Why Dadasaheb Phalke was compelled to remake Raja Harishchandra

Dhundiraj Govind Phalke aka Dadasaheb Phalke made what is arguably India's very first film, Raja Harishchandra, in 1913. A clip that is purportedly from that film is available on YouTube and it’s often shown at various festivals and screenings.

However, shortly after the melodrama was made, all prints were irreversibly damaged due to the inflammable nature of nitrate film stock, compelling Phalke to remake his passion project years later.

How Dadasaheb Phalke promoted Raja Harishchandra

This piece of trivia was shared by film archivist and restorer Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, who runs the Film Heritage Foundation in the city, at the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF).

Sharing what exactly transpired, Dungarpur said, “Phalke was taking them [the prints] in a bullock cart when they got burnt. He had to re-shoot the film. And that’s the version we have today. We don’t have the 1913 version. It’s gone.”

He added, “He remade it after a few years. He [still] had the costumes and all other things. Then he went and re-shot the whole film.”

Dungarpur came to learn this from the eminent film historian and archivist PK Nair, who was the founder and director of the National Film Archive of India (NFAI). “When Nairsahab went to collect all film material from his family, he got Phalke’s diary, which is now missing,” said Dungarpur while answering a question posed by Cinestaan.

“He [Nair] got [the print of] Kaliya Mardan, which is a 1919 film. With the help of the diary, he joined the film. They were in fragments. It was joined at FTII [Film and Television Institute of India] because at that time the Archive was not there. It was joined by him frame-to-frame while referring to Phalke’s diary.”

It was through this diary that they came to know about the fate of the first Raja Harishchandra film. “That’s how they discovered that the original version [of Raja Harishchandra] is gone and he had to re-shoot the film. Some actors who were there in 1913 were not available."

Dungarpur said that a major clue that the existing film isn't from 1913 is the presence of actresses. When Phalke made the original film, he had to employ actors to impersonate women. For example, he got Anna Salunke to essay the role of queen Taramati.
 
Asked why the version that was made later is still referred to as the 1913 film, Dungarpur said, “The norm is such that people started saying it is a 1913 film. I think they are too afraid to say that that was gone. Even in the later version, we only have two reels. The second and third are missing.”