Rains infuse life in 80-year-old Shantaram pond

PUNE: In one of the closing sequences of the film ?Sant Dnyaneshwar' (1940), directed by Vishnupant Govind Damle and Sheikh Fattelal, Sant Dnyaneshwar's follower Namu offers flowers at the footsteps of the saint on the banks of the Godavari river as a mark of respect. Shot in the legendary Prabhat studios, now the campus of Pune's Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Damle shot the Godavari river sequences in a small pond constructed in the campus.
After a dry spell of many years following the downfall of Prabhat Film Company, the 80-year-old pond, now known as the Shantaram pond, is back to life after consistent rainfall in the city.
"We have never seen the pond brimming with rainwater before. Earlier, it used to be filled up manually for shooting purpose, but the rainfall has brought this heritage structure, reminiscent of the golden days of Marathi cinema, alive," said Chandrashekhar Joshi, film research officer at FTII, who has been working at the institute for the past 32 years.
Hidden by a canopy of Peepal and Banyan trees, Shantaram pond, named by some technicians after the legendary filmmaker and co-founder of Prabhat Film Company V Shantaram, is special to the FTII students, faculty and its alumni.
"The pond has remained untouched as we did not want to change anything about it. It is a legacy. Many classic Marathi films have been shot at the spot," Joshi said, referring to a dance sequence in the Marathi film ?Sangtye Aika', directed by Anant Mane in 1959. The film, based on actress Hansa Wadkar's life, ran for 133 weeks in a Pune theatre till it had to be taken off the theatres due to the Panshet flood in 1961, he said.
Over the years, the spot has been used as an amphitheatre for plays, musical performances, film screenings and shoots. It has played host to a performance by sarangi player and Padma Bhushan awardee Ustad Sultan Khan, a Sufi recital by Madan Gopal Singh and a 36-hour non-stop singing record by veteran vocalist Pandit Ramesh Narayan, among others.
"I shot my first continuity student film at the Shantaram pond. The place has an emotional connect," said Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, a Mumbai-based filmmaker and FTII alumnus. He shot the interviews for his documentary —Celluloid Man' (2012) at the pond.
"I wanted to include the heritage structure in my film in any way possible. The spot is a little cut-off from the campus and its serenity combined with the old-world charm makes it a good location for shoots," he said. Filmmakers Vishal Bharadwaj and Raj Kumar Santoshi also shot sequences of their films ?Kaminey' (2009) and ?Halla Bol' (2008) at the pond.
Bhishma Pratim Chakraborty, a student of editing at the institute, said that like the famous 'wisdom tree', the pond is a favourite spot of students where "they do all the thinking and planning for their projects". "To have access to the spot built by the forefathers of the Indian cinema is a great experience in itself and we will not trade it for anything else," he said.