Question

Baburao Painter made the following movie.
A) Simhgarh
B) Mohini Bhasmasur
C) Savitri Satyavan
D) None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Baburao Krishnarao Mestry was born in Kolhapur in the year 1890. He taught himself to paint, earning the designation "Painter" (hence the name) and sculpt in the style of an academic art school. Between 1910 and 1916, he and his artist cousin Anandrao Painter were the leading painters of stage backdrops in Western India, creating many prominent curtains for Sangeet Natak troupes as well as Gujarati Parsi theatres.

Complete answer:
Now let us look into the given options:
Option A) Anandrao Painter's cousin Baburao Painter, also known as Mistri, directed the first silent historical film, Simhgarh. Simhgarh is the first historical film in India. Baburao Painter's silent film Simhgarh (1920), based on a Mahabharata tale, was his full feature. It featured a gruesome scene in which Bheema, the second Pandava, beheads Matsya king Virata's powerful general Keechak for lusting after Sairandhri aka Draupadi, who, like the Pandavas, had actually said to be changed her name and was living in anonymity in the final year of their exile.

Simhgarh (1920), Baburao's feature film, was strongly censored due to its violent depiction of Bhima's slaying of Keechak. However, the film received favourable reviews and commercial success, encouraging Painter to pursue more ambitious projects. In the Indian film, he wrote his own screenplays and directed the three-dimensional space rather than stage-painting.

The Maharashtra Film Company, co-founded by Painter and based in Kolhapur, produced Simhgaarh (1920), starring Baburao Pendharkar as Krishna and VG Damle. Ravi Varma's chromolithographs and postcards depicting the specific episodic tale from the Mahabharata inspired the painter.

Option B) Mohini Bhasmasur is given the ability to burn someone simply by placing his palm on their head by Lord Shiva. Lord Vishnu chooses to teach the demon a lesson when he decides to use it against the former.This is an incorrect option.

Option C) Savitri and Satyavan are a legendary couple in Hinduism, revered for their love and devotion to one another. Princess Savitri marries an exiled prince named Satyavan, who was foretold to die young, according to mythology. So this is also an incorrect option.

Option D) None of the above cannot be the correct answer because we found that option A is correct.

Therefore the correct answer is option ‘A’.

Note: Simhgarh was screened alongside footage from the 1918 Indian National Congress newsreel at Bombay's Majestic cinema in Girgaum, which was leading the freedom movement against the British. Unfortunately, no prints of the silent film Simhgarh from 1920 have survived.