MUMBAI: Film buffs fond of old classics can now watch the country‘s first silent film Raja Harishchandra on DVD.

Produced by Dadasaheb Phalke, the film was first exhibited on 3 May 1913, is now being distributed in the DVD format by the city-based National Film Archives of India (NFAI), according to its director Prashant Pathrabe.

"The decision to make DVDs of the silent movies was taken in view of a long felt need to reach the general masses, who are interested in having an access to the historically significant work of pioneers of Indian cinema," Pathrabe said in a statement.

Along with the Phalke film, five other silent films, that marked the beginning of the Indian film industry, would also be now available in DVD format.

Elaborating on the significance of the first film, produced by the father of Indian cinema, Pathrabe said, "Raja Harishchandra was made by Phalke overcoming all odds and financial difficulties and also social stigma attached to films a century ago. He was almost ex-communicated (in Maharashtra). He was unable to seek a heroine for his film and the female characters were enacted by men. One Salunke played the female role of Taramati in this mythological film."