Prabhat Film Company (popularly known as Prabhat Films) was an Indian film production company and studio facility founded in 1929 in

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Kolhapur is one of the most significant cities in South Maharashtra and has been a hub of historical, religious, and cultural a ...

. It was established by filmmaker V. Shantaram, along with Vishnupant Govind Damle, Keshav Rao Dhaibar, S. Fatelal, and S. V. Kulkarni. The company gained prominence during the transition from

silent films A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

talkies A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...

and was recognised for its technical excellence and socially conscious storytelling. In 1933, the company moved to

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, where it established its own studio. Over 24 years, Prabhat Films produced 45 films in Marathi and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. During the advent of talkies in India, Prabhat Films, along with Kolkata's New Theatres, stood out for its artistic achievements and socially relevant themes. Some of its notable productions include '' Kunku'' (released in Hindi as ''Duniya Na Mane''), ''Swarajyacha Toran'' (also called '' Udaykal''), based on the life of

Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

, ''Dharmatma'' on Saint

Eknath Eknath (IAST: Eka-nātha, Marathi pronunciation: knath (1533–1599), was an Indian Hindu Vaishnava saint, philosopher and poet. He was a devotee of the Hindu deity Vitthal and is a major figure of the Warkari movement. Eknath is often vie ...

, ''Sant Tukaram'' on the eponymous saint-poet and social reformer, ''Shejari'' (released in Hindi as '' Padosi''), addressing communal harmony, '' Manoos'' (also called ''Aadmi''), tackling alcoholism, and '' Amar Jyoti'', advocating women's emancipation. Today, the former premises of Prabhat Film Company in Pune houses the

Film and Television Institute of India The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) is a film institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India and aided by the Central Government of India. ...

(FTII).The eternal dawn
Uma Karve, ''

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...

'', 28 May 2002. The site also features the Prabhat Museum, which showcases artifacts, original contracts, costumes, props, equipment, posters, and stills from the company's history. Additionally, the

University of Chicago Library The University of Chicago Library is the library system of the University of Chicago, located on the university's campus in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is the seventh largest academic library and the fourth largest private library in th ...

holds a collection of 27 films produced by Prabhat Film Company between 1932 and 1949.

History

Baburao Painter's Maharashtra Film Company, based in Kolhapur, had made a name for itself with its silent films in early 1920s. Close friends Vishnupant G Damle and Fateh Lal (Damle Mama and Saheb Mama) were very good artists and held posts with senior responsibility at the company.Backing Prabhat Films
''

'', Thursday, 22 July 1999. Baburao Pendharkar became the de facto head of operations because of Baburao Painter's distaste for financial matters. Pendharkar's cousin Shantaram Vanakudre ( V. Shantaram) joined the company and became Baburao Painter's right-hand man. In 1927–1928, the senior personnel became dissatisfied by Baburao Painter's increasingly lukewarm and erratic behaviour. Damle and Fateh Lal were thinking of starting their own company, as were V. Shantaram and Keshav Rao Dhaibar. The four of them got together, and with Sitaram Kulkarni, well-established jeweller in Kolhapur as their fifth partner and financier, started a new company on 1 June 1929, with an initial investment amount of Rs 15,000. Baburao Pendharkar suggested the name ''Prabhat'' (meaning "Dawn"), and the other partners liked it. Prabhat soon made a name for itself with silent films and produced six films, most of them directed by the tireless V. Shantaram. When India entered the era of

talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...

s with '' Alam Ara'' in March 1931, Shantaram predicted that it was a transient phase, and the silent films were the real artistic area. But soon the company realized its mistake, and joined the talkie era with '' Ayodhyecha Raja (The King of Ayodhya)'' in Marathi (1932), also starring Durga Khote, which was the first film of

Marathi Cinema Marathi cinema is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Marathi language, which is widely spoken in the state of Maharashtra. It is based out of Mumbai. It is the oldest film ind ...

, and later made under the name ''Ayodhya Ka Raja'' in

. The film is based on

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 ...

's story. In 1930s when most of silent movies companies had closed down, Prabhat joined the ranks of "big three" of

Indian cinema 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 p ...

, which included New Theatres of

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

and

Bombay Talkies Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation, Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay. The studio was established in 1934 by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. Afte ...

of Mumbai In September 1933, the company moved to

because of its proximity to

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

and all the five founder moved with their families, and the doors of the studio finally opened in Pune in 1934. Then followed a golden era of 8–10 years during which the company made some landmark films: ''Sairandhri'' (1933), India's first colour film, processed and printed in Germany; '' Amrit Manthan'' (1934), ''Sant Tukaram'' (1936), ''Kunku'' (or '' Duniya Na Mane'' in Hindi) in 1937, '' Manoos'' (or '' Aadmi'' in Hindi) (1939), ''Shejari'' (or '' Padosi'') in 1941. The

