''Ayodhyecha Raja'', literally "The King of Ayodhya", was the first Marathi talkie, released in 1932, directed by Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre. It is based on the mythological story of

Raja Harishchandra ''Raja Harishchandra'' () is a 1913 Indian silent film directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke. It is often considered the first full-length Indian feature film. ''Raja Harishchandra'' features Dattatraya Damodar Dabke, Anna Salunke, Bhal ...

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and setting of the great epic Ramayana. Ayodhy ...

and his test by sage

Vishwamitra Vishvamitra ( sa, विश्वामित्र, ) is one of the most venerated rishis or sages of ancient India. According to Hindu tradition, he is stated to have written most of the Mandala 3 of the Rigveda, including the Gayatri Ma ...

, as recounted in

Valmiki Valmiki (; Sanskrit: वाल्मीकि, ) is celebrated as the harbinger-poet in Sanskrit literature. The epic ''Ramayana'', dated variously from the 5th century BCE to first century BCE, is attributed to him, based on the attributio ...

's epic, ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

''. The film was also made as a double-version, ''Ayodhya Ka Raja'' (1932) in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

, making it the first double version talkie of

Indian cinema The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, ...

, wherein Munshi Ismail Farogh wrote the Hindi dialogue, while screenwriter N.V. Kulkarni also did Marathi dialogue. India's first full-length feature film, ''

'' (1913), was also made on the same storyline.

Significance

The film was not just

Prabhat Film Company Prabhat Film Company (popularly known as Prabhat Films) was an Indian film production company and film studios founded in 1929 by the noted film director V.Shantaram and his friends. It was formed in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India in 1929, towar ...

's first talkie film, but also for its director, V. Shantaram. In its time, it was a leap not just in sound, song and dialogue quality and became a hit. Eventually, it turned out to be a social leap as well for the film industry, as the entry of

Durga Khote Durga Khote (14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in arou ...

, who belonged to an upper class and elite

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

family into Marathi cinema, paved way for other women from upper classes to enter cinema. V. Shantaram made another version film, ''

Duniya Na Mane Duniya may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Duniya'' (1968 film), a Hindi romantic thriller * ''Duniya'' (1984 film), a Hindi film * ''Duniya'' (2007 film), an Indian Kannada-language film * ''Duniya'' (album), a 1997 album by Raageshwa ...

'' (''Kunku'' in Marathi) in 1937. After the 2003 fire at the

National Archives of India The National Archives of India (NAI) is a repository of the non-current records of the Government of India and holds them in trust for the use of administrators and scholars. Originally established as the Imperial Record Department in 1891, in Cal ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

in which prints of first Indian talkie ''

Alam Ara ''Alam Ara'' () is a 1931 Indian Hindustani-language historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It revolves on a king and his two wives, Navbahaar and Dilbahaar, who are childless; soon, a ''fakir'' (Muhammad Wazir Khan) ...

'' (1931) were lost, it is also the earliest surviving talkie of Indian cinema.

Cast

* Govindrao Tembe as

Harishchandra Harishchandra () is a legendary king of the Solar dynasty, who appears in several legends in texts such as the '' Aitareya Brahmana'', '' Mahabharata'', the '' Markandeya Purana'', and the '' Devi Bhagavata Purana''. The most famous of these s ...

* Durga Khote as Taramati * Digambar as Rohitashwa * Nimbalkar as

* B.Desai as Jatadhar * Sushila as Maid Queen * B.Pendharkar as Ganganath * Vinayak as Narad * G.R. Mane as Domb

Soundtrack

''Ayodhyecha Raja'' has music by Govindrao Tembe: * "Shiv Shankara, Girjavaran" * "Jai Jai Rajadiraj"; singer:

Vasant Desai Vasant Desai (1912–1975) was an Indian film music composer, most remembered for his score in V. Shantaram films like '' Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje'' (1955), '' Do Aankhen Barah Haath'' (1957), Vijay Bhatt's '' Goonj Uthi Shehnai'' (1959), ''Samp ...

References

External links

*
Ayodhyecha Raja
at ''

'' {{V. Shantaram 1932 films Indian black-and-white films Films about Raja Harishchandra Prabhat Film Company films Films directed by V. Shantaram Indian historical drama films 1930s historical drama films 1932 multilingual films Indian multilingual films 1930s Marathi-language films 1932 drama films