Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra

Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra
A poster of the film released in the newspaper
Directed byRustomji Dhotiwala
Written byNityabodha Bidyaratna
Produced byElphinstone Bioscope
StarringHormusji Tantra,
Savaria,
Gaharjan,
Behramshaw
CinematographyJyotish Sarkar
Distributed byMadan Theatre
Release date
  • 24 March 1917 (1917-03-24)
Running time
120 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguagesSilent film
Bengali inter-titles

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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] The film was released on 24 March 1917 at New Tent Maidan, Calcutta.[5][6]

  1. ^ "Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra (1917)". Internet Media Data Base.com. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  2. ^ Gooptu 2010, p. 12.
  3. ^ Dawar 2006, p. 9.
  4. ^ Cameron 2011, p. 302.
  5. ^ Sur & Goswami 1999, p. 1.
  6. ^ Gooptu 2010, p. 16.