D.D. Dabke

Revolves around the noble and righteous king, Harishchandra, who first sacrifices his kingdom, followed by his wife and eventually his children to honor his promise to the sage Vishwamitra.

This film begins with the invocation of 'almighty god' at a river where several people are gathered. The child god Krishna rises out of the water astride the demon snake Kaliya. Then we see Yashoda as she rocks the sleeping Krishna's crib and imagines the god as Gopala. The next scene shows Kamsa fantasizing about Krishna threateningly duplicated many times around him. Kamsa then imagines himself dead as his severed head rises up and descends again. People of all castes pay obeisance to the deity with the title-card: 'may this humble offering be accepted by the Lord'.

L'hommage au roi Harishchandra, qui a failli sacrifier son royaume pour son amour de la vérité, s'ouvre sur un tableau montrant le roi, son épouse Taramati et son jeune fils, à qui il enseigne le tir à l'arc. Ils partent à la chasse et le roi s'aventure dans une zone contrôlée par le sage Vishwamitra et son disciple Nakshatra. Pour expier son erreur, le roi est banni. Trois furies apparaissent prises dans les flammes qu'Harishchandra tente de sauver. Ils le séduisent et le poussent à renoncer à son royaume. Le roi endure de nombreuses épreuves avant qu'un dieu n'apparaisse à l'horizon pour rassurer tout le monde sur le fait qu'il s'agit simplement d'un test de l'intégrité du roi.

The plot of the film revolves around the Hindu mythological story of Mohini and Bhasmasur. At over five hours, it inaugurated the tradition of Indian cinematic epics and was the first Indian film to feature actresses.

Lanka Dahan (Lanka Aflame) is a 1917 Indian silent film directed by Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (Dadasaheb Phalke). Phalke also wrote the film based on an episode of the Hindu epic Ramayana, credited to Valmiki. A retelling of the familiar 'Ramayana' story of Rama's wife Sita being abducted by Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, and Rama's triumph with the aid of men, monkeys and bears. From the trees Hanuman the brave monkey observes Sita held captive in the tulasi garden where Ravana comes to intimidate her. The main part of the film covers Hanuman's rage while in Lanka when he set the whole island afire with his burning tail.