Prahlad Keshav Atre () (13 August 1898 – 13 June 1969), popularly known as Āchārya Atre, was a prominent

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

writer, poet, educationist, founder–editor of ''Maratha'' (a Marathi language newspaper), and above all, a noted orator.

Biography

Early life

Atre was born on 13 August 1898 in a

Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin family of Kodit Khurd, a village near Saswad in

Pune district Pune district (Marathi pronunciation: uɳeː is the most populous district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The district's population was 9,429,408 in the 2011 census, making it the fourth most populous district amongst India's 640 district ...

. His father was a

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

and also a secretary of Saswad Municipality for a brief period and his uncle was teacher at MES Waghire High School Saswad. He completed his primary and High School education from MES Waghire High School, Saswad. He matriculated from

Fergusson college Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society. Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its fir ...

in 1919. He completed Bachelor of Arts from

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...

. After graduation Atre took up a career as a school teacher. Atre did his T. D. (teacher's diploma) from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1928. Before returning to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

he studied Experimental Psychology under

Cyril Burt Sir Cyril Lodowic Burt, FBA (3 March 1883 – 10 October 1971) was an English educational psychologist and geneticist who also made contributions to statistics. He is known for his studies on the heritability of IQ. Shortly after he died, his s ...

and taught at Harrow.

Film and theatre career

His Marathi film, ''

Shyamchi Aai Shyamchi Aai ( mr, श्यामची आई; en, Shyam's Mother) is an autobiography of social activist Pandurang Sadashiv Sane (known as ''Sane Guruji''). Its regarded as one of the greatest tributes to mother's love in Marathi literature. ...

'' won the 1954

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one of se ...

. Atre wrote seven plays; some of them had a humorous theme while others, a serious one. All of them received high public acclaim. His comedy-play, '' Moruchi Mavshi'' was later adapted into Hindi film, ''Aunty No. 1'' (1998), starring

Govinda Govinda (), also rendered Govind and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu which is also used for his avatars such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in '' Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addresse ...

and

Raveena Tandon Raveena Tandon (born 26 October 1972) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. The daughter of director Ravi Tandon, she made her acting debut in the 1991 action film '' Patthar Ke Phool'', which won her the Filmfare Award for New Face ...

. His movie ''Mahatma Phule'' (1955) received the ''President's Silver Medal''.

Writing and Publishing

Atre was the founder–editor of four Marathi newspapers. Two of them had a short life. But the other two, ''Maratha'' and ''(Weekly) Navayug'', ran for many years with a large circulation.

Political career

* Member of

Sanyukta Maharashtra Samiti Samyukta Maharashtra Movement ( mr, संयुक्त महाराष्ट्र चळवळ), commonly known as the Samiti, was an organisation in India that advocated for a separate Marathi-speaking state in Western India and Centr ...

during 1956–60. He was arrested in 1956 under the Preventive Detention Act for his agitation. * Member of

Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha The Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha or the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the legislature of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated in the Nariman Point area of South Mumbai in the capital Mumbai. Presently, 288 mem ...

from Dadar constituency (18) 1962–1967 However his ambition of becoming a member of the Indian Parliament could not be fulfilled as he lost these elections.

Important works

Plays

* Sāshtāng Namaskār (1935) * Gharābāher (1934) * Bhramāchā Bhopalā (1935) * Udyāchā Sansār (1936) * Lagnāchi Bedi (1936) * Moruchi Māwashi (1947) a Marathi comedy play *

To Mi Navhech ''To Mee Navhech'' () is a classic Marathi-language play written by Acharya Atre based on the court case of Madhav Kazi, who was an active criminal during the years between 1955 and 1960. Though the protagonist role has been played by many actor ...

(1962)

Novels, Biographies, and Essays

* Chāngunā (1954) * Battāshi Wa Itar Kathā (1954) * Mahātmā Jyotibā Phule (1958) * Suryāsta (1964) (On the life of

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

) * Samādhiwaril Ashru (1956) * Kelyāne Deshātan (1961) * Atre Uwāch (1937) * Lalit Wāngmaya (1944) * Hashā Āni Tālyā (1958) * Dalitanche Baba (Remembering Dr. Ambedkar) *Mi Kasā Jhālo (1953)

Movies

* Brahmachari (1938) * Shyāmchi Aai (1953) * Premveer (Script writer) * Dharmveer (Script writer) * Brandichi Bātali (Script writer) * Paayaachi Daasi (Hindi: Charanon Ki Daasi). Producer. * Mahātmā Phule * Parinde (Hindi, Director under name of Principal Atre) (1945)

Journalism

* Founder/Editor of (weekly) ''Sāptāhik Navyug'' (1940–1962) and ''Tukārām'' (1954) * Evening newspaper ''Jai Hind'' (1948) * Daily ''Marāthā'' (1956 – Till the end)

Honors

* President of 38th ''Natya Sammelan'' at

Belgaon Belgaum ( ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Belagavi ...

(1955) * President of 10th ''Maharashatra Patrakar Sammelan'' (1950) * President of ''Regional Sahitya Sammelan'' at

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

Indore Indore () is the largest and most populous city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It serves as the headquarters of both Indore District and Indore Division. It is also considered as an education hub of the state and is the only city to ...

and

Gwalior Gwalior() is a major city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh; it lies in northern part of Madhya Pradesh and is one of the Counter-magnet cities. Located south of Delhi, the capital city of India, from Agra and from Bhopal, the s ...

* In his honor there is an ''Acharya atre bhavan'' in Saswad

Awards

; National Film Awards (India) *

1st National Film Awards The 1st National Film Awards, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema censored in the year 1953. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 10 October 1954 and awards were gi ...

(1953) – President's Gold Medal for the All India Best Feature Film –

2nd National Film Awards The 2nd National Film Awards, then known as State Awards for Films, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1954. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New De ...

(1954) – President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Marathi –

Mahatma Phule Jyotirao Govindrao Phule, also known as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890) was an Indian social activist, thinker, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields, including era ...

References

* ''Prahlad Keshav Atre'', by A. N. Pednekar. Sahitya Akademi Publications. .

External links

*
Prahlad Keshav Atre
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atre, Prahlad 1898 births 1969 deaths Marathi-language writers Marathi-language poets Marathi film directors Businesspeople from Pune Maharashtra MLAs 1962–1967 Marathi film producers Indian male novelists Indian autobiographers Indian newspaper editors Indian magazine editors Indian magazine founders Presidents of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan 20th-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Indian male dramatists and playwrights Indian male screenwriters Marathi politicians Writers from Pune Politicians from Pune Screenwriters from Maharashtra Novelists from Maharashtra Poets from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian male writers Producers who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award Directors who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award Independent politicians in India 20th-century Indian screenwriters