V. Shantaram

His full name was Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre. He was born on 18 November 1901 in Kolhapur. Kolhapur is now in Maharashtra. He died in Mumbai on 30 October 1990, aged 88.

How big was his career?

It was very large. He directed about 55 films and produced about 92. His career ran for nearly seven decades.

What is the memory hook?

Born Kolhapur 1901; died Mumbai 1990.

His family was not rich. He had little schooling. As a young man he joined the Maharashtra Film Company in Kolhapur. Baburao Painter owned it. Shantaram began with odd jobs and learned every part of filmmaking.

What was his first role?

He first appeared as an actor in the silent film Surekha Haran in 1921. He directed his first film, Netaji Palkar, in 1927.

What is the memory hook?

Odd jobs under Baburao Painter, then acting.

Prabhat Film Company was his first studio. He and his partners founded it in Kolhapur in 1929. It later moved to Pune. Vishnupant Damle was one of the partners.

What did Prabhat make?

In 1932 he directed Ayodhyecha Raja. It was a Marathi and Hindi film made together. In 1937 came Duniya Na Mane, a film against forced marriage.

What is the memory hook?

Prabhat: 1929, Kolhapur, then Pune.

He left Prabhat in 1942. He then built his own studio in Mumbai. It was called Rajkamal Kalamandir. It stood on the site of an older film studio in Parel.

What came from it?

Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje came in 1955 and Navrang in 1959. Both are known for dance, music and colour. Pinjra followed in 1972.

What is the memory hook?

Prabhat first; Rajkamal, his own, from 1942.

Do Aankhen Barah Haath came out in 1957. The title means “two eyes, twelve hands”. It tells of a prison warden. He takes six hardened criminals to a farm. He tries to reform them with trust and work.

What did it win?

It won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury at Berlin in 1958. It also won the Samuel Goldwyn International Award in the United States.

What is the memory hook?

Warden, six prisoners, a farm, Berlin 1958.

In 1985 he received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. This is India’s top award for lifetime work in cinema. He won it in his own lifetime.

What came after his death?

He received the Padma Vibhushan in 1992. This was two years after he died. It is a posthumous honour.

What is the memory hook?

Phalke in life, Padma Vibhushan after.

Exams ask which film won which prize. They also ask about his two studios and his honours.

What are the common questions?

Which film won the Berlin Silver Bear? Do Aankhen Barah Haath. Where was he born? Kolhapur. Whose studio did he join as a young man? Baburao Painter’s.

What traps do exams set?

Do not mix up his two studios. Prabhat came first, in 1929. Rajkamal Kalamandir came later, in 1942. Also note that the Padma Vibhushan came after his death.

What is the memory hook?

Prabhat then Rajkamal; Berlin 1958.