Harishchandra Factory Analysis
HISTORY OF INDIA THROUGH CINEMA
Sumpi Riningam
Analysis of the movie “HARISHCHANDRACHI FACTORY”
Harishchandrachi Factory is the directorial debut of Paresh Mokashi who won the Best Director award at Pune International Film Festival. The film is the story about the beginning of the Indian Film Industry, set in 1913. Dadasaheb
Phalke had abandoned a well established printing business after a quarrel with his business company. Awestruck by a silent motion picture he watched in a tent theatre Phalke decides to make one. He travels to England to learn about the new technology and, after he returns, collect a team of actors and technicians to produce his first film about the story of Raja Harishchandra.
The movie depicts a lot about the lifestyle, culture, social condition and beliefs of people in India prevalent in those days. One of the remarkable feats in this film is that it is entirely shot in the style of the movies made in Dadasaheb
Phalke's days. There was no camera movement possible in those days - actors and actresses would move in and out of view. Here are some the features of
India in those days that the movie depicts.
Education: In the movie, we see a man showing children portraits of various eminent figures. Though the children could recognise most of them, they were unable to identify prominent figures in Science and Technology like –
Aryabhatta and Jamsetji Tata. It clearly indicates that there was little development in India in terms of Science and Technology. People too gave no importance to it, which is also evident from the following scene where the elders rebuked the man for teaching their children the importance of modern education. Education was not mandatory even though it wasn't prohibited.
Completing 10th grade and Bachelor's was the biggest achievement and it was all local education. Information was passed down orally, and visual aids such as drawings were used. Women almost never went to school which we can
Sumpi Riningam
Analysis of the movie “HARISHCHANDRACHI FACTORY”
Harishchandrachi Factory is the directorial debut of Paresh Mokashi who won the Best Director award at Pune International Film Festival. The film is the story about the beginning of the Indian Film Industry, set in 1913. Dadasaheb
Phalke had abandoned a well established printing business after a quarrel with his business company. Awestruck by a silent motion picture he watched in a tent theatre Phalke decides to make one. He travels to England to learn about the new technology and, after he returns, collect a team of actors and technicians to produce his first film about the story of Raja Harishchandra.
The movie depicts a lot about the lifestyle, culture, social condition and beliefs of people in India prevalent in those days. One of the remarkable feats in this film is that it is entirely shot in the style of the movies made in Dadasaheb
Phalke's days. There was no camera movement possible in those days - actors and actresses would move in and out of view. Here are some the features of
India in those days that the movie depicts.
Education: In the movie, we see a man showing children portraits of various eminent figures. Though the children could recognise most of them, they were unable to identify prominent figures in Science and Technology like –
Aryabhatta and Jamsetji Tata. It clearly indicates that there was little development in India in terms of Science and Technology. People too gave no importance to it, which is also evident from the following scene where the elders rebuked the man for teaching their children the importance of modern education. Education was not mandatory even though it wasn't prohibited.
Completing 10th grade and Bachelor's was the biggest achievement and it was all local education. Information was passed down orally, and visual aids such as drawings were used. Women almost never went to school which we can