Women’s Day 2023: Lost in history! A look back at the ‘FIRSTS’ of Indian Cinema

‘Raja Harishchandra’ is touted to be the first Indian film. While making his film, Dadasaheb Phalke had to come across several challenges. The biggest one was to search for a woman who would be the heroine in the film. But no woman agreed to work in the film. Eventually, he had to make a male actor to enact for the female role. In this view, India’s first heroine was not a woman, but a man instead!

So, you can imagine how difficult it was for women to usher a new era in Indian cinema. Had these women not broken stereotypes, Indian cinema would have never been a canvas for some of the finest performances given by women in the film industry.

Celebrating International Women’s Day, here’s a tribute to five women who walked past the conventions and built a revolution of their own, pioneering Indian cinema into a new direction.

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Durga Bai Kamat was the first female actor in Indian cinema. She is known for being India’s first heroine who worked in the second film of Dadasaheb Phalke, 'Mohini Bhasmasur'. After Mohini, there was no stopping her. She acted in several movies after that! Her last film was Deepness (1980).

Fatima Begum was the first female director in Indian cinema. At first, she was a stage actress. But later on, she ended up both directing and acting in various plays. She opened her film company named Fatma. Her first film, ‘Bulbul Ae Paristaan’ was released in 1926. This film embarked India’s first female producer, director, and writer.

Jaddan Bai was the first music director in Indian cinema. She was one of the greatest celebrities of her time. Famous people like Moti Lal Nehru were considered to be close to her. The legendary actress Nargis Dutt was her daughter.

Nadia was the first stunt women in Indian cinema. Nadia was born in Australia. She came to Mumbai with her father in 1913. Her name is derived from Hunter wali in 1935. At that time women on screen were perceived as shameful and Nadia was fighting on the screen against all odds. What was amazing that she was used to perform her own stunts. That’s why she is also called India’s first Stunt Woman.

She is the first woman DOP in Indian cinema. Born in a family with a rich filmmaking background. her father and her brother were also directors. She became a D.O.P at that time when girls were not able to come out of the realm of the heroine or singer. Lakshmi went to film school and enrolled in cinematography. In 1985, she became the first woman in Asia to do camera works in movies using the inductive camera.