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		Home > Articles > History Of Birth And Growth Of Telugu Cinema Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 History Of Birth And Growth Of Telugu Cinema (Part 2) The Era Of Phalke Dada Saheb Phalke holding and examining a film reel. Phalke then made 'Mohini Bhasmasura' and 'Satyavan Savitri' in 1914. Thus these three films – 'Raja Harischandra', 'Mohini Bhasmasura' and 'Satyavan Savitri' became the first three Indian silent films made by an Indian – Dada Saheb Phalke, in India. And they were taken to London and were screened for enthusiastic audience there. A magazine - 'Cinematography and Bioscope' published from London praised Phalke's art of filmmaking. They were shown for the first time in India in a festival held in Bombay's Coronation Theatre. Today the most prestigious award of the Indian film industry, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award is named after him. C Pullaiah was also experimenting at film making at the same time in Mumbai and screened his production on a whitewashed wall, in hall, in Kakinada. Thus it earned the name of 'Godameeda Bomma' (picture on wall). We shall talk about his ventures later. Recipients of Dada Saheb Phalke Award: Awardee Year Description Devika Rani 1969 Actress and former owner of Bombay Talkies BN Sircar 1970 Founder of New Theatres Prithviraj Kapoor 1971 Actor Pankaj Mullick 1972 Singer Sulochana 1973 Actress and singer BN Reddy 1974 Filmmaker Dhiren Ganguly 1975 Filmmaker Kanan Debi 1976 Actress and singer Nitin Bose 1977 Filmmaker RC Boral 1978 Singer and music director Sohrab Modi 1979 Actor and filmmaker Jairaj 1980 Actor Naushad 1981 Music director LV Prasad 1982 Filmmaker Durgabai Khote 1983 Actress and filmmaker Satyajit Ray 1984 Filmmaker V Shantaram 1985 Filmmaker B Nagi Reddy 1986 Filmmaker Raj Kapoor 1987 Actor and filmmaker Ashok Kumar 1988 Actor Lata Mangeshkar 1989 Singer Akkineni Nageswara Rao 1990 Actor Bhalji Pendharkar 1991 Filmmaker Bhupen Hazarika 1992 Singer and music director Majrooh Sultanpuri 1993 Lyricist Dilip Kumar 1994 Actor Raj Kumar 1995 Actor Sivaji Ganesan 1996 Actor Pradeep 1997 Lyricist BR Chopra 1998 Filmmaker Hrishikesh Mukherjee 1999 Filmmaker Asha Bhosle 2000 Singer Yash Chopra 2001 Filmmaker Dev Anand 2002 Actor and filmmaker Mrinal Sen 2003 Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan 2004 Filmmaker The 'silent era' had its own thrills. People called it 'walking of huge figures' or 'big photos that move and speak'. People, who were used to mythological dramas, shouted 'once more', requesting repeat of the scene. This was the same reaction even in West. When 'Othello' was screened in London, in the scene where Desdemona was being killed, it was said that a person rose and shouted 'Desdemona is innocent. Don't kill.' A scene of horse race terrorized the audience in the first row, as if the horses were coming onto them. In Indian mythological scene, the sequence of Lord Vamana crushing Bali Chakravarthi, deep into ground, the audience rose up with the hope of watching to which depth he was crushed down. When Anjaneya was flying across the sky people in auditorium rose and saluted him in devotion. When there was fire on screen they searched for fire buckets to extinguish it. These and many more incidents will sure make us understand the atmosphere prevailing then at that time of inventing cinema and its screening. To Be Continued...