Gabale had been suffering from kidney ailment for the last few months. He was living with his daughter Rekha, who is a doctor. His health deteriorated in the last few days and he died on Friday morning.

Gabale started his career with Prabhat Films in Pune. He worked with the likes of V Shantaram, Master Vinayak, Bhalji Pendharkar, P L Deshpande, G D Madgulkar and Sudheer Phadke.

He wrote the scripts for many films, Vande Mataram (1948) being the first. He went on to make films like Dev Pavla (1950), Johar Maibaap (1950), Dudh Bhat (1952), Devbappa (1953), Postatil Mulgi (1954), Chhota Jawan (1963) and Jiwhala (1968). Chhota Jawan won him the state’s best film award as did a documentary on Maharshi Karve.

Gabale won the V Shantaram award given by the state government and also an award for his film Kale Ghode at an international film festival. He made films like Phool Aur Kaliyan and Kutch Khatta — Kutch Meetha for children.

He was associated with the Film and Television Institute of India and Rajkamal studios. His last film was He Geet Jeevanache.