Lanka Dahan

Lanka Dahan
Enranged Hanuman, played by Shinde.
Directed byDhundiraj Govind Phalke
Written byDhundiraj Govind Phalke
Based onRamayana
by Valmiki
Produced byDhundiraj Govind Phalke
StarringAnna Salunke
Ganpat G. Shinde
CinematographyTrymbak B. Telang
Release date
  • 1917 (1917)
CountryIndia
LanguagesSilent Film
Marathi intertitles
Lanka Dahan (1917) by Dadasaheb Phalke

Lanka Dahan (English: Lanka Aflame) is a 1917 Indian silent film directed by Dadasaheb Phalke. Phalke also wrote the film based on an episode of the Hindu epic Ramayana, credited to Valmiki. The film was Phalke's second feature film after the 1913 Raja Harishchandra, which was the first Indian full-length feature film. Phalke also directed various short films in between.[1]

Anna Salunke, who had previously played the role of Rani Taramati in Phalke's Raja Harishchandra played two roles in this film. As women were prohibited from taking part in commercial performing arts, men also played the female characters. Salunke played the male character of Rama as well as the female character of his wife Sita.[2] He is thus credited with playing the first double role in Indian cinema.[3]

  1. ^ Mankekar, Purnima (1999). Screening Culture, Viewing Politics: An Ethnography of Television, Womanhood, and Nation in Postcolonial India. Duke University Press. p. 375. ISBN 0822323907. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  2. ^ "Dadasaheb Phalke - Father of Indian Cinema". Dadasaheb Phalke Academy. Archived from the original on 18 December 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  3. ^ Majumdar, Neepa (2009). Wanted Cultured Ladies Only!: Female Stardom and Cinema in India, 1930s-1950s. University of Illinois Press. p. 224. ISBN 978-0252076282. Retrieved 4 October 2012.