Kamlabai Gokhale

Kamlabai Gokhale (also known as Kamlabai Kamath; c. 1900 – 17 May 1997) was one of the first actresses in Indian cinema, along with her mother Durgabai Kamat.

Personal life

The daughter of Durgabai Kamat and Anand Nanoskar, a professor of history in Bombay. She married Raghunathrao Gokhale and had three children, Chandrakant Gokhale, Lalji Gokhale and Suryakant Gokhale. Chandrakant Gokhale is the father of Vikram Gokhale (occasionally credited as Vikram Gokhle), a well-known Indian film, 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 or 1913, Dadasaheb Phalke, the pioneering film-maker of India, was casting for his film Mohini Bhasmasur 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. 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 Vinayak Damodar Savarkar 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 Year Title Role Notes 1913 Mohini Bhasmasur Mohini

Talkie Movies Year Title Role Notes 1931 Devi Devayani Sharmistha Miss Kamala 1932 Sheil Bala 1932 Niti Vijay 1932 Char Chakram 1932 Bhutio Mahal 1933 Rajrani Meera 1933 Mirza Sahiban 1933 Lal-e-Yaman Lalarukh 1933 Krishna Sudama 1933 Chandrahasa 1933 Bhool Bhulaiyan 1933 Bhola Shikar 1933 Aurat Ka Dil 1934 Gunsundari Sushila 1934 Ambarish 1934 Afghan Abla 1935 Bikhare Moti 1935 Barrister’s Wife 1936 Prabhu Ka Pyara 1936 Be Kharab Jan 1936 Aakhri Galti 1938 Street Singer (as Miss Kamala) 1938 Chabukwali 1939 Garib Ka Lal 1942 Basant 1944 Stunt King 1946 Sona Chandi 1946 Haqdar 1949 Navajeevanam Kamala 1952 Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag 1954 Nastik Kamla 1962 Private Detective 1967 Balyakalasakhi 1971 Hulchul 1972 Ek Nazar 1980 Gehrayee

Media portrayal Kamlabai Gokhale (1991), a documentary about the veteran actor, won the National Film Award for Best Debut Non-Feature Film of a Director, awarded to Reena Mohan.