Hiralal Sen

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Hiralal Sen
Hiralal Sen.jpg
Hiralal Sen
Born2 August 1868
Manikganj, Bengal Presidency
Died26 October 1917(1917-10-26) (aged 49)
Calcutta
NationalityIndian
OccupationPhotographer, filmmaker
Spouse(s)Hemangini Devi
Parent(s)Chandramohan Sen
Bidhumukhi Sen
Hiralal Sen, performing the Flower of Persia at the Star Theatre, Kolkata

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 India full length 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.

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 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.[3] Borrowing Stevenson's camera, Sen made his first film, "A Dancing Scene" from the opera The Flower of Persia.[3] With assistance from his brother, Motilal Sen, he bought an Urban Bioscope from Charles Urban's Warwick Trading Company in London.[3] In the following year, with his brother, he formed the Royal Bioscope company.[3]

Creative years[]

In a creative career that extended up to 1913, Hiralal Sen made over forty short films.[4] Most of the films he made depicted scenes from theatrical productions played at in Calcutta. At that time raw film was imported into the country.[3] Between 1901 and 1904, he produced many films for Classic Theatre including Bhramar, Hariraj, and Buddhadev.[3] His longest film, produced in 1903 and titled Alibaba and the Forty Thieves, was also based on an original Classic Theatre performance.[2][3] 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.[3] Having made two films advertising Jabakusum Hair Oil and Edwards Tonic, he became the first Indian to use film for advertising purposes.[2]

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.[4]

Later years[]

Royal Bioscope made its last film in 1913. 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.[4] 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][3]

In popular culture[]

in 2021, A film named 'Hiralal' has made on his life starring Kinjal Nanda. [5]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Bandyopadhyay, Alexander (23 October 2017). "Pioneer of Bengali Cinema Hiralal Sen (in Bengali)".
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Teachers’ Medicare Benevolent Fund (31 December 2005). "Hiralal Sen (in Bengali)". Retrieved 1 November 2006.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i McKernan, Luke (31 December 1996). "Hiralal Sen (copyright British Film Institute)". Retrieved 1 November 2006.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c Bandyopadhyay, Samik (1990). "The Early Years of Calcutta Cinema". In Chaudhuri, Sukanta (ed.). Calcutta: The Living City. Volume II: The Present and Future. Oxford University Press. pp. 293–294. ISBN 978-0-19-563697-0. |volume= has extra text (help)
  5. ^ "'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.

External links[]

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