In an illustrious career spanning well over seven decades, Shantaram Vankundre, known to one and all as V. Shantaram, was honoured with the 17th Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1986 for his outstanding contribution to the development and enrichment of Indian Cinema.

V. Shantaram was born on 18th November 1901 at Kolhapur, and entered the world of drama at the tender age of 12. Apart from handling odd jobs with Gandharva Natak Mandal at Kolhapur, he appeared in bit roles in their dramas. He was to later join Maharashtra Film Co., also at Kolhapur, a company started by Baburao Painter whom Shantaram considered as his Guru. In his formative years, he was not averse to any job that came his way, working up from coolie to carpenter, from make-up man to editor, and on to become an actor. These multifarious activities helped him to learn the various crafts employed in film making. He became assistant to Baburao Painter and played small roles in Surekha Haran in 1921, Damaji in 1922 and Maya Bazar in 1923. His first major role was in the silent movie Sinhagad.

Shantaram made his directorial debut with Netaji Palkar in 1927, and two years later, founded Prabhat Film Co. in association with S. Fatehlal, V.Damle, K. Dhaiber and Sitaram Kulkarni. The new company came into being at Kolhapur, the first film being Gopal Krishna 1929. Prabhat established its own studio at Pune, reputed to be one of the best at the time. It was here that Shantaram was to make India's first multi-colour film, Sairendhri, printed and processed at Germany.

In 1932, Prabhat produced its first talkie Ayodhya Ka Raja, which was followed by a string of successes over the next decade, till Shantaram severed his connection with the company to shift to Bombay where he set up Rajkamal Kalamandir by acquiring the old Wadia Movietone studio at Parel. Whilst the premises and studio were being renovated Shantaram briefly served as Chief Producer FAB (Govt. Of India's Film Advisory Board) Rajkamal Kalamandir's first film was Shakuntala which ran over 100 weeks in Bombay.

Shantaram has many firsts to his credits, during his Prabhat days. These include the first children's film, Ranisaheba, in 1930, first use of a camera trolly in 1931, for the silent film Chandrasena, first Marathi talkie Ayodhyecha Raja in 1933, the first colour film Sairendhri in 1933, production of gramophone records from the original sound track in 1934, use of telephoto lens for Amrit Manthan in 1935, first animation film Jambukaka in 1936, and the first utilisation of back-projection for Amar Jyoti in 1937.

Shantaram has made many outstanding contribution to the development and enrichment of Indian Cinema. A pioneer to the core, crusader and master craftsman, he has invested his films, not only with directorial excellence but also technical advancement, artistic and cultural values. Known for bold experimenting with technique and themes, he has given Indian Cinema many socially purposeful films.

His films have gathered many National and International awards. Shantaram made his mark on the International film scene when Amar Jyoti received a Certificate of Merit at the venice Film Festival in 1936. Amar Bhoopali was named for Best Sound Recording from the Centre National de La Cinematographic, at the Cannes Film Festival in 1952. The film which was Shantaram's crowning glory was Do Aankhen Bara Haath, winning awards from the Hollywood Press Association, the Berlin Film Festival, and His Holiness the Pope's Catholic Award. It was named Best film of 1957 at the National Film Awards. Shantaram's other films to get awards were Sehra and Geet Gaya Patharone, both for colour photography.

Shantaram was named Best Director for the Filmfare Award in 1956 for his film Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje, and the BFJA award as Best Director for the film Parbat Pe Apna Dera in 1945. Jhunj won the Maharashtra State Award for Best Editing in 1975. Awards in memory have been instituted by Central Government and Maharashtra State Government, and the V. Shantaram Motion Picture Scientific Research and Cultural Foundation, established in 1993, shortly after the maestro's death, offers various awards to film makers, presented on 18th November each year being Shantaram's birth anniversary.

Shantaram was honoured with Padmabhushan in 1992. He has been connected with various film institutions, being a member of the Film Advisory Board and Central Board of Film Censors. He was the founder President of the Film Producers Guild of India, member of the S. K. Patil Film Inquiry Committee, and founder member of the Children's Film Society.

V.Shantaram's Filmography