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Hiralal Sen
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Hiralal Sen (Bengali: হীরালাল সেন Hiralal Shen) (1866 – 1917) was a Bengali photographer generally considered one of India's first filmmakers. 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.
Contents
- 1 Early life
- 2 Creative years
- 3 India's first political film
- 4 Later years
- 5 Notes
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Early life
Hiralal Sen's native home was in Manikganj, approximately 80 km from Dhaka, the present-day capital of Bangladesh.[1] Although he was the son of a successful lawyer of a zamindar family of that region, he grew up in Calcutta.[1] 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.[2] Borrowing Stevenson's camera, Sen made his first film, "A Dancing Scene" from the opera The Flower of Persia. [2] With assistance from his brother, Motilal Sen, he bought an Urban Bioscope from Charles Urban's Warwick Trading Company in London.[2] In the following year, with his brother, he formed the Royal Bioscope company.[2]
Creative years
In a creative career that extended up to 1913, Hiralal Sen made over forty films.
[3] 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.
[2] Between 1901 and 1904, he produced many films for Classic Theatre including
Bhramar,
Hariraj, and
Buddhadev.
[2] His longest film, produced in 1903 and titled
Alibaba and the Forty Thieves, was also based on an original Classic Theatre performance.
[2] [1] However, not much is known about this
feature film since it was never screened.
[1] He also produced a number of advertising films and newsfilms taking commissions.
[2]. Having made two films advertising Jabakusum Hair Oil and Edwards Tonic, he may have been the first Indian to use film for advertising purposes.
[1]
India's first political film
A film documenting the Anti-Partition Demonstration and Swadeshi movement at the Town Hall, Calcutta on 22nd September 1905 is generally considered India's first political film. [1][3] In 1905, it was advertised as a "genuine Swadeshi film of our own make" and ended with the rallying cry for freedom, Vande Mataram.[1]
Later years
Royal Bioscope made its last film in 1913. Hiralal Sen's later years were filled with disappointment and economic hardship.[1] Jamshedji Framji Madan of the Elphinstone Bioscope Company had long surpassed him in terms of success. 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.[1][2][3]
Notes
