Shanta Apte
Shanta Apte | |
---|---|
Bombay, Maharashtra , India | |
Occupation | Singer-actress |
Years active | 1932–1958 |
Shanta Apte (1916–1964) was an Indian actress-singer who worked in
She brought a change in the static style of song renditions in films with her "spontaneous gestures and eye movements". A "woman of rare mettle", she staged a hunger strike in 1939 at the Prabhat Studios gate following a disagreement regarding a clause in her contract.[citation needed] Cited as a "domestic guerrilla" following her roles in films like Kunku/Duniya Na Mane, she became an inspirational role-model for a generation of college students.[5]
Claimed to be the highest paid female screen star in Marathi-language cinema, her "star" status with the audiences as early as 1937 was acknowledged by the cine-magazine editor Baburao Patel in the December 1937 issue of Filmindia, in an editorial titled "India Has No Star".[6]
She was also one of the earliest Indian cinema actors to write her autobiography Jau Mi Cinemat (Should I join Films) in Marathi.[citation needed]
Early years
Born in 1916 in Dudhni,
She was introduced in films as a child artiste at the age of nine years, by the actor-director Baburao Pendharkar.[citation needed] The "guidance" of her older brother Baburao Apte, who acted in Apte's first film Shyamsunder as Radha's husband, was stated to be a help in her rise to stardom.[10]
Career
1930s
Apte started her acting career when she was discovered at the age of nine years by Baburao Pendharkar and then cast in the Bhalji Pendharkar-directed film Shyamsunder. The film is stated to be the first Marathi film to celebrate a "silver jubilee" (25 weeks) in a single theatre.[11]
In 1934, she was cast as the hero's sister in
1936 saw Apte acting in the V. Shantaram-directed
In 1937, she acted in V. Shantaram's
In 1938, Apte acted in another famous film from Prabhat Films, directed by V. Shantaram, called Gopal Krishan.
1940s
In 1941, Apte acted in Savithri, a
In 1946, Apte acted in four films with Subhadra being a "mythological comedy", which was produced and directed by Master Vinayak and co-starred Yakub, Ishwarlal and Lata Mangeshkar.[17] Subhadra had Apte and Lata Mangeshkar singing together in the song "Main Khili Khili Phulwari", under the music direction of Vasant Desai.[18] Then came Uttara Abhimanyu, directed by Sarvottam Badami for Paras Pics and co-starring Shahu Modak; Panihari directed by V. M. Gunjal starred Surendra and Yakub; and Valmiki, directed by Bhalji Pendharkar, with both Prithviraj and Raj Kapoor acting in the film.
Shanta Apte thus had the rare distinction of singing and acting with the three "iconic female singers" of Indian cinema: with M. S. Subbulakshmi in Savithri (1941), with Noor Jehan in Duhai (1943) and with Lata Mangeshkar in Subhadra (1946).[19]
1950s
The 1950s saw fewer films from Shanta Apte. She acted in Marathi films like
Her last two films were in Hindi, Chandi Puja starring Nirupa Roy, Manhar Desai and Prem Adib and directed by Raman B. Desai, and the last released film Ram Bhakta Vibhishan in 1958,[4] directed by Samar Chatterjee, with the same star cast as Chandi Puja.
Personal life
Apte has been referred to as a woman who "symbolized women power both on and off the screen".[20] According to K. A. Abbas, commenting on the vitriolic writings of the cine-magazine editor Baburao Patel of Filmindia, "there was only one example of a spirited star like Shanta Apte taking the law in our own hands when she came to Baburao's office and hit him with a cane…".[21] She defied her contractual agreement with Prabhat Films when it hampered her from acting in outside films and decided to stage a fast in front of the studio gates. She was released from her contract by Prabhat Films.[20]
Ten years after Shanta Apte's death, actress
Death
Apte died of a heart attack following a six-month illness, on 24 February 1964, at her residence in Andheri, Mumbai, Maharashtra.[7]
Filmography
List of films:[24]
- Shyamsundar (1932)
- Amrit Manthan (1934)
- Amar Jyoti (1936)
- Rajput Ramani (1936)
- Duniya Na Mane/Kunku(1937)
- Wahan (1937)
- Gopal Krishna (1938)
- Savithri (1941) Tamil
- Apna Ghar/ Aple Ghar (1942)
- Zamindar (1942)
- Duhai (1943)
- Mohabbat (1943)
- Bhagya Lakshmi (1944)
- Kadambari (1944)
- Sawan (1945)
- Panihari (1946)
- Subhadra (1946)
- Uttara Abhimanyu (1946)
- Valmiki (1946)
- Mandir (1948)
- Bhagyarekha (1948)
- Main Abla Nahin Hoon ((1949)
- Swayamsiddha (1949)
- Jaga Bhadyane Dene Aahe (1949) (Marathi)
- Shilanganache Sone (1949) (Marathi)
- Jara Japoon (1950) (Marathi)
- Kunkvacha Dhani (1951) (Marathi)
- Tai Teleen (1953) (Marathi)
- Mulu Manek (1955) (Gujarati)
- Chandi Puja (1957)
- Ram Bhakta Vibhishan (1958)
References
- ISBN 978-0-333-93410-4. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-135-94318-9. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ "Shanta Apte". wiki.indiancine.ma. Indiancine.ma. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ a b c "Shanta Apte". streeshakti.com. Streeshakti.com. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-9537032-2-7. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ Patel, Baburao (December 1937). "India Has No Star". Filmindia. 3 (8). Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ a b Careers Digest. Vol. 1. 1964. p. 383. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ Patel, Baburao (December 1938). "Questions And Answers". Filmindia. 4 (12): 23. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ a b Sathe, V. P. "Article-Profile Shanta Apte (1977)". cineplot.com. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-86131-175-0. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ISBN 978-93-81398-02-9. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ "Amrit Manthan". prabhatfilm.com. Prabhatfilm.com. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ Prabhatfilm, Amar Jyoti
- ^ Crow, Jonathan (2016). "Duniya Na Mane". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ISBN 978-93-5186-330-4. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ Datta, V. S. "Heroine SHANTA APTE whipped top journalist in his chamber". activeindiatv.com. Active India. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ Patel, Baburao (September 1946). "Review-Subhadra". Filmindia. 12 (9): 57. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ ch. Subhadra (1946)
- ^ a b Vijay Ranchan (2 January 2014). "The Rebel Commoner". Story of a Bollywood Song. Abhinav Publications. pp. 23–. GGKEY:9E306RZQTQ7. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ a b Dutta, V. S. "Heroine SHANTA APTE whipped top journalist in his chamber". activeindiatv.com. Active India. Archived from the original on 19 May 2018. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-7069-0477-2. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ "Shanta Apte Biography". veethi.com. veethi.com. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ "Naina Apte". nainaapte.wordpress.com. nainaapte. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ "Shanta Apte". citwf.com. Alan Goble. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
External links
- Shanta Apte at IMDb
- Shanta Apte at Bollywood Hungama