LONDON
LONDON
Seeking a vegetarian diet, Phalke locates a hotel run by a Maharashtrian Muslim, Mr. Abdul.
He reaches the offices of the ‘Bioscope’, a cinema weekly, next to Piccadilly Circus.
At first, Mr. Cabourne, the manager, tries to dissuade Phalke from taking up the profession. I went to see the editor of the ‘Bioscope’, an important film weekly, and sought his advice on equipment. He was really astonished when he came to know that I had acquired so much knowledge on this subject only through book It appeared to me that he even developed some regard for me when he realized that I was a vegetarian and a teetotaler and even a non-smoker.
When he learned that I planned to make films myself, he said that I was indulging in a hazardous adventure. Apart from many other things, he thought that the very climate of India would be unsuitable for this craft.
But when I had explained to him how I had anticipated difficulties and also my plans for overcoming them, he was distinctly pleased.
Promptly, he telephoned the manager of the Hepworth Cinema Company, some thirty to thirty-five miles from London, and arranged for me to see the factory in detail.
Mr. Hepworth comes to Walton station to receive Dadasaheb Phalke.
Eager to test his theories against the actual practice of filmmaking, Phalke visits the Hepworth studios and observes their shooting methods. Phalke: The natural action of human beings or other animate beings is photographed with a specific speed and when these are projected with the same speed, the impression of natural action is created.
However, it is possible to achieve special effects by reducing or increasing the speed of photographing or projection.
For instance, the movement of a bullet being fired from a gun cannot be seen by the naked eye.
But the quick photographic camera can record even the movements of a bullet in motion.
Now, suppose the photographs of a moving bullet are projected at a lower speed, all the movements of a bullet, like its penetrating a wall, can be shown as naturally as the actions of a human being. The lens of a camera is opened and closed sixteen times a second. Thus, in every second, there are thirty-two movements in the camera.
The photographic base on which these pictures are recorded must move on continuously, with a specific speed.
Thus, the cinematographic camera is a machine with numerous hidden wheels working in the dark, but it has a glass opening. What is the basic principle involved in moving pictures?
But we can place a camera in front of a growing sprout for a specific period of time, and photograph continuous pictures.
When these pictures are projected faster, we can create the illusion of the sprout growing right in front of our eyes.
Then, on the recommendation of Mr. Hepworth, Phalke buys a Williamson camera for 50 pounds sterling and a printing and perforating machine.
1st April, 1912
Mandakini is 3 months old, and a bundle of joy.
Phalke shifts his family to the bungalow of Seth Mathuradas Vanjee Valjee at Dadar, formerly the premises of the Laxmi Printing Press.
Once home, the precious camera is guarded jealously from the children by Phalke’s wife, Saraswati.
The camera is mounted before a pot of earth.
Phalke works out the mechanism of intermittent photography, and shoots a capsule history of the growth of a pea plant into a pea-laden plant.
He shows the film to friends and financiers with the help of Seth Umashankar, owner of an electrical shop at Kalbadevi.
Solicitor Chitnis and Yeshwantrao Nadkarni congratulate Phalke on his success.
