The much-awaited annual installation at the Main Gate of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) which Punekars look forward to visit every year is now ready !

The installation, based on the theme PRABHAT TO FTII, will capture the historic journey from Prabhat Film Company to Film and Television Institute of India. It will mark a major event in the diamond jubilee year celebrations of the Institute.

The installation will be jointly inaugurated by FTII alumni of the oldest batch and family representatives of the owner-partners of the erstwhile Prabhat Film Company at 2:30 pm on Saturday,14th March 2020.

Kuldip Sud (Sound Recording,1961), Mehboob Khan (Editing,1961), R M Rao (Motion Picture Photography,1961),Yogesh Mathur (Editing,1962) and Suresh Naik (Motion Picture Photography,1962) will be present on the occasion.

The original Prabhat partners were V Shantaram (popularly called as Anna), Keshavrao Dhaibar, Sitaram Pant Kulkarni, Vishnu Pant Damle (popularly called Damle Mama) and Sheikh Fattelal (popularly called Saheb Mama).

The structure comprises of two giant cameras covering a century of transformation, from Mitchell (20th Century) to ARRI Alexa (21st Century) representing Prabhat and FTII respectively.
The mammoth replica also represents the technological changes from the early era of Indian Cinema (Prabhat) to the present Indian film industry (FTII) .

To absorb this experiential journey, the visit starts with ‘entering’ into the Mitchell camera through its lens and lens hood which leads into the camera body where glimpses of Prabhat Film Company and Prabhat era can be seen through a photographic exhibition. Further inside the exhibit, Maharashtra’s unique wada interior has been created inside the camera body to enhance the overall environment.When exiting the exhibition on the Prabhat era, a narrow passage leads to the FTII era where several iconic moments of the Institute since 1961 are displayed through a photographic exhibition.

Moments captured on camera during the student days of many iconic film actors, actresses, directors, technicians are on display .The FTII era gallery includes several academic activities and events that took place over six decades of the Institute. At the very last,the visitor exits the FTII gallery from a lens of ARRI Alexa camera at the tail end of the installation.

The concept, design and execution of this magnificent installation is by Prof. Ashutosh Kavishwar, from FTII’s Dept of Art Direction and Production Design.