Director: Dhundiraj Govind Phalke
Duration: 00:01:35; Aspect Ratio: 1.324:1; Hue: 281.512; Saturation: 0.018; Lightness: 0.359; Volume: 0.040; Cuts per Minute: 12.615
Summary: Suresh Chabria writes: ‘This one-minute fragment of a ‘social’ or a film with a modern setting attributed to Phalke’s Films was shown at Pordenone with the director, length and year of production given as unknown. However, in his updated filmography in this book, the film historian V. Dharamsey has established beyond doubt that Pithache Panje was a 500 ft. comedy sketch made by Phalke in 1913. Moreover, he has also found that Phalke later directed a feature-length film based on the same subject called Khod Modali for Hindustan Cinema Film Co. in 1925. At present, there is no clear-cut way of determining to which version this fragment belongs. However, with very few exceptions most of the earlier Phalke films featured only men in female roles while all the female characters in this fragment appear to be played by women. Therefore, it is here suggested that this fragment is more likely to be from the later film, viz., Khod Modali made in 1925. One may also add that the social genre was firmly established only in the mid-1920s, and this, along with the more subtle atmospheric lighting in a few shots, further suggests that it was probably made at the later date’. From Suresh Chabria ed. Light of Asia: Indian Silent Cinema 1912-1934, New Delhi: Niyogi Books/Pune: National Film Archive of India, 2013, pg 60-61.
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