Yes! You have read it right! The First Heroine of Indian cinema in India’s first full-length feature film Raja Harishchandra (1913) was a ‘Male’ actor and not a Female actress!! The name of the actor is Anna Hari Salunke, who was popularly known as A. Salunke or revered as Annasaheb Saluke. Raja Harishchandra was the debut film of Anna Salunke and after the success of the film; he became of the most sought after ‘Star’, particularly for playing female roles.
In the early 1900s ladies working in cinema were regarded as taboo. It was the lowest profession that was denied by even the prostitutes and the dancing ladies performing Mujras in Kothas. Hence the biggest challenge that Dada Saheb Phalke faced while making the film Raja Harishchandra was hunting a woman to play the role of the heroine. However, despite a lot of searches, he could not convince any lady to play the role. Dada Saheb even enticed the ladies by offering a huge amount of money but all tactics failed and Dada Saheb was in a fix!
So how did Dada Saheb Phalke discover Anna Salunke and cajoled him to play the heroine? Well, historians say, one day, disappointed at not finding an actress to play the heroine, Dada Saheb Phalke was sitting at a restaurant at Grand road in Mumbai sipping a cup of tea to ease tension. While sipping tea Dada Saheb noticed a ‘slender and womanly’ youth working as a waiter. Dada Saheb gently called him near the table and hesitantly asked if he would act in his film as a heroine! The youth denied but when Dada Saheb offered him a hefty salary of Rs 15/- per month (Present-day 15,000/-) he was delighted and left his waiter job and joined films. Thus Indian cinema got its first heroine in the form of actor Anna Salunke.
Anna Salunke‘s physical characteristics were akin to a lady, he was slim, fair and had womanly gestures’ hence in the guise of a lady, he looked an attractive woman! Thus Anna Salunke suited to a perfect T in the role of Rani Taramati in Dada Saheb Phalke‘s first full-length film, Raja Harishchandra (1913).
Interestingly, Dada Saheb‘s Lanka Dahan (1917) based on Ramayana, Salunke wrote history as he played both the role of Ram and Sita!! Thus Anna Salunke is credited as the First Actor of Indian cinema to play a double role in the film Lanka Dahan!!
Salunke ruled Bollywood until ladies resisted being part of films but after the mother-daughter duo, Durgabai Gokhale and Kamlabai Gokhale entered the cinema with Phalke‘s Mohini Bhasmasur the demand for Salunke declined. He took to chorography for survival. With the passage of time, Salunke got erased from the memory of the public. However, people may forget but he shall live eternally in the golden pages of Indian film history.
