Bhalji Pendharkar (3 May 1897 – 26 November 1994) was a
film personality in
India, and recipient of
Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the most prestigious award in the field.
Early life and family
Born to Radhabai and her husband Dr Gopal Pendharkar in a Brahmin family,
Bhalji was related to quite a few film personalities in Indian film industry. A number of his close relations achieved fame in the Indian film industry. They include his elder brother
Baburao Pendharkar, half-brother and actor-Director,
Master Vinayak Karnataki, and maternal cousin
V Shantaram.
Personal life
Bhalji had two wives. One of whom, Leela Chandragiri, acted and sang in Hindi and Marathi films in 1930s under the name Miss Leela. Leela-bai already had two children when she first met Bhalji. Bhalji adopted both of them, a boy (Jayasingh) and a girl. The girl later married novelist Ranjit Desai and she is better known as Madhavi Desai (died in 2013); she wrote the book 'Naacha Ga Ghumaa'. His second daughter's name was Saroj Chindarkar.
Bhalji's son with his first wife,
Prabhakar Pendharkar
Prabhakar Pendharkar (1933–2010) was a Marathi writer. He was the son of film personality and director Bhalji Pendharkar. He worked under his father in the film sector and later in V. Shantaram's studio, Rajkamal. Pendharkar started his writ ...
(1933–2010), was associated with making of
Do Aankhen Barah Haath in 1950s, wrote the book रारंगढांग, and was author-director of noteworthy documentaries. Bhalji named his studio Jayaprabha, combining in it the names of Leela's son Jayasingh (whom Bhalji had adopted) and his own son Prabhakar.
Film career
Bhalji started his career in the era of
silent films. He was associated with
Prabhat Film Company's earliest
talkies, and also worked with other studios in hometown of
Kolhapur. Later he acquired his own studio in form of
Jayprabha Studio and became a film producer and director. He also wrote lyrics for some film songs in
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
*
* ...
. His more famous films are:
Netaji Palkar
Netaji Palkar (1620–1681) was a '' Sardar Senapati'' or ''Sarnaubat'' ( Commander-in-Chief) under Chhatrapati Shivaji, founder of the Maratha empire.
Family history
Netaji Palkar was born in a small village, called Chouk in Khalapur, Maha ...
,
Thoratanchi Kamala,
Chhatrapati Shivaji,
Mohityanchi Manjula,
Maratha Titutka Melvava,
Sadhi Manse,
Tambdi Maati. Hindi:
Maharathi Karna,
Valimi, Chhatrapati Shivaji.Ganimi Kawa
Bhalji was awarded the
Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1991 by the Indian Government.
List of successful movies directed
Films Written
As producer
* 1939 Netaji Palkar
* 1927 Vande Mataram Ashram
As Actor
* 1924 Prithvi Vallabh
References
External links
*
Bhalji Pendharkar Cultural Centre, Kolhapur
20th-century Indian film directors
Hindi-language film directors
Marathi film directors
Marathi film producers
Dadasaheb Phalke Award recipients
1897 births
1994 deaths
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