Some two miles away from the Behala tram depot, Ahindra Chowdhury and Prafulla Ghosh had set up a film studio. Young Ahindra had first thought of doing a screen adaptation of Tagore’s Bisarjan. But it took time to get the rights. On his friends’ advice, he himself started writing a story and screenplay. The company’s office opened at 10 British Indian Street. That is where the idea of setting up a studio that would be right for filming mythological stories germinated. His primary companion was friend Prafulla who later went on to become a renowned director. In Ahindra’s memoir, there are descriptions of the location of the studio. “Back then, the Behala-Falta train line was operational. Two plots of land were bought. This location could be reached if one crossed the train line after walking some miles east of Behala tram terminus,” he wrote. Some one-and-a-half bighas of land in front of the plots was like a flat space or a ledge. The unruly foliage nearby was pruned. Bamboo shrubs were also cut to size. One had to cross a canal dug for drainage to go from this area to reach this flattened space. A showy footbridge was built atop the canal. A store room was built right at the centre of the flattened space. It was flanked on both sides by two makeup rooms. It overlooked a long verandah, with intricate lattice-work on wooden railings where creepers grew. In front of that was a nice garden. On the two sides of the garden were two circular rooms. They had thatched roof with the base made of shal trees. In the south was another area meant for a workshop.
Reputed cinematographer Charles Creed, art connoisseur OC Ganguly’s brother Alindra, Gokul Nag of the Kallol group were all involved in building this studio as well as making the Soul of a Slave. Though the film was praised, Ahindra and Prafulla never made a film together again. Fund crunch and Ahindra’s busy schedule in the theatre world contributed to Photoplay Syndicate becoming inactive. The company and the studio folded once Prafulla left Kolkata after taking up a different job.