The Consulate General of India, New York organized screening at the Consulate of ‘Vishnupant Damle: The Unsung Hero of Talkies’ on Tuesday, June 18, 2013. The event was the first in a series of events at the Consulate to commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema.

Consul General Ambassador Dnyaneshwar Mulay welcomed the guests and gave an overview of cinema in India, particularly its contribution to the society. He also talked about the important contribution of Vishnupant Damle, one of the founders of the legendary Prabhat Film Company, to the development of cinema in India. Mr. Anil Damle, the producer of the film ‘Vishupant Damle: The Unsung Hero of Talkies’ and the grand-son of Vishnupant Damle discussed the making of the documentary film.

The film has won best documentary award at the Mumbai International Short Films Festival and Rajat Kamal at the National Film Festival for Best Documentary in 2012. It is a docudrama on the life of Vishnupant Damle, highlighting his remarkable achievements despite of hard challenges he faced in founding and developing the Prabhat Film Company. Damle started his journey as a poor village boy and became a remarkable personality in the film history of India. Mastering several aspects of film making in the early 20th century he did pioneering work in art-direction, camera, sound recording, production and direction for many acclaimed films. The Film & Television Institute of India stands at the erstwhile Prabhat Studios which was conceptualized & built by Damle. The film is an effort to portray Damle’s contribution in the field of cinema and pay tribute to this unsung hero.

The programme was attended by large number of members of various cultural organizations and also from the film and media community.