Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, also known as Dadasaheb Phalke, was born into a Marathi-speaking Chitpavan Brahmin family on April 30, 1870, in Trimbak, Maharashtra. He honed his acting and photography skills at Mumbai's Sir JJ School of Art before traveling to Germany to study filmmaking. His return to India resulted in the creation of Raja Harishchandra, the country's first feature-length silent film, for which he is regarded as the "Father of Indian Cinema" owing to his unwavering commitment and belief in the art of cinema.
The Indian government established the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1969 to celebrate and acknowledge outstanding achievements across a variety of categories, as a tribute to his exceptional contributions. Today, the prize includes a medallion known as the Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus), a shawl, and a cash payment of 1,000,000 rupees ($13,000). Read below to see the winners list for Dadasaheb Phalke Awards 2023.