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

, title ''Sant Tukaram'', in 1936, made by V. Damle and S. Fattelal of Prabhat Film Company and starring Vishnupant Pagnis as the lead, and released on 12 December 1936 at Central Cinema in Mumbai. The film was not only a big hit but also had won an award at the fifth Venice International Film Festival in 1937, and still remains a part of film appreciation courses. After Shantaram split away in 1942 to form his own " Rajkamal Kalamandir" studios, and Damle Mama fell ill, the company encountered hard times. People associated with the studio, such as G. Kamble a noted painter, were lured away by Shantaram. Its last major film was ''Ram Shastri'' in 1944. Noted director,

Guru Dutt Guru Dutt (born Vasanth Kumar Shivashankar Padukone; 9 July 1925 – 10 October 1964; also known as Gurudatta Padukone) was an Indian film actor, director, producer, choreographer, and writer.Rajadhyaksha, Ashish, and Paul Willemen. 9941998 ...

started his career as a choreographer, under a three-year contract with the Prabhat Film Company in Pune in 1944. The company was closed in the early 1950s and property auctioned away in 1952. The company formally closed on 13 October 1953. Major figures associated with Prabhat are composers Govindrao Tembe, Dinkar D. Patil, Keshavrao Bhole, Master Krishnarao,

Vasant Desai Vasant Desai (1912–1975) was an Indian film music composer, most remembered for his score in V. Shantaram films like '' Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje'' (1955), ''Do Aankhen Barah Haath'' (1957), Vijay Bhatt's '' Goonj Uthi Shehnai'' (1959), ''Samp ...

; actresses Durga Khote, Shanta Apte, Shanta Hublikar, Vasanti, Jayashree Kamulkar; actors Bal Gandharva, Keshavrao Date, Shahu Modak. Other Marathi film companies of note in 1930s include Saraswati Movietone, Shalini Movietone, Hans Pictures. Major film directors : Bhalji (Bhal G) Pendharkar, Master Vinayak. Major music directors : Annasaheb Mainkar, Dhamman Khan, Dada Chandekar. A number of notable Hindi film personalities were also associated with Prabhat Films, including

Dev Anand Dev Anand (; born Dharamdev Pishorimal Anand; 26 September 1923 – 3 December 2011) was an Indian actor, writer, director and producer known for his work in Indian cinema, Hindi cinema. He is considered as one of the greatest and most succes ...

and Rehman.

Legacy

* The Pune premises of Prabhat Studios are today a declared heritage site. * The Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) today occupies the Pune premises of Prabhat Studio in 1960. Students of FTII continue to use the studio premises. *The road starting from Deccan Corner and ending at Law College Road in Pune is named 'Prabhat Road' because of the location of Prabhat Studios. Later, Anantrao Damle, V G Damle's son, bought back the company's film prints from Mudaliyar of Chennai, who said he was happy to return to Maharashtra its treasures. Damle's sons have followed up his good work and brought out some of Prabhat's vintage films on VCDs, and songs from several Prabhat Films on audio CDs. However, in January 2003, most of the original nitrates of the films, stored at the FTII cold-storage were destroyed in a fire while waiting to be transferred to National Film Archives storage. The 75th anniversary of Prabhat Films was celebrated in Pune, in June 2004. It included an exhibition of rare photographs and screening of the documentary film, ''It's Prabhat!''.The Bugle Sounds again
''

'', 3 June 2004.

Filmography

Silent films

* '' Gopal Krishna'' (1929) * '' Khooni Khanjar'' (1930) * '' Rani Saheba'' (1930) * '' Udaykal'' (1930) * '' Chandrasena'' (1931) * ''Zulum'' (1931)

Talkies

* '' Ayodhyecha Raja'' (1932) * '' Maya Machhindra'' (1932) * '' Agnikankan: Branded Oath''(1932) * '' Sinhagad'' (1933) * '' Sairandhri'' (1933) * '' Amrit Manthan'' (1934) * ''

Dharmatma ''Dharmatma'' () is a 1975 Indian Hindi-language thriller film produced and directed by Feroz Khan. The cast includes Khan, Hema Malini, Rekha, Premnath, Imtiaz Khan, Danny Denzongpa, Farida Jalal, Ranjeet, Helen, Madan Puri, Jeevan, ...

'' (1935) * '' Chandrasena'' (1935) * '' Amar Jyoti'' (1936) * '' Sant Tukaram'' (1936) * '' Rajput Ramani'' (1936) * '' Kunku'' (1937) * '' Duniya Na Mane'' (1937) * ''Mera Ladka'' (1938) * '' Gopal Krishna'' (1938) * '' Manoos'' (1939) * '' Aadmi'' (1939) * '' Sant Dnyaneshwar'' (1940) * '' Beyond the Horizon'' * '' Padosi'' (1941) * '' Das Baje'' (1942) also called ''10 O'Clock'' * '' Ramshastri'' (1944) * ''Chand'' (1944) * '' Aparadhi'' (1949) * '' Hum Ek Hain'' (1946 film - Debut film of

) * '' Aage Badho'' (1946)(starring

)

References

V. Shantaram, biography
Upperstall.com

External links

*
Prabhat Films
at

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

{{Authority control Indian film studios Film production companies of Maharashtra 1929 establishments in India 1953 disestablishments in India Marathi cinema Mass media companies established in 1929 Mass media companies disestablished in 1953 Defunct companies of India Organisations based in Pune