WHISTLING WOODS INTERNATIONAL FILM SCHOOL creates video tribute to mark Dadasaheb Phalke’s 150th birth anniversary.

The late Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke, not only made India’s first full-length feature film but paved a path of dreams and aspiration for generations to follow.

To pay their respects to him, students and faculty Whistling Woods International (WWI) created a short, insightful video on him. It also was a nod to his legacy on his 150th birth anniversary.

Dadasaheb Phalke has directed and produced the nation’s first full-length feature film, ‘Raja Harishchandra ‘in 1913 and he was known as the Father of Indian Cinema. The alumnus of Sir J. J. School of Art (Mumbai) and the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, he made 95 feature-length films and 27 short films.

Through the course of his career, he only took a brief retirement during which he wrote a seven-act play, which was staged over two days owing to its length. In the Marathi film, ‘Harishchandrachi Factory’, which depicted Phalke’s struggle to make ‘Raja HarishchandraIndia’, was submitted for Oscars under the Foreign Language Film category.

‘My Dada had expressed a wish that there should be an institute, which imparts education and training in cinema’
Appreciating the tribute, Chandrashekhar Pusalkar, maternal grandson of Dadasaheb Phalke said, “In 1927, during an interview, my grandfather, Dada, had expressed a wish that there should be an institute, which imparts education and training in cinema. Today, this institution is fulfilling his dream by training thousands of students in the field of film and creative arts. It feels great and I’m immensely happy.”

Added Meghna Ghai Puri, Whistling Woods International, “It’s a great honour and privilege for us, as an institute, to pay tribute to Dadasaheb Phalke, the Father of Indian Cinema, one of the most respected personalities of the Indian film industry. The video-tribute briefly chronicles his journey and I’m proud of our faculty and students who took the initiative to create it.”