''Harishchandrachi Factory'' (; ) is a 2009 Indian Marathi-language biographical film written and directed by

Paresh Mokashi Paresh Mokashi (born 6 February 1969) is an Indian Film director, filmmaker, producer, actor and Theatre director-producer; working predominantly in Marathi cinema and Marathi theatre. He started working as a Theatre (structure)#Basic elements ...

. It is about

Dadasaheb Phalke Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, ̪ʱuɳɖiɾaːd͡ʒ pʰaːɭke, popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke (30 April 1870 – 16 February 1944), was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as "the Father of Indian ...

, who made the first Indian feature film '' Raja Harishchandra'' (1913), and starring Nandu Madhav as him and Vibhavari Deshpande as his wife Saraswati. ''Harishchandrachi Factory'' focuses on the struggle Phalke faced during its production. The film is the directorial debut of Paresh Mokashi who won the Best Director award at

Pune International Film Festival The Pune International Film Festival (also known as PIFF) is an annual film festival held in Pune, a city in Maharashtra, India. Open to general public, the films are screened at National Film Archive of India, NFAI, INOX Leisure Limited, Inox ...

, where the film was shown. In September 2009, it was selected as India's official entry to

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

in the Best Foreign Language Film Category, making it the second film, after ''

Shwaas ''Shwaas'' (''The Breath'') is a Marathi film, released in 2004. It was India's official entry to the 2004 Oscars and was ranked 6th in the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film category. Its storyline is based on a real-life incident ...

'' (2004), in

Marathi cinema Marathi cinema is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Marathi language, which is widely spoken in the state of Maharashtra. It is based out of Mumbai. It is the oldest film ind ...

to receive this honour.

Overview

The film depicts the making of India's first full-length feature film by

Cast

* Nandu Madhav as

* Vibhavari Deshpande as Saraswati Phalke * Sandeep Pathak as

Trymbak B. Telang Trymbak B. Telang was an early Indian cinematographer. He was trained in the operation of the Williamson camera. He shot for films such as '' Raja Harishchandra '' (1913), Indian first full-length feature film and ''Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra ...

* Bhalchandra Kadam as Deaf and dumb actor * Satish Alekar as Lawyer (Special Appearance) * Jitendra Joshi as Parsi in theatre in beginning of movie (Special Appearance) * Hrishikesh Joshi as School Teacher in beginning of Movie (Special Appearance) * Pravin Tarde as Carpenter * Vishakha Subhedar as Prostitute's mother

Critical reception

The film was officially released in India on 29 January 2010 and received critical appreciation.

Awards and honours

References

;Awards

External links

* *
Harishchandrachi Factory, Film Review in The Hollywood Reporter

Harishchandrachi Factory, Film Review

{{UTV Movies 2009 films 2009 comedy films Indian biographical films Films about filmmaking Films set in the 1910s Indian comedy films UTV Motion Pictures films Best Marathi Feature Film National Film Award winners 2000s biographical films 2009 directorial debut films 2000s Marathi-language films Films directed by Paresh Mokashi Films scored by Anand Modak Films based on Marathi people