''Shree Pundalik'', which was released on 18 May 1912 at the Coronation Cinematograph, Girgaum,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, is sometimes considered the first feature-length Indian film by a minority. The government of India and most scholarly sources consider '' Raja Harishchandra'' to be the first Indian feature film, and detractors argue ''Pundalik'' was only a photographic recording of a popular play. It was produced and directed by Dadasaheb Torne.

History

''Shree Pundalik'' was a

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

. Torne and his colleagues Nanasaheb Chitre and Ramrao Kirtikar wrote the shooting script. ''Shree Pundalik'' was sent overseas for processing by Dadasaheb Torne. Torne's ''Pundalik'' was about 1,500 feet or about 22 minutes long. The film had a shooting script, was shot with a camera, and its negatives were sent to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

for processing. Positives were produced and finally released at Coronation Cinematograph,

Girgaon Girgaon, or Girgaum, is an area in southern Mumbai in Maharashtra, India. It is near the coast. A section of Marine Drive, Mumbai, Marine Drive is located here. History Girgaon has a deep-rooted connection with the celebration of Ganesh Cha ...

. The film ran for two weeks.

Debates about the film

Some writers, film critics and historians like Firoze Rangoonwalla, Arnab Jan Deka, Sanjit Narwekar have argued that Dadasaheb Torne was the father of Indian cinema, as his first directed and produced feature film ''Pundalik'' was officially released on 18 May 1912, almost one year before Dadasaheb Phalke's '' Raja Harishchandra'', released on 3 May 1913. Arnab Jan Deka published a research paper with the title ''Bharatiya Chalachitrar Janak Bhatawdekar aru Torne'' (''Fathers of Indian Cinema Bhatawdekar and Torne'') in the daily newspaper ''Dainik Asam'' on 27 October 1996. Books on cinema like ''A Pictorial History of Indian Cinema'' and ''Marathi Cinema : In Perspective'' support this perspective. However, most scholarly sources agree that ''Raja Harishchandra'', which was released nearly a year later, is more deserving of the title of the first Indian film. Some have argued that ''Pundalik'' does not deserve the honour of being called the first Indian film because it was a photographic recording of a popular Marathi play, and because the cameraman—a man named Johnson—was a British national and the film was processed in London.

Centennial

''Shree Pundalik'' celebrated its centennial on 18 May 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shree Pundalik 1912 films Indian silent films Indian black-and-white films Filmed stage productions