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{{short description|1932 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Ayodhyecha Raja
| native_name = अयोध्येचा राजा
| image = Ayodhyecha Raja, 1932 Marathi film, India.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| director = Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre ([[V. Shantaram]])
| producer = [[Prabhat Film Company]]
| writer = N.V. Kulkarni (story and screenplay)
| narrator =
| starring = [[Govindrao Tembe]]<br />[[Durga Khote]]<br />[[Baburao Pendharkar]]<br />[[Master Vinayak]]
| music = [[Govindrao Tembe]]
| cinematography = Keshavrao Dhaiber
| editing = [[Rajaram Vankudre Shantaram]]
| studio = [[Prabhat Film Company]]
| distributor =
| released = {{film date|df=yes|1932|01|23}}
| runtime = 146 min
| country = India
| language = [[Marathi language|Marathi]]<br />[[Hindi]]
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''Ayodhyecha Raja''''', literally "The King of Ayodhya", was the first [[Marathi language|Marathi]] talkie, released in 1932,<ref>{{YouTube|XnfI-ZfroQc|Ayodhyecha Raja 1932 Marathi movie}}</ref><ref name="Kosambi2017">{{cite book|author=Meera Kosambi|title=Gender, Culture, and Performance: Marathi Theatre and Cinema before Independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iicxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT54|date=5 July 2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-56589-9|pages=54–}}</ref> directed by [[Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Indian popular cinema: a narrative of cultural change|last=Gokulsing |first=K.|author2=Wimal Dissanayake |year=2004|publisher=Trentham Books|isbn=1-85856-329-1|page=24 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_plssuFIar8C&q=Ayodhyecha+Raja+1932&pg=PA24 }}</ref> It is based on the mythological story of [[Harishchandra|Raja Harishchandra]] of [[Ayodhya]] and his test by sage [[Vishwamitra]], as recounted in [[Valmiki]]'s epic, ''[[Ramayana]]''.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ayodhyecha Raja (1932) |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/249854/Ayodhyecha-Raja/overview |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121026113901/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/249854/Ayodhyecha-Raja/overview |url-status=dead |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |publisher=[[Baseline (database)|Baseline]] & [[All Movie Guide]] |author=Jonathan Crow |date=2012 |archive-date=2012-10-26 }}</ref>

The film was also made as a double-version, ''Ayodhya Ka Raja'' (1932) in [[Hindi]], making it the first double version talkie of [[Indian cinema]], wherein Munshi Ismail Farogh wrote the Hindi dialogue, while screenwriter N.V. Kulkarni also did Marathi dialogue.<ref>[http://www.filmtvguild.in/milestones.htm The Firsts of Indian Cinema: Milestones from 1896-2000] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719114936/http://www.filmtvguild.in/milestones.htm |date=19 July 2011 }} Film and Television Producers Guild of India</ref> India's first full-length feature film, ''[[Raja Harishchandra]]'' (1913), was also made on the same storyline.

==Significance==

The film was not just [[Prabhat Film Company]]'s first talkie film,<ref>{{cite web
|title=Tribute: Remembering the pioneer
|url=http://www.screenindia.com/old/20001208/falis.htm
|date=8 December 2000 |publisher=[[Screen (magazine)|Screen]]
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080714173748/http://www.screenindia.com/old/20001208/falis.htm
|archive-date=14 July 2008
}}</ref> but also for its director, [[V. Shantaram]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Illustrated history of the cinema|last=Lloyd|first=Ann|author2=David Robinson|year=1987|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]]|isbn=0-02-919241-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto0000unse_t9t5/page/384 384]|url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedhisto0000unse_t9t5/page/384}}</ref> In its time, it was a leap not just in sound, song and dialogue quality and became a hit. Eventually, it turned out to be a social leap as well for the film industry, as the entry of [[Durga Khote]], who belonged to an upper class and elite [[Brahmin]] family into Marathi cinema, paved way for other women from upper classes to enter cinema.<ref name=ra/> V. Shantaram made another version film, ''[[Duniya Na Mane]]'' (''Kunku'' in Marathi) in 1937.

After the 2003 fire at the [[National Archives of India]], [[Pune]] in which prints of first Indian talkie ''[[Alam Ara]]'' (1931) were lost, it is also the earliest surviving talkie of Indian cinema.<ref>''Looking back, 1896-1960'', by Rani Burra. Pub. [[Directorate of Film Festivals]], [[Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India)|Ministry of Information and Broadcasting]], 1981. p. ''42''.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Swamy|first=Rohan|date=2013-05-15|title=We were lucky that we could save Ayodhyecha Raja: Anil Damle|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/we-were-lucky-that-we-could-save-ayodhyecha-raja-anil-damle/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109074407/https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/we-were-lucky-that-we-could-save-ayodhyecha-raja-anil-damle/|archive-date=2021-01-09|access-date=2021-01-09|website=The Indian Express|language=en}}</ref>

==Cast==
* [[Govindrao Tembe]] as [[Harishchandra]]
* [[Durga Khote|{{small|Mrs}} Durga Khote]] as [[Taramati]]
* Digambar as [[Rohitashva|Rohitashwa]]
* Nimbalkar as [[Vishvamitra|Vishwamitra]]
* B.Desai as Jatadhar
* Sushila as Maid Queen
* B.Pendharkar as Ganganath
* [[Master Vinayak|Vinayak]] as [[Narada|Narad]]
* G.R. Mane as Domb

==Soundtrack==
''Ayodhyecha Raja'' has music by [[Govindrao Tembe]]:
* "Shiv Shankara, Girjavaran"
* "Jai Jai Rajadiraj"; singer: [[Vasant Desai]]<ref name=ra>
{{cite book |title=Hindi Film Song: Music Beyond Boundaries|last=Ranade|first=Ashok Da. |year=2006 |publisher=Bibliophile South Asia |isbn=81-85002-64-9 |pages=110, 229|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZI1wqkWsIjYC&q=Ayodhyecha+Raja+1932&pg=PA229 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|0258436}}
* [http://www.prabhatfilm.com/films.htm Ayodhyecha Raja] at ''[[Prabhat Film Company]]''

{{V. Shantaram}}

[[Category:Marathi-language films]]
[[Category:1932 films]]
[[Category:Indian black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films about Raja Harishchandra]]
[[Category:Prabhat Film Company films]]
[[Category:Films directed by V. Shantaram]]
[[Category:Indian historical drama films]]
[[Category:1930s historical drama films]]
[[Category:1932 multilingual films]]
[[Category:Indian multilingual films]]
[[Category:1930s Marathi-language films]]
[[Category:1932 drama films]]

Ayodhyecha Raja - Revision history

UpdateBot at 15:26, 24 June 2022