, Shree Pundalik by Dadasaheb Torne, was released in Mumbai. Indian Modern History is not only about the struggle for freedom but it also witness of creativity. Although Indian film Industry was in its early stage and technologically starved but still there were gems who use the available means to showcase their creativity. One such person was Ramchandra Gopal Torne, better known by contemporaries as Dadasaheb Torne. He showcased his creativity by making the very first movie in India. This movie was called Shree Pundalik. Film was directed and produced by Dadasaheb Torne. The entire film was shot in a theatre at Mangaldas Wadi in Bombay, where the Sangeet Mandali, a professional theatre group, was performing a play ‘Pundalik’.







Dadasaheb Torne, a school dropout in from Malwan, learnt the skills for repairing instruments and installing electrical devices.  It was his love for Marathi plays and foreign movies, gave him the idea of making a movie in India. He was very young when he decided to make film. He took assistance from his friend in making film. Pundalik was a silent film without dialogue. Chitre and Ramrao Kirtikar wrote the shooting script.


Shree Pundalik was sent to london for processing by Dadasaheb Torne. Shree Pundalik was about about 22 minutes long. The film had a script,was shot with a camera, and its negatives were sent to London for processing. After Processing the film was  released at Coronation Cinematograph, Girgaum in Mumbai. The film got reception and ran for two weeks. Although Dadasaheb torne made the first movie but Dadasaheb Phalke is considered the Father of Indian cinema for his movie Raja Harishchandra.

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