''Bhishma Pratigna'' is a 1921 Indian silent film. Produced and directed by Raghupati Surya Prakash, son of

Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu (15 October 1869 – 15 March 1941), was an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, director, graphic artist, lyricist, author, educationist and entrepreneur considered as the father of Telugu cinema. Regarded as one of the pio ...

through Star of the East production house. The film stars Raghupati Suryaprakash as

Bhishma Bhishma (Sanskrit: भीष्‍म, , ), also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, played an integral role in Mahabharata. He was the supreme commander of the Kaurava forces during the Kurukshetra War mentioned in the Hindu epic M ...

. ''Bhishma Pratigna'' is the first film made by a

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

producer. It is generally considered to be the first Telugu

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

. Film historians consider it to be the first feature film produced in South India. The film was made on a budget of ₹12,000 (worth 2.2 crore in 2021 prices) and made ₹60,000 in returns.

Cast

* Raghupathi Surya Prakash as

* Peggy Castello as Ganga * Bunny Osten * A. Narayanan

Highlights

''Bhishma Pratigna'' made in 1921 is a silent film. It is the first film made by a

producer. It is generally considered to be the first Telugu

Raghupathi Venkaiah Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu (15 October 1869 – 15 March 1941), was an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, director, graphic artist, lyricist, author, educationist and entrepreneur considered as the father of Telugu cinema. Regarded as one of the pio ...

sent his son R. S. Prakash abroad to learn filmmaking. Prakash has toured Germany, Italy and the United States. He worked as an assistant to Cecil B. DeMillie, the director of ''

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

'' (1923). After Prakash's return, he founded 'Star of the East', the first film production company in South India. In 1921, ''Bhishma Pratigna'' produced a silent film. Prakash not only directed but also played the role of

in the film. An English woman named 'de Costello' played the role of

Ganga The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

. Later, the father and son made some more films like ''Matsyavatar'', ''Nandanar'' (1923), ''Gajendramoksham'' (1923). Later, the famous

C. Pullayya Chittajallu Pullayya (Telugu language, Telugu: చిత్తజల్లు పుల్లయ్య; 1898 – 6 October 1967) was an Indian film director and screenwriter. He is one of the earliest film personalities in Telugu cinema being ...

and

Y. V. Rao Yaragudipati Varada Rao (Telugu: యెర్రగుడిపాటి వరదరావు; 30 May 1903 – 13 February 1979) was an Indian director, producer, actor, screenwriter, and editor known for his works primarily in Telugu, Kannada, ...

started their film career as Prakash's followers.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, title=Bhishma Pratigna, id=tt0254184, description=(1921) 1921 films Silent films Silent films articles needing an image 1921 directorial debut films 1920s historical films 1920s historical drama films 1921 drama films Indian silent films Indian fantasy drama films Indian black-and-white films Films directed by R. S. Prakash Silent drama films