All you Bollywood fans, do you ever wonder how the Indian film industry got started almost a hundred years ago? Forget superstars, overseas locations, musicals and spicy dance item numbers – there wasn’t even sound! It’s hard to believe women’s roles were played by men since even prostitutes considered acting in the cinema too demeaning a task.
‘Harishchandrachi Factory’ is a wonderful little film – only 95 minutes compared to the 3 hour Bollywood blockbusters – and it is a journey into the making of India’s first film by Dhundiraj Phalke, who is acknowledged as the father of the Indian film industry.