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V. Shantaram#Career

{{short description|Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor (1901–1990)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}

{{Use Indian English|date=June 2015}}

{{Infobox person

| name = V. Shantaram

| image = File:V. Shantaram.jpg

| caption = Shantaram in 1938

| imagesize =

|birth_name = Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre

| birth_date = {{birth date |df=yes|1901|11|18}}

| birth_place = Kolhapur, Kolhapur State, British India

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1990|10|30|1901|11|18}}
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

| spouse = {{plainlist|

  • {{marriage|Vimalabai
    |1921}}
  • {{marriage|Jayashree
    |1941|1956|end=div}}
  • {{marriage|Sandhya
    |1956}}

}}

| other names = Annasaheb

| nationality = Indian

| occupation = {{hlist|Film director|film producer|screenwriter|actor}}

| years_active = 1921–1987[http://www.ultraindia.com/movies/awards/vsfgraphy.htm Dadasaheb Phalke Award filmography]. ultraindia.com {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091207032045/http://www.ultraindia.com/movies/awards/vsfgraphy.htm |date=7 December 2009 }}

| awards = {{Awards|Best Director|1957|Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje}} {{Awards|Best Film|1958|Do Aankhen Barah Haath}} {{Awards|Dadasaheb Phalke Award|1985}} {{Awards|Padma Vibhushan|1992}}

}}

Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre (18 November 1901 – 30 October 1990), also known as V. Shantaram or Shantaram Bapu, was an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor known for his work in Hindi and Marathi films.{{cite book |author=Tilak, Shrinivas |title=Understanding Karma: In Light of Paul Ricoeur's Philosophical Anthropology and Hemeneutics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m1xXDHLlNYIC&pg=PA306 |access-date=19 June 2012 |year=2006 |publisher=International Centre for Cultural Studies |isbn=978-81-87420-20-0 |pages=306}} He is best known for films such as {{Lang|hi-latn|Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani}} (1946), Amar Bhoopali (1951), Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955), Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957), Navrang (1959), Duniya Na Mane (1937), Pinjara (1972), Chani, Iye Marathiche Nagari and Zunj.

Career

V. Shantaram started his film career doing odd jobs in Maharashtra Film Co. owned by Baburao Painter at Kolhapur.[http://www.indiaplaza.com/Promo/vshantaram/page2.shtml Biography – The V. Shantaram Centennial Collection] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902234856/http://www.indiaplaza.com/Promo/vshantaram/page2.shtml |date=2 September 2013 }} He went on to debut as an actor in the silent film Surekha Haran in 1921.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080714173748/http://www.screenindia.com/old/20001208/falis.htm Remembering the Pioneer] screenindia.

Shantaram, fondly known as Annasaheb (अण्णासाहेब), had an illustrious career as a filmmaker for almost seven decades. He was one of the early filmmakers to realize the efficacy of the film medium as an instrument of social change and used it successfully to advocate humanism on one hand and expose bigotry and injustice on the other. V. Shantaram had a very keen interest in music. It is said that he "ghost wrote" music for many of his music directors, and took a very active part in the creation of music. Some of his songs had to rehearsed several times before they were approved by V. Shantaram.

{{cite book |last=Narwekar |first=Kiran Shantaram with Sanjit |title=V. Shantaram, the legacy of the Royal Lotus |year=2003 |publisher=Rupa & Co. |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-291-0218-8}} He was praised by Charlie Chaplin for his Marathi film Manoos. Chaplin reportedly liked the film to a great extent.[https://in.movies.yahoo.com/news/charlie-chaplin-saluted-v-shantaram-140157157.html Charlie Chaplin saluted V. Shantaram]. In.movies.yahoo.com (18 November 2013). Retrieved on 2018-11-20.

He directed his first film Netaji Palkar, in 1927.{{cite book |author=Lal, S. |title=50 Magnificent Indians Of The 20Th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rkI1_n4QAxMC&pg=PT274 |access-date=20 February 2015 |date=1 January 2008 |publisher=Jaico Publishing House |isbn=978-81-7992-698-7 |pages=274–}} In 1929, he founded the Prabhat Film Company along with Vishnupant Damle, K.R. Dhaiber, S. Fatelal and S.B. Kulkarni, which made Ayodhyecha Raja, the first Marathi language film in 1932 under his direction.[http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2002/05/02/stories/2002050200380100.htm A navrang of Shantaram's films – Retrospective] The Hindu, 2 May 2002. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100901060422/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2002/05/02/stories/2002050200380100.htm |date=1 September 2010 }} He left Prabhat co. in 1942 to form "Rajkamal Kalamandir" in Mumbai.[http://www.prabhatfilm.com/founders.htm Founders] Prabhat Film Company {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903050113/http://www.prabhatfilm.com/founders.htm |date=3 September 2013 }} In time, "Rajkamal" became one of the most sophisticated studios of the country.[http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2001/11/30/stories/2001113000910400.htm Well ahead of his times] The Hindu, 30 November 2001. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201142316/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2001/11/30/stories/2001113000910400.htm |date=1 February 2011 }}{{cite web |author=Scroll Staff |title=Google doodle honours V Shantaram on his 116th birth anniversary |url=https://scroll.in/latest/858318/google-doodle-honours-v-shantaram-on-his-116th-birth-anniversary |website=Scroll.in |language=en |date=18 November 2017}}

