Directed by the ‘Father of Indian Cinema’, Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, Lanka Dahan is often said to be India’s first box-office hit. The film is based on an episode from the epic Ramayana and tells the story of the abduction of Lord Rama’s wife Sita by Lanka’s demon king Ravan. Lord Rama, searching for his wife, meets Hanuman, the monkey god and a devotee of Rama. Hanuman flies to Lanka to give Sita a message from Rama and is captured by Ravan who orders that his tail be set on fire. Hanuman manages to escape and sets the whole of Lanka aflame with his fiery tail. Compared to his earlier film, Raja Harishchandra, Phalke explored different spaces and experimented with the camera and editing techniques in this film. The roles of both Rama and Sita were played by the male actor Anna Salunke. Prominent filmmaker JBH Wadia had this to say when he saw the film in the cinema on its release – “Lanka Dahan was a minor masterpiece of its time. The spectacle of Hanuman’s figure becoming progressively diminutive as he flew higher and higher in the clouds and the burning of the city of Lanka in table-top photography were simply awe-inspiring. I remember that devout villagers from nearby Bombay had come in large numbers in their bullock carts to have darshan of their beloved god, Lord Rama. Many stayed overnight in their improvised dwellings to see the film again the next day”.

Shivendra Singh Dungarpur