Laxmikant Shetgaonkar is an Indian film director and screenwriter from the coastal state of

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to th ...

. He is best known for his critically acclaimed Konkani films, '' Paltadacho Munis'' and ''Baga Beach''.

Early life

Shetgaonkar was born in

Cuncolim Cuncolim is a town in South Goa district in the state of Goa, India. Etymology The name 'Cuncolim' is derived from the fact that the village was known as 'Kumkumahalli', the place where '' kumkuma '' (vermilion) is produced. Geography Cunc ...

Salcete Salcete ( Konkani: ''Saxtti''/''Xaxtti''; pt, Salcette) is a sub-division of the district of South Goa, in the state of Goa, situated by the west coast of India. The Sal river and its backwaters dominate the landscape of Salcete. Hist ...

. While in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...

, he developed a love for films after attending many

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festivals show some films outdoors. Films may be of recent date and, depending up ...

Career

Shetgaonkar's career began as an assistant director and screenplay writer in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. His first film was ''Eka Sagar Kinaree'' (''A Seaside Story''), which won him a Golden Conch in the Best Fiction category at the

Mumbai International Film Festival The Mumbai International Film Festival for Documentary, Short and Animation Films (MIFF) is a festival organized in the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) by the Films Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. It ...

. His next film, '' Paltadacho Munis'' (''The Man Beyond the Bridge''), premiered at 2009

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

, where it won the prize of the

International Federation of Film Critics The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for Fédération Internationale de la PRESse CInématographique) is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the world fo ...

(FIPRESCI Prize) for Discovery. Set in Goa, the film is about a recently widowed forest ranger in a dwindling forest, who strikes up an unlikely relationship with a woman he finds lost and alone in the woods. In 2013, Shetgaonkar released '' Baga Beach'', which won the Best Feature Film in Konkani award at the

61st National Film Awards The 61st National Film Awards ceremony was an event during which the Directorate of Film Festivals of India presented its annual National Film Awards to honour the best films of 2013 in the Indian cinema. The ceremony was held on 3 May 2014. ...

. After the awards, the

Goa Legislative Assembly The Goa Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the state of Goa in India. The Assembly meets at the Goa State Legislative Assembly Complex in Porvorim, Bardez. The Eighth Goa Legislative Assembly consists of 40 members. The asse ...

passed a resolution congratulating him for making the film about "a topic which needed much attention", and called it an "eye opener on the issues related to children on our beaches."

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shetgaonkar, Laxmikant Living people Film directors from Goa Indian male screenwriters Konkani-language film directors 21st-century Indian film directors People from South Goa district Year of birth missing (living people)