First Bhojpuri film - Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo - was a tribute to Dr Rajendra Prasad

Pic courtesy: Video grab.

Mumbai: Filmmaker Kundan Kumar's Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo starring Kumkum, Ashim Kumar and Nazir Hussain was the first ever Bhojpuri film to be made. It was screened on 22 February 1963 in Patna.

Produced by Bishwanath Prasad Shahabadi, the film also featured Leela Mishra, Tiwari, Padma Khanna, Tuntun and Helen in supporting roles.

Hussain, one of the most famous character artistes of those times had penned the story and screenplay for the film and it is believed that the same was given to Bimal Roy first.

The film based on the issue of widow remarriage was produced as a tribute to India's first President Dr Rajendra Prasad. It was Dr Prasad who had asked Hussain to make a film in the Bhojpuri language, reports suggest. 

And it was then that the film's story was given to Shahabadi, a businessman and the owner of cinema halls in Bihar.

Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo went on to become one of the most popular commercially successful regional language films of that era. 

A special screening of the film was held for the then President at the Sadaqat Ashram, Patna before its actual release. The initial budget for the film was Rs 1.5 Lakhs but it turned out costlier in terms of production. In the end, the film's budget touched the Rs 5 Lakh mark.

The film has songs composed by Chitragupta, lyrics penned by Shailendra and songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar, Suman Kalyanpur, Usha Mangeshkar and Mohammed Rafi.