One of the most influential filmmakers of the early years of the talkie, V Shantaram’s journey spanned all the way from silent cinema to spectacularly colourful films through the 60s and 70s. Born in Kolhapur, he worked at the railway workshop in Hubli before joining Bal Gandharva’s theatre troupe where he was trained by people he would later employ, including music director Govindrao Tembe. He worked at odd jobs in the local cinema, then became assistant photographer and finally joined Baburao Painter’s Maharashtra Film Company where he learnt everything about filmmaking, including acting.

In 1929, Shantaram, along with four other partners formed the Prabhat Film Company in Kolhapur and later moved to Pune in 1933. He directed the first Marathi talkie Ayodhyecha Raja (1932), but he also made its Hindi version, a trend that would continue through the golden age of Prabhat. His early works were mythological movies and period dramas like Amritmanthan (1934) which gave Chandramohan his first break and was screened at the Venice Film Festival.

In Amar Jyoti (1936), Durga Khote played one of her most memorable roles as a pirate queen who takes on the patriarchal laws of her land to fight for the custody of her infant son. Another fiery female oriented narrative was Duniya Na Mane (1937) starring Shanta Apte as a defiant young woman who refuses to meekly accept her marriage to a much older man and fights to establish the injustice he’s done towards her. Shamed by her unwavering reason, the husband eventually commits suicide asking her to restart life with a younger man worthy of her. Apart from its radically modern theme, it also used sophisticated visual devices like the striking of the clock to suggest the hands of time and the old man’s soliloquy before the mirror where his conscience mocks him.

Shantaram continued making progressive socially relevant films like Aadmi (1939) about the rehabilitation of prostitutes and Padosi (1941) on the theme of communal harmony, before he split from Prabhat in 1942 to set up his own Rajkamal Kala Mandir. One of the landmark films of his later phase was Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946) in which he also played the lead as an Indian doctor serving in China during World War II. He shot an English version of the film as well.

Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955) which showcased the dancing talents of his wife Sandhya along with Kathak maestro Gopi Krishna, was a lavish musical shot in Technicolor, and went on to become a huge hit. Navrang (1959), set in pre-independence India was about a poet’s obsession with a more desirable version of his pretty but domestic wife, once again played by Sandhya. Between these two films, he made Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957) which speaks of the need to rehabilitate criminals as the protagonist warden (played by Shantaram) does. It was based on a real story and adapted by noted Marathi writer/poet G D Madgulkar.

His last significant film in Hindi was Geet Gaya Patharon Ne (1964) in which he launched his daughter Rajshree opposite newcomer Jeetendra. V Shantaram passed away in Mumbai on 30th October, 1990.