Cast: Nandu Madhav, Vibhawari Deshpande
Art Director: Nitin Chandrakant Desai
Director: Paresh Mokashi
"Harishchandrachi Factory" takes you through the nostalgic experience of being in 1913. It also caters to the making of Indian cinema by Dadasaheb Phalke addressed as Dhundiraj Phalke in the movie. It’s truly amazing to know how his obsession gets recognition when the family proudly stands beside him. Genuinely, it was more of teamwork than he alone struggling to prove that motion pictures can be a part of Indian world.
The story is set at the background of the British rule in India and during Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s struggle for Swaraj in Maharashtra. The wonderful use of sets by Nitin Chandrakant Desai brings out that nostalgic feel of moving around in Maharashtra in 1913. The shots of his London visit are simply awesome right from the camera work to the perfect locations depicted in the movie. Great script, excellent dialogue, correct comic timings of the characters is relished very well. The actors Nandu Madhav and Vibhavari Deshpande have done an excellent job. Even the little ones have played their role to the fullest. Director Paresh Mokashi had always been at his best when it comes to historic characters involving comedy like in his play “Mukkam Post Bombilwadi”. The title truly suits the movie in every possible way comparing Mr. Dadasaheb Phalke to Raja Harishchandra and his wife ‘Saraswati’ being compared to ‘Taramati’.
The First part of the movie predicts when and how his curiosity about the moving pictures starts, and how it turns to obsession even after his neighbors criticizing him to be a maniac. They even try to admit him to the mental hospital but then he escapes. Gradually, the obsession becomes more evident when he starts selling the furniture from his home and decides to go London fooling his family that he knows someone in London but actually it’s just a cinema magazine that he has with him. In the scenes in London he directly enters the office and asks the head of the magazine “I want to make a motion picture …Can you help?”. His frankness says all about his passion for making motion pictures. One more amazing thing about the movie is that, the movie grips you to the seat even during the interval and doesn’t let you move off your seat even a bit. You literally wait for the second part to begin soon.
In the latter part of the movie, he is in search of a good team with expressive actors and other side artists like makeup man, carpenter etc. The comical part begins when he searches for the lady characters to work in his movies. At last, the lack of female characters is filled up by the males who are trained to behave like females in their daily routines also. Every character played in the picture behaves manner similar to their role in the picture, May it be female and male, God and demon, or king and queen. He not only hunts actors to work with him but he creates good actors.
"Harishchandrachi Factory" proves you that it can work wonders when your talent and hobby becomes your profession. When I think of this movie, all I could see is a wonderfully supportive wife and two loving sons who had helped a great man to fight against all odds to fulfill his aspirations.
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