I remember playing on the film trolley, rolling downhill from Shantaram pond to the main gate,” said Subhash Kulkarni, who used to accompany his father Sadashiv Kulkarni, who worked for the Prabhat Film Company as a recording engineer since 1929. (HT Phot

Sunita Kulkarni i remember that dattatray Pathak owner of Pathak studio Kolhapur was also photographer in the prabhat at that time

Sarita Athavale

Image result for PRABHAT FILM COMPANY KOLHAPUR PHOTOGRAPHER ON THE LEFT

Film-maker Sheikh Fatehlal, one of the founders of Prabhat Film Co. Photo: Courtesy Donnabelle Garga.

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Kin of founding members recall Prabhat Film Company’s cinematic brilliance

The studio, which now serves FTII students, continues to spread cinematic knowledge through its 90-year legacy. The Prabhat Film Company was established on June 1, 1929, in Kolhapur.

Updated on: Jun 02, 2019 1:54 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Pune |ByAnonymous

June 1 this year marked 90 years since the iconic Prabhat Film Company was established. For the uninitiated, some of the best Marathi films such as Ayodhyecha Raja, Sant Tukaram, Sant Dnyaneshwar, Manoos and Shejari, among others, were produced by the now-defunct cinema giant.

“I remember playing on the film trolley, rolling downhill from Shantaram pond to the main gate,” said Subhash Kulkarni, who used to accompany his father Sadashiv Kulkarni, who worked for the Prabhat Film Company as a recording engineer since 1929. (HT Photo)

Kin of the founding members — S Fatehlal, Vishnupant Damle, Sitaram Kulkarni, K Dhaibar and V Shantaram — gathered on Saturday at Studio No. 1 on Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) campus, which was the main studio of the Prabhat Film Company, to revive memories of India’s most lucrative film company.

The studio, which now serves FTII students, continues to spread cinematic knowledge through its 90-year legacy. The Prabhat Film Company was established on June 1, 1929, in Kolhapur.

“I remember playing on the film trolley, rolling downhill from Shantaram pond to the main gate,” said Subhash Kulkarni, who used to accompany his father Sadashiv Kulkarni, who worked for the Prabhat Film Company as a recording engineer since 1929. “I grew up here. When I was 10 years old, I once even slept in the recording studio when my father was working on a music piece by Sudhir Phadke. Completely oblivious of me even being there, he left the studio. He later came back looking for me,” added the 72-year-old architect.

For Mahadev Ambekar, a civil contractor, it was a matter of pride to visit the studio which created masterpieces of Indian cinema. “My grandfather Dadasaheb Ambekar built the studio as the contractor and when I look it at now, I feel proud to see its design,” he said.

The entire Damle clan was present at the studio, the oldest was Jayant Damle, son of Vishnupant Damle. Hard of hearing, the 83-year-old used to spend most of his days after school at the film studio. “It was like our second home. Every day after school, I would be at the studio, watching and helping with the shoot. I was born in 1936, when the film Sant Tukaram was released, so unlike my other cousins, I didn’t really get to act in front of the camera. I loved music and also played the sitar, but never really worked within the film industry. I studied metallurgy and then, career took a different route,” said Jayant.

Vijay Damle (77), whose father Shankarrao Damle (a relative of Vishnupant Damle) handled the recording studio, recalls coming to the studio since the age of 3.

“My basic swimming lessons began at the Shantaram pond. Being a part of the studio, I learnt radio repairing to recording songs, all on the set.”

Similarly, his brother Shashikant Damle, too, enjoyed each second spent at the studio. “My father maintained the equipment inside the studio. I used to love roaming about the studio.”

Anil Damle plays a major role in keeping the old documents and films intact. “By 1969, films made by Prabhat Film Company were disappearing. My father, Anant Damle, traced them and bought their rights, got reprints of the oldest and most rare prints to keep them safe. I recall him telling me that Damle, Fatelal, and sometimes V Shantaram, would sit at the ‘katta’ outside the campus near the Prabhat bungalow, to discuss films and plan future shooting plans, which tells us that there was a lot of good team work in place,” said Damle.

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Cinemaazi

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Prabhat Film Company was established by V Shantaram, Keshav Rao Dhaibar, S Fattelal, S V Kulkarni, and V G Damle on 1 February 1929, in Kolhapur, India. These five filmmakers started working as apprentices at Baburao Painter’s Maharashtra Film Company (MFC). MFC was one of the most technically advanced and traditionally rich film studios of its time. The genius of Painter took that studio to great heights. Shantaram and the others used to move from one department to another, to learn the craft of the different aspects of filmmaking. With growing differences at MFC, these five filmmakers left and set up their own film company - Prabhat. Although they all knew and worked in different departments, the directorial ventures were primarily run by Shantaram, the art department by Fattelal, sound by Damle, and Dhaibar worked extensively on camera. Relocating to Pune in 1933, Prabhat produced 45 films over 27 years in Marathi and Hindi. Renowned for social awareness, Prabhat was rivaled only by New Theatres of Calcutta. Today, the former studio houses the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, with the Prabhat Museum exhibiting artifacts, contracts, and film memorabilia.

In this month, Cinemaazi will go through the archive of Prabhat Film Company and bring out interesting stories about the studio, its technicians, actors, and importantly the women of Prabhat. Stay tuned!

#PrabhatFilmCompany #VShantaram #Prabhat #MarathiCinema #IndianCineStudios #HindiCinema #HindiFilmLegend #CinemaSeCinemaaziTak #SabkiMaaCinema #RewindReliveTheMagic #FilmyLogFilmyBaatein #BollywoodNostalgia #ThrowbackToHindiCinema #ClassicCinema #FilmGeek #CinematicMemories #FilmLoversClub #FilmFlashback #HindiFilmHeritage

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Sunita Kulkarni

My father shri Balasaheb Pathak tatha P K Pathak was general manager of prabhat studio they was with prabhat from shifting kolhapur to pine til 1947 then he started his own studio Manik studios and production such as Mayabajar. Pudhache Paul kalyan khjina Parijatak kichakvadh etc

We me & my brother have so many sweet & interesting memory's about prabhat staff productions hero heroines etc

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Milind Sukhtankar

V.Shantaram was a genious n Best Director of Indian film Industry. First he produced best films under Prabhat n then Rajkamal . It was his own company.