Shantaram introduced his daughter Rajshree and Jeetendra in the 1964 film Geet Gaya Patharon Ne. He also introduced his third wife Sandhya's niece Ranjana Deshmukh into the Marathi film industry through Chandanachi Choli Ang Ang Jaali, directed by his son Kiran Shantaram in 1975. Ranjana dominated the Marathi silver screen in the '70s and '80s.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award was conferred on him in 1985.[http://www.ultraindia.com/movies/awards/vshantaram.htm 17th Awardee] Dada Saheb Phalke Awards, List of Awardees. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725024304/http://www.ultraindia.com/movies/awards/vshantaram.htm |date=25 July 2008 }} He was posthumously awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1992.[http://india.gov.in/myindia/padmavibhushan_awards_list1.php Official List of Awardees] Padma Vibhushan. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115044717/http://india.gov.in/myindia/padmavibhushan_awards_list1.php |date=15 November 2012 }}

His autobiography Shantarama was published in Hindi and Marathi.{{cite news |title=50 years of a Shantaram classic |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2033356.cms |access-date=8 August 2011 |newspaper=Times of India |date=28 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090811020639/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/2033356.cms |archive-date=11 August 2009}}

File:V Shantaram 2001 stamp of India.jpg

The V. Shantaram Award was constituted by Central Government and Maharashtra State Government. The V. Shantaram Motion Picture Scientific Research and Cultural Foundation, established in 1993, offers various awards to film-makers. The award is presented annually on 18 November. A postage stamp dedicated to Shantaram was released by India Post on 17 November 2001.

Early life

Shantaram was born in 1901 at Kolhapur to a Marathi Jain family.{{cite book |author=Lyden, John |title=The Routledge Companion to Religion and Film |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q9OJLAZakI4C&pg=PA148 |year=2009 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-44853-6 |pages=148–}} Shantaram was maternal cousin of famous Marathi film director Master Vinayak,{{cite web | url=https://bollywoodirect.medium.com/remembering-master-vinayak-on-his-113th-birth-anniversary-56e740fc139f | title=Remembering Master Vinayak on his 113th birth anniversary | date=19 January 2019 }} (father of Bollywood actress Nanda).{{cite web | url=https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/nanda-the-little-known-life-of-a-screen-goddess-638178 | title=Nanda: The little-known life of a screen goddess }} He used to live at Panhala near Kolhapur in Maharashtra state.

Personal life

In 1921, aged 20, he married 12-year-old Vimalabai in a match arranged by their families. They had four children: son Prabhat Kumar (after whom Shantaram named his movie company) and daughters Saroj, Madhura and Charusheela. Saroj, the eldest daughter, is married to Soli Engineer, a Parsi, and they run the Valley View Grand Resort at Panhala near Kolhapur, built on Shantaram's farmhouse, which was inherited by Saroj. Shantaram's second daughter, Madhura, is the wife of Pandit Jasraj and mother of music director Shaarang Dev Pandit and of TV personality Durga Jasraj.[http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/jai-ho-jasraj/article2254030.ece Jai ho! Jasraj]. The Hindu. 8 October 2007. Shantaram's third daughter, Charusheela, is the mother of former film actor Siddharth Ray.

In 1941, Shantaram married actress Jayashree (née Kamulkar), with whom he had worked in several films, including Shakuntala (1942). He had three children with Jayashree: a son, the Marathi film director and producer Kiran Shantaram,{{cite book |author=Gavankar, Nilu N. |title=The Desai Trio and the Movie Industry of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gGAyEpXtK3UC&pg=PA139 |access-date=5 May 2013 |date=26 July 2011 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=978-1-4685-9981-7 |pages=139}}{{cite web |title=50 years of a Shantaram classic |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/50-years-of-a-Shantaram-classic/articleshow/2033356.cms |author=Mishra, Ambarish |date=28 September 2006 |access-date=22 September 2014 |work=The Times of India}} and two daughters, the actress Rajshree and Tejashree. The couple divorced in 1956.{{cite web |title="My father married the women he loved" |date= 29 October 2015 |url=https://www.filmfare.com/features/my-father-married-the-women-he-loved-11023.html}}

In 1956, just before the law was changed to prohibit polygamy for Hindus, Shantaram married another of his leading ladies, the actress Sandhya (née Vijaya Deshmukh), who had starred in his films Amar Bhoopali and Parchaiyan and would go on to star in many of his future films like Do Aankhen Barah Haath, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje, Navrang, Jal Bin Machhli Nritya Bin Bijli and Sehra. They did not have any children together, but Sandhya bonded strongly with Vimalabai and her children.

