This riveting biography brings alive the life and times of Shantaram and his contemporaries, while simultaneously throwing light on a bygone era of Indian cinema marked by struggles, uncertainties and difficulties.
Among the many films that Charlie Chaplin watched, a film that he took a liking to was none other than the 1939 social melodrama ‘Manoos’, a Marathi film. And the man who got the praise for this remarkable piece of Indian cinema was none other than Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre, popularly known as V Shantaram.
Even today when there is a mention about films like ‘Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani’, ‘Do Aankhen Barah Haath’, ‘Navrang’, ‘Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje’, ‘Pinjra’ and many such memorable classics, the legend of Indian Cinema stands tall in form of V Shantaram.
In an honest attempt to bring to the fore the early stages of Indian film industry and the struggles, uncertainties and difficulties in making a film, Madhura Pandit.
Jasraj, has written a biography on her father titled ‘V Shantaram – The Man Who Changed Indian Cinema’.
This biography is certainly a trip down the memory lane for all those who loved and keenly followed the works of V Shantaram. Besides cinematic journey of this legend, it also unfolds some hidden mysteries which till this date were not heard about.
There is an interesting tale behind the name V Shantaram, which not just laid cinematic milestones, but went on to rule the hearts and minds of several generations. The release of ‘Sureka Haran’ had been fixed. It was to be screened in erstwhile Bombay; Baburao Painter and Baburao Pendharkar were all set to leave with the prints. The latter called Shantaram who was then working at Shivaji Theatre and instructed him to take care of the studio’s correspondence and reply to all the letters while they were gone.
Apprehensive, Shantaram asked was he meant to sign certain documents too in their absence. Hearing this Baburao asked Shantaram to show his signature and he wrote down: S. R. Vankudre.
Baburao thought hard for a while and then said: “Shantaram, your name sounds good. But your last name can be mispronounced. Overall, your name should be short.”
He suggested that Shantaram shorten his last name to just its initial and instead use his first name. The result was what we know the man to be today – V Shantaram. Later in life, he would often say that, as soon as he heard this new name, he felt goose bumps. His parents had given him the name Shantaram but it was his cousin and godfather, Baburao Pendharkar, who guided him into the world of cinema and gave him the name that would change its face.
As 1957 rolled by, among several films that Shantaram made, ‘Do Aankhen Barah Haath’ became a cult classic and compelled society to rethink about how to treat convicts and prisoners. The film revolves around six hardened criminals who are put under the care of an idealistic and ambitious jailer (played by Shantaram himself) who believes that they can and must be reformed and not punished. He seeks permission from his superiors to try an experiment. In the process of teaching these criminals a sensible way to live, the jailer dies. However, his wishes are fulfilled by the prisoners who adapt to a peaceful and virtuous way of living.
Tyagraj Pendharkar, Shantaram’s cameraman, recollected one memorable incident while shooting the film. The scene involved the prisoners tilling a barren piece of land to turn it into a fertile place for vegetation. They were anxiously looking at the skies for rain.
Shantaram saw dark clouds gather in the distance and immediately ordered the unit to be ready to shoot once it began pouring. It paid off and the final shot caught drops of water hitting the camera head-on as the prisoners jump with happiness. It was an authentic scene that captured nature in all its beauty.
During the shooting of one of the scenes, where Shantaram had to tame a bull that was running rampant, he hurt one of his eyes very seriously. The injury was so grave that he lost the vision for several days only to be regained again.
The musical score by Vasant Desai and the songs penned by the ace poet Bharat Vyas were the other highlights of the film. In fact, the soulful track, ‘Aye Malik Tere Bande Hum’ was adopted by numerous educational institutions and prisons as their prayer song.
V Shantaram can never be captured in few pages, however this book gives a reader some of the rare jewels from the life of the man who changed Indian Cinema in true sense.
Since the book has been written by his daughter, the narration at times appears to be biased. But for any student of Indian Cinema and, more so, for V Shantaram lovers the book is a must in one’s collection.
