One of the things that Tukaram, a dhobi from Pune, regrets the most is the loss of all his family’s photographs in the floods that came when the Khadakwasla dam on the Mutha river, which is close to Pune, burst in 1961. Several photographs of Tukaram and his father with actors and actresses from the past such as V Shantaram, Vishnupant Damle, Ulhas, Sapru, Durga Khote and Guru Dutt, are now lost along with all the other images from the Prabhat Film Company, popularly known as Prabhat Studios in Pune, where his father worked. Prabhat studio was a filmmaking company that had been launched in 1929 by VG Damle, S Fathelal, KR Dhaiber, SB Kulkarni and V Shantaram at Kolhapur, after which the studios were relocated to Pune. Tukaram’s father had been employed with the studio in 1935 when the film Sant Tukaram—a biopic of the eponymous famed seventeenth-century poet and holy man—was being shot there. During an interview at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII)— an autonomous Institute in Pune that comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting— in 2014, Tukaram said that he was born when the film had just been completed and V Shantaram had suggested that Tukaram’s father name his son after the film. Today Tukaram’s family, his children and grandchildren still reside in the same place. He now takes care of the laundry of the latest generation of students and staff at FTII, which was built after Prabhat studios shut down in 1949.

For Tukaram, the photographs that had been washed away meant that he could no longer prove to all the students and staff of the film institute who came to him, that he too was a part of that glorious past of the Prabhat studios. As Tukaram was growing up, a lot of new films were being shot at the Prabhat studios and new actors were emerging across the industry. In 1945, a film called Lakhrani was being shot at the Prabhat studios. It was then that Tukaram’s father told his son that, instead of wasting his time, Tukaram could start helping out with the delivery of laundered clothes to his clients. His father handed Tukaram a set of clothes and instructed him to go to the Prabhat Film Company guesthouse to deliver the bundle there. Upon reaching the guesthouse, Tukaram saw that most of the doors were shut, except one, which was slightly ajar. A person inside asked “Kaun hai?” (Who is there), and Tukaram answered “Maine kapda laya hoon” (I’ve brought the clothes). The person emerged from within the house, but Tukaram did not know or recognise the young actor standing before him at the time. It was Dev Anand. Dev Anand asked the adolescent whose clothes they were, but Tukaram didn’t know. While the actor was able to identify some of the clothes, he was unsure about the rest. Both Dev Anand and Tukaram decided to ascertain who these clothes belonged to. In search of the owner, they knocked on the door of the room next door and a bespectacled young man, holding a book in his hand, came forth. According to Tukaram’s account, Dev Anand explained the situation to the man who immediately confirmed that the clothes were his. The man asked Dev Anand if he worked at Prabhat studios, and Dev Anand told him that he had come from Karachi to work on a film. He then asked the young man before him how he happened to be there. The man explained that he was a dancer by profession and was there to instruct the actors at the Prabhat Studios. That man’s name was Guru Dutt. This was where the two men forged their long-lasting friendship, Tukaram said proudly.

In 1948, after one of his films had been shot, Dev Anand stayed back at the Prabhat studios while everyone else had left. It so happened that on the day he was scheduled to leave, riots broke out in Pune following the death of Mahatma Gandhi. On his way to the station, Dev Anand was forced to return and stay at the Prabhat studios till the rioters had calmed down. As he made his way back, he met Tukaram’s father who invited him to his house for a meal, since it was impossible to get food anywhere else. For the next 15 days, Dev Anand ate with Tukaram’s family. Tukaram recounted to me that Dev Anand had felt indebted to the family and wanted to repay them somehow, but Tukaram’s mother refused to take any money from him. When they were parting ways, the actor told Tukaram to visit him in Mumbai. In 1952, Tukaram decided to travel to Mumbai, specifically to meet Dev Anand. Taking the train, he got off at Dadar station, from where he went straight to the Kamdar studio. The watchman at the gate told him where to find Dev Anand. As Tukaram approached the spot, he saw the actor seated with Raj Khosla, Guru Dutt and K Singh, discussing a shot. A little hesitant, Tukaram stood back, but Dutt spotted him and recognised him immediately. He told Dev Anand to turn around and see who had come to meet them. Tukaram recalled fondly that they had shared a cup of tea, after which both Dev Anand and Guru Dutt had asked him to stay back in Mumbai. Tukaram refused the offer saying that he could not stay away from his mother for even a day. Nevertheless, Dev Anand took him to the market in Parel in South Mumbai, bought two shirts for him and put some money in his pocket for his tickets back home.

Tukaram still works at the FTII as the dhobi, and the students at the institute ask him to act in their projects, which he accepts quite willingly. Everyone at the film institute knows and respects Tukaram as an inseparable part of the campus. He simply acknowledges the place as his home. After all, he has known no other.