Kamlabai Gokhale (also known as Kamlabai Kamath; c. 1900 – 16 May 1998) was one of the first actresses in Indian cinema, along with her mother

Durgabai Kamat Durgabai Kamat (1879 – 17 May 1997) was an Indian actress in Marathi films, who was the first actress in Indian cinema. She is known as ''The First Female Actress in Indian Cinema'' when she acted in film '' Mohini Bhasmasur'' in 1913 at tha ...

Personal life

The daughter of

and Anand Nanoskar, a professor of history in Bombay. She married Raghunathrao Gokhale and had three children,

Chandrakant Gokhale Chandrakant Raghunath Gokhale (7 January 1921 – 20 June 2008) was a well-known veteran Marathi film and stage actor and singer. Gokhale's mother, Kamlabai Gokhale (nee Kamlabai Kamat) was the first female child actor of the Indian cinema. Go ...

, Lalji Gokhale and Suryakant Gokhale. Chandrakant Gokhale is the father of

Vikram Gokhale Vikram Gokhale (14 November 1945 – 26 November 2022) was an Indian film, television and stage actor, noted for his roles in Marathi theatre, Hindi films and television. He was the son of the Veteran Marathi theatre and film actor, Chandrakan ...

(occasionally credited as Vikram Gokhle), a well-known

Indian film The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on pr ...

, television and stage actor. Lalji Gokhale and Suryakant Gokhale were acclaimed tabala maestros. Kamlabai was 25 when she became a widow, pregnant with her third child.

Career

Her first stage appearance was at the age of four. Around 1912-1913,

Dadasaheb Phalke Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, ̪ʱuɳɖiɾaːd͡ʒ pʰaːɭke, popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke (30 April 1870 – 16 February 1944), was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as "the Father of Indian ...

, the pioneering film-maker of India, was casting for his film ''

Mohini Bhasmasur ''Mohini Bhasmasur'' is a 1913 Indian mythological film directed by Dadasaheb Phalke and starring Kamlabai Gokhale and Durgabai Kamat. It is India's and Phalke's second full-length feature film. ''Mohini Bhasmasur'' is the first Indian film to ...

'' and he chose Kamlabai for the lead. Her mother played the role of Parvati. Phalke had been forced to use a young male cook, Salunke, to play the female lead in his earlier film, ''

Raja Harishchandra ''Raja Harishchandra'' () is a 1913 Indian silent film directed and produced by Dadasaheb Phalke. It is often considered the first full-length Indian feature film. ''Raja Harishchandra'' features Dattatraya Damodar Dabke, Anna Salunke, Bhal ...

''. By the time she was 15, Kamlabai had become a celebrity. The following year she married Raghunathrao Gokhale. He had been with the Kirloskar Natak Company where he usually performed female roles. However, his voice was breaking, so he moved to his brother's company, which was the same one where Kamlabai and her mother were employed. The young couple was cast as the new lead pair of the company. In the 1930s, Kamlabai worked under

Veer Savarkar Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966 ), was an Indian politician, activist and writer. Savarkar developed the Hindu nationalist political ideology of Hindutva while confined at Ratnagiri in 1922. The prefix "Veer" (mea ...

in the play ''Ushaap'', which focussed on the plight of Harijans. Kamalabai worked in around 35 movies. Her last film was ''Gehrayee'' (1980).

Filmography

Silent Movies

Talkie Movies

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gokhale, Kamlabai 1900 births Marathi actors 1998 deaths Indian silent film actresses Actresses in Marathi cinema Indian film actresses 20th-century Indian actresses Child actresses in Hindi cinema Actresses in Hindi cinema