Bhishma Pratigna (1921 film)

Bhishma Pratigna (transl. The Oath of Bhishma) is a 1921 Indian silent film directed by Raghupati Surya Prakash.[1] Prakash also produced the film along with his father Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu through Star of the East production company. The film stars Surya Prakash as Bhishma and Peggy Castello as Ganga.[2] It is generally considered to be the first Telugu feature film.[3][4][5][6][7] Some film historians also consider it to be the first feature film produced in South India.[4][5][8] The film was released all over India, Burma and Sri Lanka and was a big success.[9] The film was made on a budget of ₹12,000 (worth ₹2.2 crore in 2021 prices) and made ₹60,000 in returns.[10]

Bhishma Pratigna
భీష్మ ప్రతిజ్ఞ
Directed byRagupathi Surya Prakash
Produced byRagupathi Surya Prakash
Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu
StarringRagupathi Surya Prakash
Peggy Castello
Production
company
Star of the East
Release date
1921
CountryIndia
LanguageSilent
Budget₹12,000
Box office₹60,000

Cast
  • Raghupathi Surya Prakash as Bhishma
  • Peggy Castello as Ganga
  • Bunny Osten
  • A. Narayanan

Highlights

Bhishma Pratigna made in 1921 is a silent film. It is the first film made by a Telugu producer. It is generally considered to be the first Telugu feature film.[3][6]

Raghupathi Venkaiah sent his son R. S. Prakash abroad to learn filmmaking. Prakash has toured Germany, Italy and the United States. He worked as an assistant to Cecil B. DeMillie, the director of Ten Commandments (1923).

After Prakash's return, he founded 'Star of the East', the first film production company in South India. In 1921, Bhishma Pratigna produced a silent film. Prakash not only directed but also played the role of Bhishma in the film. An English woman named 'de Costello' played the role of Ganga.

Later, the father and son made some more films like Matsyavatar, Nandanar (1923), Gajendra Moksham (1923). Later, the famous C. Pullayya and Y. V. Rao started their film career as Prakash's followers.

References
  1. "Bhishma (1936)". The Hindu. 1 February 2014. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 12 March 2023. The first silent version was produced and directed in 1921 by the now forgotten Indian film pioneer R. Prakash (then known as R. Suryaprakash or R.S. Prakash).
  2. Garga, Bhagwan Das (1996). So Many Cinemas: The Motion Picture in India. Eminence Designs. p. 51. ISBN 978-81-900602-1-9.
  3. Thoraval, Yves (2000). The Cinemas of India. Macmillan India. ISBN 978-0-333-93410-4.
  4. Hindi Cinema Year Book. Screen World Publication. 2002.
  5. Asian Film Directory and Who's who. 1952.
  6. Rao, Akkina Mareswara (1997). "Celluloid and its past: Cultural and ideological mediation of Telugu cinema in colonial Andhra's Past" (PDF). Shodhganga. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  7. Experts, Arihant (20 April 2018). Indian Art & Culture. Arihant Publications India limited. ISBN 978-93-5094-484-4.
  8. Hindustan Year-book and Who's who. M. C. Sarkar. 1989.
  9. Chabria, Suresh; Usai, Paolo Cherchi (1994). Light of Asia: Indian Silent Cinema, 1912-1934. Wiley Eastern. p. 15. ISBN 978-81-224-0680-1.
  10. Baskaran, Sundararaj Theodore (1981). The Message Bearers: The Nationalist Politics and the Entertainment Media in South India, 1880-1945. Cre-A.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.