Dadasaheb Phalke, the Father of Indian Cinema was a producer-director and screenwriter who debuted with the first feature film. He was born on 30 April 1870 near Nashik and from the start, he was interested in artistic fields. On occasion of his 148th birth anniversary, search engine Google has honoured him with a doodle. More popularly known as Dadasaheb, he studied photography, lithography, architecture, drawing and even did engineering.

Dadasaheb happened to watch a silent film The Life of Christ and it influenced him so much so that he wanted to see if Indian Gods could be played out on the screen. He soon wanted stories depicting Indian culture to be showcased to everyone. He started dabbling into motion pictures and in 1913, with Marathi debut Raja Harishchandra, the first feature film in Indian cinema was made. Phalke learnt filmmaking from London from Cecil Hepworth, the founders of the British film industry. Dadasaheb Phalke's 148th Birth Anniversary: Here Are Some Lesser Known Facts about the Father of Indian Cinema

Phalke with his knowledge into so many fields took steps that ultimately lead him to cinema. He started as a photographer. Then worked into Archaeological Survey of India, dabbled into the business of printing, worked with a painter then even started his own printing press. Soon, Phalke had got into the field and went on to make so many movies that he has the highest regard for his name. In 1969, the government of India established the Dadasaheb Phalke award, which recognises people who have made lifetime contributions to Indian cinema. It is definitely a recognisable title and one of the prestigious awards of the film industry.

The Google Doodle has been designed by an artist named Aleesha Nandhra. It shows the young director in different processes of film-making. We see him taking the shots, guiding someone on how to do it and he is seen holding a feel reel as his vision. Phalke was indeed a genius as he made 95 movies and 27 short films in his career spanning 19 years.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 30, 2018 09:34 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).