Mohanlal recently won Dadasaheb Phalke Award for his contributions to the field of cinema. As the award is considered the highest achievement in Indian cinema, it has brought some more attention to Mohanlal. At the same time, an actor like Mohanlal winning it has also put the spotlight back on the award, its relevance, and the legendary filmmaker after whom it is named. Dadasaheb Phalke is well recognised as the maker of India’s first film, Raja Harishchandra. The renewed focus on the award, however, has not extended to Saraswatibai Phalke as much as it should have. Not many know that Dadasaheb Phalke’s late wife, Saraswatibai, is the first feature film editor in Indian cinema’s history. In fact, Saraswatibai performed more roles than just editing, including film perforation, set work, such as holding light reflectors during production, and even cooking for the crew. She helped her husband finance the film as well by selling her jewellery.
More significant is the fact she is the only woman behind the first film in Indian cinema's history among all the cast and crew members. Mostly because of the stigma associated with women during his film's making, Dadasaheb Phalke could not find any female actors for the film, including for the role of Queen Taramati. Therefore, he cast Anna Salunke, a male stage performer, for the female lead in the silent film.
