First Double Role Movie in Bollywood: Dilip Kumar in ‘Ram Aur Shyam’, Hema Malini in ‘Seeta Aur Geeta’, Anil Kapoor in ‘Kishan Kanhaiya’, Salman Khan in ‘Judwaa’ and in ‘Duplicate’ Shahrukh Khan You must have seen double roles of actors. But do you know which was the first film in Indian cinema in which double role was shown? This film was released 107 years ago and this film did wonders.
The film Lanka Dahan, based on the religious text ‘Ramayana’, was released in the year 1917 and this film is the first double role film in Indian cinema. There are many stories related to this film which every cinema lover should know about.
Indian cinema’s first double role film
According to IMDB, Indian cinema was created many years before India became independent. The film Lanka Dahan, directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke, was released in the year 1917. Anna Salunke played the role of Shri Ram in the film Lanka Dahan and she also played the role of Mata Sita.
This is because when films were first started, women did not work in films. The role of an actress was also played by an actor. This is why Anna Salunke played the role of Ram-Sita and this became the first double role film in Indian cinema. After this, many double role films were released but this film created history.
How did ‘Lanka Dahan’ receive response?
‘Lanka Dahan’ (1917) was the first film made on ‘Ramayana’ in Indian cinema, so it was a surprising film for the people. This film did wonders in 1917 and its collection was also tremendous. It is said that after this film, all the shows of this film of Dadasaheb Phalke used to be housefull and people used to fight at the ticket counter to buy the ticket first. You can watch this film for free on YouTube.
