Harishchandrachi Factory

This movie was the official entry for the Oscars 2010 in the best foreign language film category from India. Though the movie is in Marathi,it actually transcends that minor barrier. It is a winner all the way , well written and directed by Paresh Mokashi.Even though Indian film industry is dominated by Bollywood (Personally I hate that word) such movies like Harishchandrachi Factory are entertaining as well as intelligent. Thanks to the multiplexes such movies no longer have a restricted regional release.Throughout the movie there is a feel good element and one does not feel like being taken for a fool.

It depicts the journey of the pioneer Dada Saheb Phalke as he faces hardships while making his magnum opus and how he overcomes them. Without giving away much, I will say watch out for the way the director has recreated that era.The performances by the actors are refreshing and believable.

Never give up on your dreams, work wholeheartedly and you will win.This message is underlined throughout with out playing up to the galleries.

I gave it 9/10.

"Harishchandrachi Factory" is Indian Cinema's official entry into the Academy Awards and the million-dollar question is - does it justify? Yep, you bet! Maybe not soul-stirring, not a tear-jerker either, sans social message and not even magnum-opus.... yet "Harishchandrachi Factory" lingers in your head like a sweet aroma.

Biopics generally tend to have a format which demonstrate the hardships and struggle of an individuals to realise the dream. It is exactly here "Harishchandrachi Factory" truly standouts by adopting an untrodden path. It depicts Mr. Phalke's journey of creating the first celluloid on Indian Cinema without getting over-bearing, in the light-hearted way possible ensuring the essence is not lost. I am sure the truth is far from it and should not discount the pains Mr. Phalke underwent to plant the seeds of germination for Indian Cinema.

Performances are spot-on, especially Nandhu Madhav who portrays Mr. Phalke. Nicely complimenting him is Vibhwari Deshpande as Mrs. Phalke to extent the audience would feel that marriages are indeed made in heaven. If Mr. Phalke is depicted as an eccentric genius, his better-half is no less crazy.

There are a few emotional moments in the movie like for instance when Phalke loses his eye-sight or when his son falls ill but what is commendable is that either its depicted humorously or the narrative moves on to the next part. The screenplay and editing should be complimented. Of course, the writer/ director truly deserves standing ovation for choosing Dadasaheb Phalke as his subject. And last but not the least UTV for backing this deserving project.

Let me not comment on the chances of "Harishchandrachi Factory" garnering statuettes at Academy awards, however I am confident that you will google and read about Dadasaheb Phalke after watching this movie.

I watched 3 movies last weekend: Up in the Air, Invictus and Harishchandrachi Factory, in that order. And Harishchandrachi Factory really touched my heart. If you ask a South African, he might say Invictus. But I, for one, love Marathi movies for their humor.

HF (I cannot type Harischandrachi Factory all the time) is about how Dadasaheb Phalke, i think he is called Father of Indian cinema, made the first movie in India, "Raja Harishchandra". He must've gone through a lot while making the movie. But the portrayal of the events is damn funny. My roommate, who does not understand Marathi was literally on the floor laughing! Excellent acting, direction, attention to detail and did I mention funny? And it does teach you to follow your heart and don't care about results. Loved the way his family supports him.

Must watch for all movie fans and non movie fans too!

I was one of the lucky persons to catch this movie in sept 09, well in advance of its release, in International Film Festval Nagpur, and even more delighted when it was selected for the Academy awards. Once again Marathi cinema has one more feather on its cap for this extraordinary piece of art. Its more of a tribute to Late Dadasaheb Phalke and a token of appreciation for initiating a movement that went on to create the second largest movie industry in the world. The movie begins with a simple scenario of a unemployed man who gets inspired from a British motion picture theater( in a tent). The movie showcases very truly how people used to look up to cinema in earlier days, paying ticket to watch blurry b&w moving images without audio. Not only it was difficult to think of making something like a motion picture but rather impossible as there were no sources to explore the possibility of such a thing. The approach of Dadasaheb Phalke towards making a motion picture and that too beginning from less than a scratch has been beautifully shown to the finest detail. What the catchy part of the movie is that you are taken into a pleasant trance mood right from the initial scene, maybe because of the humor tinge given to the film in almost every scene. Every scene, even the emotional ones does have a funny element of character attached to it to keep you laughing all the way. It must be the first drama film to have a tinge of humor attached to go for Oscars. Or maybe its selected at the first place as the film is based on the life of Father of Indian Cinema. But it doesn't take away any credit by the makers of this film for creating a masterpiece. Hope its in the top five at the academy awards and hope it wins it too.

Hi everyone,

as i have mentioned i love watching movies more than i love programming...so i have decided to write a kind of review of movies which i see....after 3-4 days finally today i got time to watch "Harishchandrachi Factory"... when i started it i was hoping to see a very serious kind of movie which will depict life "Dadasaheb Phalke-- Father of Indian Cinema"..but it turned out to be a very pleasant, gentle movie....

well the movie starts with a maverick man who has left his good printing business and is working as magician doing street shows....he happens to see a "motion picture"..well normally you wont give a damn about this word...but this movie will surely tell u what it really represents......after watching this cinema..he decides to do his own motion picture or "a drama on screen" as people first used to call motion pictures....

movie then goes through his efforts to make his dream real...the best thing about movie is not actually the story but the way it is presented on the screen.... there are few scenes which are truly remarkable ..specially where Phalke sells his cupboard to buy books and people started making a big deal out of it..as if someone has died... part where phalke is looking for women actors to portray Taramati and mustache saga....

Nandu Madhav has played character extremely well but one thing i couldn't stop noticing about his acting was..it kind of looked like Chalie Chaplin...i dnt know if its true...but u have to c it yourself.... another beautiful aspect of movie was how relation between phalke and his wife is handled...its shear pleasure watching the couple together....Vibhavari Deshpande who enacted Saraswati Phalke has done well job too....

Director Paresh Mokashi has done beautiful job in writing as well as directing... portraying a life a man in 97 min is really a tough job.... so in all a nice movie... and a nice tribute to the originator of Indian Cinema which currenlty is biggest film industry in the world....