Anna Salunke

Anna Hari Salunke, also known as A. Salunke and Annasaheb Saluke, was an Indian actor who performed female roles in very early Indian cinema and also a cinematographer.[1] He is credited as the first person to perform as a heroine in Indian cinema when he played the role of Rani Taramati of King Harishchandra in Dada Saheb Phalke's first full-length film, Raja Harishchandra (1913). In 1917, Salunke became the first to play a double role in Indian cinema, by playing the roles of both the hero and heroine in Lanka Dahan.

Anna Salunke
Salunke as Sita in Lanka Dahan
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Actor, cinematographer

Career

Salunke portrayed the heroine in Raja Harishchandra (1913), the first full-length Indian feature film. He played the role of Queen Taramati, the consort of king Harishchandra, whose tale is told in Hindu mythology. Salunke worked as a cook[2] or waiter[3] in a restaurant on Grant Road, Mumbai,[1] frequented by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (Dadasaheb Phalke), the director and producer of the film. Phalke could not find a woman who agreed to act in the film; even prostitutes and dancing girls refused. Phalke saw Salunke, who had an effeminate figure and slender hands, and convinced him to play a female role. While Salunke was working for a monthly salary of 10 rupees, Phalke offered him 15 and Salunke agreed.[2][4]

Salunke also acted in Phalke's Lanka Dahan (1917), played in the Hindu epic Ramayana. Salunke played the first double role in Indian cinema,[5][6] by playing both the male role of the hero Rama and the female role of his wife Sita, the heroine.[6] However, Salunke had developed a more muscular physique by then, and the audience could see his biceps even as he played the goddess Sita.[2][7]

Salunke also acted in Satyanarayan (1922) directed by V.S. Nirantar and Phalke's Buddha Dev (1923). He was also the cinematographer on both films. Later, Salunke abandoned his acting career and fully concentrated on cinematography. Besides Nirantar and Phalke, he worked with G. V. Sane (who acted with Salunke in Raja Harishchandra) and Ganpat G. Shinde (co-starred with Salunke in Lanka Dahan) as directors. The last of his films as cinematographer were in 1931.[8]

Films

Salunke, during his film career spanning 18 years from 1913 to 1931, acted in various films including five in the female role, most of them were on Hindu mythological themes. He was also a cinematographer in a few films.[9]

Selected filmography
In female roles
In several roles
  • Ahiravan Mahiravan Vadh (1922)
  • Haritalika (1922)
  • Pandav Vanavas (1922)
  • Satyanarayan (1922)
  • Shishupala Vadh (1922)
  • Wandering Soul (1923)
  • Buddha Dev (1923)
  • Gora Kumbhar (1923)
  • Guru Dronacharya (1923)
  • Jarasandha Vadha (1923)
  • Kanya Vikraya (1923)
  • Jayadratha Vadh (1924)
  • Kanya Vikraya (1924)
  • Ram Ravan Yuddha (1924)
  • Shivajichi Agryahun Sutaka (1924)
  • Sundopasund (1924)
  • Anant Vrat (1925)
  • Kakashebanchya Dolyat Jhanjhanit Anjan (1925)
  • Satyabhama (1925)
  • Simantak Mani (1925)
  • Datta Janma (1925)
  • Bhakta Pralhad (1926)
  • Bhim Sanjeevan (1926)
  • Keechaka Vadh (1926)
  • Sant Eknath (1926)
  • Bhakta Sudama (1927)
  • Draupadi Vastraharan (1927)
  • Hanuman Janma (1927)
  • Madalasa (1927)
  • Vasantsena (1929)
  • Khuda Parasta (1930)
  • Amir Khan (1931)

References
  1. Brigitte Schulze (2003). Humanist and Emotional Beginnings of a Nationalist Indian Cinema in Bombay: With Kracauer in the Footsteps of Phalke. Avinus. ISBN 978-3-930064-12-0.
  2. Mihir Bose (2006). Bollywood: A History. Tempus Pub. pp. 50, 52. ISBN 978-0-7524-2835-2.
  3. Rachel Dwyer (2006). Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian Cinema. Routledge. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-203-08865-4.
  4. Prabodh Maitra (1995). 100 years of cinema. Nandan. p. 159.
  5. Gopa Sabharwal (2000). The Indian millennium, AD 1000-2000. Penguin Books. p. 453. ISBN 978-0-14-029521-4.
  6. Neepa Majumdar (2009). Wanted Cultured Ladies Only!: Female Stardom and Cinema in India, 1930s–1950s. University of Illinois Press. p. 224. ISBN 978-0-252-09178-0.
  7. Bhagwan Das Garga (1996). So many cinemas: the motion picture in India. Eminence Designs. p. 21. ISBN 978-81-900602-1-9.
  8. CITWF Archived 5 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Anna Salunke". Entertainment Bureau. Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
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