Silent films screened at Mumbai fest

Eleven silent films were screened at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival.

Mumbai: Eleven silent films from the 1920s, including `Raja Harishchandra` and `Sati Savitri`, were screened Wednesday at the 14th Mumbai Film Festival. One film, `A Throw Of Dice`, was accompanied by a live orchestra.

"The highlight this year was restored silent films. `Throw Of Dice` was screened with a live orchestra. It was an 80-minute film and it was outstanding," Swati Rohatgi, a film enthusiast, told reporters. To mark 100 years of Indian cinema, four films of Dadasaheb Phalke -- "Kaliya Mardan" (1919), "Shri Krishna Janma" (1918), "Lanka Dahan" (1917) and "Raja Harishchandra" (1913) -- were screened. The other films were Baburao Painter`s "Sati Savitri" (1927) and "Murlivala" (1927), Kalipada Das`s "Jamai Babu" (1931), G.P. Pawar`s "Diler Jigar" (1931), P.V. Rao`s "Marthand Varma"(1931) and Franz Osten`s "Shiraz" (1929) and "A Throw Of Dice" (1929). "It was a great idea to screen silent films. The festival should show more silent films," said writer-journalist Ranjib Mazumder. IANS