Ramchandra Gopal Torne

Ramchandra Gopal Torne, also known as Dadasaheb Torne, was an Indian director and producer who made the first feature film in India, Shree Pundalik, in 1912. He is considered the "Father of Indian cinema" along with Dadasaheb Phalke, who made the second feature film in India, Raja Harischandra, in 1913. Torne was born on 13 April 1890 in Malwan village on the western Indian Konkan coast near Mumbai. After his father's death, he and his mother were forced to live in poverty. He dropped out of school at the age of 10 or 11 and worked as an electrician and instrument repairer. He was fascinated by the plays and foreign films that he saw in Mumbai and decided to make his own movie. With the help of a friend and financier, Mr. Chitre, he imported raw film and a movie camera from abroad and shot the first Indian feature film, Shree Pundalik, based on a popular Marathi play. The film was released on 18 May 1912 in Mumbai's Coronation movie theater and ran for two weeks. However, Torne did not get the credit of being the first Indian filmmaker as he sent his film to London for processing and his film was shorter than Phalke's Raja Harischandra, which was made entirely in India and ran for 40 minutes. Torne later moved to Karachi and started releasing Hollywood movies there. He also established his own studio, Saraswati Cinetone, in Pune and produced many successful films such as Sham Sundar, Aut Ghatkecha Raja, Raja Gopichand, and Bhakt Pralhad. He introduced many actors and actresses to the film industry, such as Zubeida, Master Vithal, and Shanta Apte. He also experimented with sound, color, and animation in his films. He was a pioneer of Indian cinema who contributed to its growth and development. He died of a heart attack on 19 January 1960 in Mumbai.