Graceful screen presence

Source http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/03/06/stories/2009030651150100.htm

Graceful screen presence

SAVITHA GAUTAM

‘Kamlabai’ tells the story of the first woman to appear on the silver screen.

THEATRE, her LIFE: The two faces of Kamlabai

There are actresses and there are more actresses. But there is only one Kamlabai Gokhale. For if she had not dared to take that bold step in 1913 by facing the camera for ‘Bhasmasur Mohini, a film by Dadasaheb Phalke, cinema history would have been quite different.

Documenting the struggles and successes of the first ever actress to grace the Indian celluloid and one of the first few women theatre artists is ‘Kamlabai,’ a touching documentary made by film maker Reena Mohan.

The film opens with the actress, now in her 90s, delivering a dialogue from one her plays using different expressions. She is toothless, her skin is wrinkled, the sparkling eyes are hidden behind thick glasses, but as Kamlabai mouths the dialogue, you are riveted to the screen. For, the spark and the spirit are still in tact. What a memory she has!

In the 47-minute documentary, which won Reena the National Award, Kamlabai recounts a life “where morning, afternoon and evening, it was only theatre. I knew nothing else.” Her mother, Durgabai, who separated from her abusive husband, worked on the stage to seek her livelihood. So, Kamlabai’s romance with the stage began when she was just four.

The veteran is candid, “My father was a bad man. He would beat my mother a lot. But my mother, she was beautiful and very talented.” Kamlabai, who has three sons, 11 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren, remembers her early theatre days. “My first stage appearance was at the age of four… during the performance, I would often doze off in some corner, and then be woken up with a tap on the head when it was my turn to make an entry.”

Her life partner

She was 14 when she met Raghunathrao Gokhale, who was with Kirloskar Natak Company. They were to play the lead pair in many of the plays, even as they became husband and wife in real life. Memories come back flooding. “We were about 150 of us, who would tour various cities such as Dharwad and Hubli. We had goldsmiths, blacksmiths, tailors and dhobis accompanying us. We would travel in 80 bullock carts and it would take days!” She remembers how she landed a role in Dadasaheb Phalke’s “Bhasmasur Mohini”. “Phalke saab had heard that our company was closing down for six months. So he came and requested our director to allow my mother and me to act in his film. That’s how I got to play the lead role. My mother played Parvati.” History was thus made in 1913.

She was just 15, and Kamlabai had become a celebrity. But destiny was not too kind to her. She lost her husband when she was in her early 20s. She had three sons to bring up. To top it all, sound made an entry into the silent celluloid world. But nothing stopped this woman of steel.

Kamlabai Gokhale’s legacy lives on for her son, Chandrakant was a well-known Marathi actor, and grandson Vikram Gokhale has made a mark both in Hindi cinema and television.

Reena Mohan’s film is a poignant portrait of a woman “who would not stop her act on stage even when she cut her finger and was bleeding profusely.” Her motto… “The show must go on.”

‘Kamlabai’ will be telecast on March 8, 1 p.m. on NDTV’s Documentary 24x7.