Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra (1917)

Directed by

Rustomji Dhotiwala

Genre

silent film

Country

British Raj

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A Hindu king sacrifices his kingdom and sells himself and his family to keep a promise given to a sage. The film is based on a mythological story and is a silent black and white feature.

black-and-whitesilentmythologicalearneststatelymoralseriousslow-paceddevotional

What happens

Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra (Bengali: সত্যবাদী রাজা হরিশচন্দ্র; English: Truthful King 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. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra (1917)
• Lanka Dahan (1917)
• Bilwamangal (1919)
• Shri Krishna Janma (1918)
• Katorabhar Khoon (1920)
• Shakuntala (1920)
• பக்த குமணன் (1939)
• Mohini Bhasmasur (1913)