The filmmaker may have taken a realistic turn with homosexuality in Bombay Talkies, but he deserves credit even for silly gay portrayals in commercial films like Dostana
The third of May marks one hundred years of the release of Dadasaheb Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra, the first ever Indian feature film. Paresh Mokashi, director of the Marathi film Harishchandrachi Factory, based on the making of Phalke’s film, recounts Phalke’s extraordinary adventure. As told to Madhavankutty Pillai
TCA Raghavan is a former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and Singapore. His first book, Attendant Lords: Abdur Rahim and Bairam Khan: Courtiers and Poets in Mughal India, was awarded the Mohammad Habib Prize by the Indian History Congress. He is also the author of The People Next Door: The Curious History of India’s Relations with Pakistan and History Men: Jadunath Sarkar, G S Sardesai, Raghubir Sinh and Their Quest for India’s Past. His latest book is Circles of Freedom: Love, Friendship and Loyalty in the Indian National Struggle