Shantaram's great-nephews Swastik Karnatki and Karan Gurbaxani are also Directors in Mumbai.

Death

Shantaram died on 30 October 1990 in Mumbai.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080207100050/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/14188 Biography] American Film Institute. He was survived by his three wives and seven children.

Vimalabai died in 1996 after being bedridden for four years. Jayashree died peacefully in her sleep in 2003.

=V. Shantaram worked in railway workshop Hubballi, Karnataka State=

V. Shantaram's family moved from Kolhapur to Hubbbali also known as Hubli in Dharwar district, Bombay state Now Karnataka in 1917 facing a tough time financially. Shantaram, then a teenager joined the railway workshop at Hubballi as a fitter for a salary of 8 annas (50 paise) per day. Impressed by his hard work his salary was raised to 12 annas per day.

In the evenings he worked as a door keeper at NEW Deccan Cinema Theatre at Hubballi. Although he was not paid for this job, he was allowed to watch all movies screened for free. There he watched movies of Dadasaheb Phalke, father of Indian Cinema, and developed a passion for the movies. He learnt photography and sign board painting in Hubballi. He later said that the first time he touched a camera, he instantly connected to it.

Filmography

{{refbegin|colwidth=20em}}

=As actor=

=As producer=

=As director=

==[[Maharashtra Film Company]]==

==[[Prabhat Film Company]]==

==[[Rajkamal Kalamandir]]==

{{refend}}

Source: IMDB{{cite web |title=IMDB Profile films |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0788391/filmoyear |publisher=IMDB |access-date=16 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904020029/http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0788391/filmoyear |archive-date=4 September 2013}}

Awards and recognition

=Recognition=

  • 2017 – on 18 November 2017, Google honored Shantaram on his 116th Birthday with a Google Doodle on their Indian front page.{{cite web |url=https://doodles.google/doodle/v-shantarams-116th-birthday/ |title=V. Shantaram's 116th Birthday |website=www.google.com |language=en |access-date=17 November 2017}}[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waS_vQabXdo V. Shantaram Google Doodle | Biography of V. Shantaram]. YouTube (17 November 2017). Retrieved on 2018-11-20.
  • 1952 – Amar Bhoopali (The Immortal Song) competed at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.{{cite web |title=Awards for Amar Bhoopali (1951) |publisher=Internet Movie Database |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0331417/awards |access-date=20 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904013558/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0331417/awards |archive-date=4 September 2013}}

=Awards =

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Biographies

  • Shantaram, Kiran & Narwekar, Sanjit; V Shantaram: The Legacy of the Royal Lotus, 2003, Rupa & Co., {{ISBN|978-81-291-0218-8}}.
  • Banerjee, Shampa; Profiles, five film-makers from India: V. Shantaram, Raj Kapoor, Mrinal Sen, Guru Dutt, Ritwik Ghatak Directorate of Film Festivals, National Film Development Corp, 1985.
  • Pandit Jasraj, Madhura, V. Shantaram: The Man Who Changed Indian Cinema, Hay House, 2015{{Cite web |date=2015-09-09 |title=Madhura Pandit's biography focuses more on her father and filmmaker-actor V. Shantaram's work than his personal life |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/books/story/20150921-its-strictly-professional-v-shantaram-820415-2015-09-09 |access-date=2024-09-30 |website=India Today |language=en}}

External links

{{Commons category|V. Shantaram}}

  • {{IMDb name|id=0788391|name=V. Shantaram}}
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20110201142316/http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fr/2001/11/30/stories/2001113000910400.htm 'Well ahead of his times', Article on V.Shantaram in The Hindu dated 30 November 2001]

{{Dadasaheb Phalke Award}}

{{Padma Vibhushan Awards}}

{{FilmfareAwardBestDirector}}

{{Authority control|state=expanded}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shantaram, V.}}

Category:1901 births

Category:1990 deaths

Category:Indian male film actors

Category:Hindi-language film directors

Category:Marathi film directors

Category:Marathi cinema

Category:Film producers from Maharashtra

Category:Indian male screenwriters

Category:People from Kolhapur

Category:Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients

Category:Golden Globe Award winners

Category:Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in arts

Category:20th-century Indian male actors

Category:Shantaram family

Category:Film directors from Maharashtra

Category:Indian silent film directors

Category:Producers who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award

Category:Directors who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award

Category:20th-century Indian screenwriters

Category:20th-century Indian Jains