After Sitaare Zameen Par, Aamir Khan is set to reunite with filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani for a biopic on Dadasaheb Phalke, the "father of Indian cinema". Hirani, who had directed Aamir in 3 Idiots and PK, has been working on the project for four years.
As per the makers, the film is set against the backdrop of India's independence struggle and will chronicle the extraordinary journey of the man who laid the foundation of Indian cinema. Filming is set to commence in October 2025.
Phalke made his directorial debut in 1913 with Raja Harishchandra, a silent film inspired by the legend of King Harishchandra. Phalke's desire to make a film on this subject was born out of an urge to do a film along the lines of Alice Guy-Blache's 1906 French silent short film The Birth, the Life, and Death of Christ.
The film's behind-the-scenes account is filled with fascinating anecdotes, such as the casting of men for portraying female characters, as it was difficult to get women to act in a film considering the restricting socio-political norms of the time.
It must be noted that Marathi filmmaker Paresh Mokashi directed a light-hearted, humorous biopic of Phalke in 2009 titled Harishchandrachi Factory, starring Nandhu Madhav as the eponymous figure. Interestingly, Madhav reprised his role, briefly in the Prithviraj-starrer Celluloid (2013), directed by Kamal. It was also a biopic of a real-life filmmaker — J.C. Daniel, the father of Malayalam cinema.
Meanwhile, Sitaare Zameen Par, a remake of the 2018 Spanish-language film Champions, will hit theatres on June 20, 2025.
