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Home > Entertainment > Yesterday's Tales - some interesting facts

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Yesterday's Tales - some interesting facts

Longest Kissing Scene
The longest kissing scene till date has been picturised for the film Karma (released in 1926), a silent film. It was between Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani for about 4 minutes on the screen, almost 4 times lengthier than the kissing scene of Dayavaan (released in 1989) between Vinod Khanna and Madhuri Dixit.

First movie released in India
The first movie was released in India around 103 years ago, i.e. on 7th July 1897 at Watson Hotel, Mumbai. This film was produced by Leiumour Bros., it had only 6 scenes! All it had was an arrival of a train, a sea bath, demolition of a building, workers leaving the mill and ladies and soldiers on wheels. It was a silent movie for 10 minutes.
First Indian Producer
The first Indian to produce a film was H.S. Bhatwdekar. All he had with him was a projector, but he didn't have a camera, so he got one from London and shot only 2 scenes of 3 minutes each, which were titled Do Pahalwanon Ki Kushti and Bandar Ko Nachata Hua Madaari. It was released in December 1989, more than a century ago!

Movie released on first day of last century
On the first day of the last century, i.e. on 1st January 1900, another silent movie was released at Novelty Cinema, Mumbai. It had Faatima, an Indian Dancer, a Britisher, Mr. Taivello, had imported some raw material of film reels from U.K. and by adding and editing them he managed to convert these pieces into a short film.

First ever mythological Film
The first ever mythological film produced in India was Pundalik, based on the actual life of a saint from Maharashtra. Mr. N.G. Chitre, of Bombay & a cinematographer Mr. Stevenson had jointly produced this film, which was released on 18th May 1912 at Coronation Theatre, Sandhurst Road.

Movies released during the slient era
The trend of silent era continued from 1897 to 1930 and during this period of 34 years, around 1200 films were released, of which very few films print are available now. It's a shame that even Govt. Departments like National Archives or Film and Television Institute don't posses these silent films.

First Talkie film in India
At the beginning of the 4th decade, the film viewers were bestowed with a surprising gift, the silent era had ended, films now had sound, so we could hear actors and actresses talking. The first film, which had both these qualities, was Alam Ara, produced by Imperial Movie tone, Bombay. The film was released on 14th March 1931 at Majestic Cinema, Girgaon, Bombay. The film starred Prithviraj Kapoor (father of late Raj Kapoor), Zubeida, Master Vithal, Zillo and Wazir Mohd. Khan. The film had 7 songs and the music director was Firozeshah M. Mistri.

Second Talkie film in India
The second talkie film released in India was Shirin Farhaad, on 30th May 1931. It was produced by Madan Theatres, Calcutta and directed by its owner Mr. J.J. Madan. It had 18 songs. Indra Sabha which was released in 1932 had as much as 69 songs in it. Can you believe it! It was produced by Madan Theatre, Calcutta and directed by J.J. Madan. The film starred Master Nissar, Jahan Aara, Kazzam, Miss Silvasia and others.

Dialogue writer of first Hinduatani film
Do you know, who had written the dialogues for this first Hindustani film? Don't be surprised! He was not a Hindi-speaking person. He was a British by name Joseph David.

First color film in India
The first ever color film made in India was Kissan Kanhaiya produced by Imperial Film Co. This film was released in 1973. Moti B. Gidwani directed it, and its music was composed by Ram Gopal Pandey. The film had 10 songs, which were released by Gramophone Records.

First ever female role by male
The first ever female role depicted by a male artiste was played by Salunke for the film Raja Harishchandra released in 1913. D.D. Dhabke played the title role.

Some interesting facts

Guru Dutt had conceived his classic Pyaasa way back in 1948. The film was almost launched under the name of Kashmakash but was shelved due to paucity of funds. The same subject was then made as Pyaasa in 1957.
Raj Kapoor made his debut in the film Neelkamal but before that he had acted in two other films as a child actor. The films were After the Earthquake and Inquilaab. By the way Raj Kapoor also did a small role in Dilip Kumar's debut film Jwar Bhata.
In 1976 a film was planned called Maje Le Lo. They wanted to complete the film in 1 day and so accordingly 5 sets were erected. The work never went on schedule and the film was finally made in 23 days.
Biswajeet made a hit debut in the thriller Bees Saal Baad. But for a long time after the movie was a hit, Biswajeet had no work. He was just about to pack his bags and leave for Kolkatta when the phone rang. It was work ever since Suraiya and Dilip Kumar were at loggerheads with each other. Suraiya had been signed for a film called Jaanwar. But when they signed Dilip Kumar for the lead role she politely walked out of the film with an unpolite dialogue that said 'Main Janwaar Ke Saath Kam Nahin Karna Chahti'.