''Bhishma Pratigna'' () is a 1921 Indian Hindu mythological

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

directed by Raghupathi Surya Prakash (R. S. Prakash). Produced by Surya Prakash and his father Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu under the Star of the East production company, the film stars Surya Prakash as

Bhishma Bhishma (), also known as Pitamaha, Gangaputra, and Devavrata, is a central figure in the Hindu epic Mahabharata. He was a statesman and military commander of the ancient Kuru Kingdom. Renowned for his wisdom, valor, and unwavering principles, ...

and Peggy Castello as

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 which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary riv ...

. It is widely recognised as the first Telugu

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

and is also considered by some film historians to be the first feature film produced in

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

. The film was released across

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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, and

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, and was a significant success. Made on a budget of 12,000 (worth 2.2

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

in 2021 prices), it earned 60,000 in returns.

Cast

* Raghupathi Surya Prakash as

* Peggy Castello as

* Bunny Osten * A. Narayanan

Production

''Bhishma Pratigna'' is notable for being the first film made by a Telugu producer. Raghupathi Venkaiah Naidu sent his son, Raghupathi Surya Prakash (R. S. Prakash), abroad to study filmmaking. Prakash trained at Barker Motion Photography in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

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, and furthered his studies in

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(

Pathé Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

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(where he observed F. W. Murnau's work), and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. Upon returning to India, Prakash established Star of the East, the first Telugu-owned film production company. In 1921, the father-son duo produced ''Bhishma Pratigna'', with Prakash directing and starring in the title role, while English actress Peggy Castello played Ganga. The pair went on to produce other films such as ''Matsyavatar'' and ''Nandanar'' (1923), and ''Gajendra Moksham'' (1923). Notable filmmakers C. Pullayya and Y. V. Rao began their careers as followers of Prakash.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt0254184 1921 films 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