Dadasaheb Phalke

Dadasaheb Phalke
Phalke seated on a chair with a small roll of film in his hands
Born	Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (1870-04-30)30 April 1870 Trimbak, Bombay Presidency, British India (present-day Nashik, Maharashtra, India)
Died	16 February 1944(1944-02-16) (aged 73) Nashik, Bombay Presidency, British India (present-day Maharashtra, India)
Alma mater	Sir J. J. School of Art Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
Occupations	Film director Producer Screenwriter Editor Art director Costume designer Make-up artist
Years active	1912–1944
Spouses	Kathilakam Bai ​ ​ (m. 1885; died 1900)​ Saraswatibai Phalke ​ ​ (m. 1902⁠–⁠1944)​

Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (Pronunciation: [d̪ʱuɳɖiɾaːd͡ʒ pʰaːɭke]), popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke (30 April 1870 – 16 February 1944), was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as "the Father of Indian cinema".^[1]

His debut film, Raja Harishchandra, was the first Indian movie released in 1913, and is now known as India's first full-length mythological feature film. He made 94 feature-length films and 27 short films in his career, spanning 19 years, until 1937, including his most noted works: Mohini Bhasmasur (1913), Satyavan Savitri (1914), Lanka Dahan (1917), Shri Krishna Janma (1918) and Kaliya Mardan (1919). In his honor, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was instituted as highest honorary award under the National Film Awards by the Government of India.