Hiralal Sen

Hiralal Sen (Bengali: হীরালাল সেন, Hiralal Shen; 2 August 1868 – 26 October 1917[1]) is generally considered one of India's first filmmakers. In 1903, he filmed the popular Alibaba and Forty Thieves, the first full-length Indian film. A noted photographer, he is also credited with creating India's first advertising films and quite possibly India's first political film. A fire in 1917 destroyed all of his films.

Hiralal Sen
Hiralal Sen, c. 1900
Born2 August 1868
Manikganj, Bengal Presidency, British India
Died26 October 1917(1917-10-26) (aged 49)
Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Photographer, filmmaker
SpouseHemangini Devi
Parents
  • Chandramohan Sen (father)
  • Bidhumukhi Sen (mother)
Hiralal Sen, performing the Flower of Persia at the Star Theatre, Kolkata.

Early life

Hiralal Sen's native home was in Bagjuri, a village in Manikganj, approximately 80 km from Dhaka, the present-day capital of Bangladesh.[2] Although he was the son of a successful lawyer of a Baidya zamindar [3] family of that region, he grew up in Calcutta.[2] In 1898, a film troupe en route to Paris screened a certain Professor Stevenson's short film along with the stage show, The Flower of Persia at the Star Theatre in Calcutta.[4] Borrowing Stevenson's camera, Sen made his first film, "A Dancing Scene" from the opera The Flower of Persia.[4] With assistance from his brother, Motilal Sen, he bought an Urban Bioscope from Charles Urban's Warwick Trading Company in London.[4] In the following year, with his brother, he formed the Royal Bioscope company.[4]

Filmmaking career

In a creative career that extended up to 1913, Hiralal Sen made over forty short films.[5] Most of the films he made depicted scenes from theatrical productions played at Amarendra Dutta's Classic Theatre in Calcutta. At that time raw film was imported into the country.[4] Between 1901 and 1904, he produced many films for Classic Theatre including Bhramar, Hariraj, and Buddhadev.[4] His longest film, produced in 1903 and titled Alibaba and the Forty Thieves, was also based on an original Classic Theatre performance.[2][4] However, not much is known about this feature film since it was never screened.[2] He also produced a number of advertising films and newsfilms taking commissions.[4] Having made two films advertising Jabakusum Hair Oil and Edwards Tonic, he became the first Indian to use film for advertising purposes.[2][6]

India's first political film

In 1905, Sen advertised a "genuine Swadeshi film of our own make". Documenting the "Anti-Partition Demonstration and Swadeshi movement at the Town Hall, Calcutta, on the 22nd September 1905", it is, according to critic Samik Bandyopadhyay, India's first political film.[5]

Last film made

Royal Bioscope made its last film in 1913.[4]

Filmography
Year Title
1903 Alibaba and the Forty Thieves
between 1901 and 1904 Bhramar
between 1901 and 1904 Hariraj
between 1901 and 1904 Buddhadev
1905 Anti-Partition Demonstration and Swadeshi movement at the Town Hall, Calcutta, on the 22nd September 1905

Later years

Hiralal Sen's later years were filled with disappointment and economic hardship.[2] Jamshedji Framji Madan of the Elphinstone Bioscope Company had long surpassed him in terms of success.[5] To compound his misery, he was also suffering from cancer. A few days before his death in 1917, a fire broke out destroying every film he ever made.[2][4]

in 2021, A film named 'Hiralal' has made on his life starring Kinjal Nanda.[7]

Notes
  1. Bandyopadhyay, Alexander (23 October 2017). "Pioneer of Bengali Cinema Hiralal Sen (in Bengali)".
  2. Teachers’ Medicare Benevolent Fund (31 December 2005). "Hiralal Sen (in Bengali)". Retrieved 1 November 2006.
  3. Mukharji, Projit Bihari (14 October 2016). Doctoring Traditions: Ayurveda, Small Technologies, and Braided Sciences. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-38313-2.
  4. McKernan, Luke (31 December 1996). "Hiralal Sen (copyright British Film Institute)". Retrieved 1 November 2006.
  5. Bandyopadhyay, Samik (1990). "The Early Years of Calcutta Cinema". In Chaudhuri, Sukanta (ed.). Calcutta: The Living City. Vol. II: The Present and Future. Oxford University Press. pp. 293–294. ISBN 978-0-19-563697-0.
  6. "Bengal's Jabakusum Hair Oil - First Asian brand advertised in The Bengal Gazette". Get Bengal. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  7. "'Hiralal' - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 7 March 2021.

Further reading
  • Raju, Zakir Hossain (2014). Bangladesh Cinema and National Identity: In Search of the Modern?. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-60181-4.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.