He was born as Baburao Krishnarao Mestri in Kolhapur in 1890, but soon derived this name Painter, through his excellence in Painting. Baburao Painter was a leading painter of stage backdrops and worked those days for Sangeet Natak troupes and Gujarathi / Parsi theatre. His passion for films began after the release of ‘Raja Harischandra’, which made him buy a movie projector to turn a movie exhibitor.

In 1919, Baburao Painter with the support of his well wishers set up Maharashtra film Company in Kolhapur. His first film ‘Sairandhri’ based on Mr. Khadilkar’s play ‘Keechak Vadha’ was heavily censored for the scene on slaying of Keechak by Bheema; yet, the film invited both analytical and commercial praise. Baburao Painter, who was an institution in himself, with his multi-talent, seriously worked in all areas of the film from acting, direction, set designing camera besides set and poster designing . He lost his interest in film making after the arrival of Talkie films, as he felt that the visual impact that a silent film created was lost in a talkie film. Therefore, he shut down his own studio in 1931. However, he continued directing the films at the request of his friends till 1953.

Baburao Painter will always be remembered for his creations like ‘Sairandhri’, ‘Savakari Pash’ ‘Kalyan Khajina’, ‘Sinhagad’, ‘Sati Padmini’, ‘Sri Krishna Avatar’, ‘Bhakta Pralhad’ and ‘Netaji Palkar’. He directed his first talkie film ‘Usha’ for Shalini Cinetone, Kolhapur. The others to follow were ‘Rukmini Swayamvar’, remake of ‘Savakari Paash’, ‘Pratibha’, ‘Vishvamitra’ and ‘Mahajan’( 1953). He said good bye to this world on 16th January 1954. MMW pays sincere tributes to this legend from Maharashtra, on the occasion of his death anniversary.