Kamalabai

1992 46’ col Marathi/Hindi? d/p Reena Mohan c Ranjan Palit, K.U. Mohanan Documentary about the Marathi theatre and screen actress Kamalabai Gokhale who also played the lead in Phalke’s Mohini Bhasmasur (1914). Based on interviews with the octogenarian in her Pune flat and with several clips from Phalke films, Mohan captures some revealing moments with complex cinematic reverberations: e.g. Kamalabai informally reenacts roles she played in the 20s and, at the end of the film, she suddenly realises that the camera has been filming her all that time. Made over a three-year period, the film chronicles changing seasons and times of day with a finely tuned soundtrack and innovative camerawork.

Documentary