S N Patankar

Producer, director and cinematographer, S.N Patankar was one of the early pioneers of Indian cinema. He first worked as a decorator in Chitre's Coronation Cinema in Bombay so he was able to watch foreign films evoking in him a desire to become a filmmaker himself. He bought a film camera from H.S. Bhatawdekar and along with his partners V.P. Divekar, A.P. Karandikar, Ranade and Bhatkande were one of the groups that filmed the historic Coronation Durbar in Delhi in 1911. He started Patankar Union in partnership with Divekar and Karandikar to make films. They were supported by the nationalist leader Lokmanya Tilak who persuaded financiers Bhagwandas Chaturbhuj and Dharamdas Narayandas to invest in the company.
Their first attempt at a film was “Savitri” in 1912 which turned out to be a disaster as the 100-foot-long film came out blank. He learnt from his mistake and made a short film 'Passion v/s Learning' in 1915, on a legend from Bhagwat Purana. It had a female actor Narmada Mande in a small role which was a rarity in those days. In 1915, he made “The Murder of Narayan Rao Peshwa”, a tale of a Maratha courtier killed in a palace coup, has been described as India’s first historical film.
In 1917, he started his second production company Patankar Friends & Company when Dwarkadas Sampat came on board as a financier. Patankar’s first film with this company was “King Shriyal” that was released in 1918. Under this banner, Patankar made India’s first serialized film “Ram Vanvas” (1918) that was released in four parts. Patankar and Sampat parted ways as a result of a disagreement in 1920. Sampat went on to establish Kohinoor Film Company and Patankar formed National Film Company with a new financier that produced eighteen films, all photographed and directed by him. He then set up a fourth production company called Pioneer Films with finance from Vazir Haji.
Patankar also acted in his own films like 'Mahashweta Kadambari' (1922),'Videhi Janak' (1923), and 'Vaman Avatar' (1923) and filmed the funeral of freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak in 1920.