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 Deshastha Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and northern area of the state of Karnataka. Other than these states, according to authors K. S. Singh, Gregory Naik and Pran Nath Chopra, Deshastha Bra ...

family of Kodit Khurd, a village near Saswad in Pune district. His father was a clerk 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 in 1919. He completed Bachelor of Arts from University of Pune. After graduation Atre took up a career as a school teacher. Atre did his T. D. (teacher's diploma) from the University of London in 1928. Before returning to India he studied

Experimental Psychology Experimental psychology refers to work done by those who apply experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ human participants and animal subjects to study a great many topics, in ...

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 Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England ** Harrow, London, a town in London ** Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) ...

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. 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 ''Moruchi Mavshi'' (Devanagari:मोरूची मावशी) is a Marathi play written by playwright Pralhad Keshav Atre based on the English play Charley's Aunt. The play is a light hearted comedy. It is best known for Vijay Chavan's iconi ...

'' was later adapted into

Hindi film Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

, ''Aunty No. 1'' (1998), starring Govinda and Raveena Tandon. 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 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 memb ...

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 (1962)

Novels, Biographies, and Essays

* Chāngunā (1954) * Battāshi Wa Itar Kathā (1954) * Mahātmā Jyotibā Phule (1958) * Suryāsta (1964) (On the life of Jawaharlal Nehru) * 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 (1955) * President of 10th ''Maharashatra Patrakar Sammelan'' (1950) * President of ''Regional Sahitya Sammelan'' at Baroda, Indore and Gwalior * In his honor there is an ''Acharya atre bhavan'' in Saswad

Awards

;

National Film Awards The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...

(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 Delhi ...

(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