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Return of the magic lantern [Pune]

0 Comments | Times of India, The, Oct 28, 2009 | by Birajdar, Laxmi

PUNE: The magic lantern is an equipment that represents the first film projector’ in the world and was made famous in Maharashtra by the Patwardhan brothers, the itinerant projectionists, in the 19th century. Equipped with a lens on one side and a light on the other, glass slides with images painted on them were run through the magic lantern to produce an illusion of imaged moving.

Shambarik Kharolika 1885′ was the magic lantern show propagated by Mahadeo Gopal Patwardhan and his friend Madanrao Madharvrao Pitale throughout Maharashtra, Karnataka in 1892, and later the rest of the country.

Now, the National Film Archive of India will witness a magic lantern show by Patwardhan’s great-grandson Sunil on November 1 at 4 pm. Based on Lord Krishna, the 30-minute-long show will take one back to the rudimentary techniques that preceded motion picture.

“The first show was held on September 30, 1892. A total of 300 shows were held from 1894 to 1898, 1902-1910 and from 1914 to 1918. The shows stopped after the advent of cinema,” says Kalyan-based Sunil, who learnt the art as a matter of family tradition.

The magic lantern made by the creators of the show comprises a wooden box with a lens fitted inside and a zoom lens outside, giving the impression of a film projector. Slides of miniature paintings in translucent colours depicting mythological tales are fitted into the slit before the zoom lens and magnified on a screen.

Shambarik Kharolika 1885′ was started as a pre-cinema art that comprised miniature paintings on sheets of glass with translucent colour. The miniature pictures measuring 4×4 inches were blown up on 10×10 inches screen through the magic lantern
fast fold projection screen