Meenakshi Shirodkar (11 October 1916 – 3 June 1997), born Ratan Pednekar, was an Indian actress who mainly worked in

Marathi films Marathi cinema is an Indian film industry of Marathi-language motion pictures. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Based in old Mumbai, it is the oldest film industry of Indian cinema. The first Marathi film to be released in India was '' ...

Marathi theatre Marathi theatre is theatre in the Marathi language, mostly originating or based in the state of Maharashtra in India, and elsewhere with Marathi diaspora. Starting in the middle of the 19th century, it flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, ...

and television. She made her debut in 1938 and continued to act in films until the early 1970s. Her appearance in a swimsuit in the Marathi film '' Brahmachari'' (1938) with

Master Vinayak Vinayak Damodar Karnataki (19 January 1906 – 19 August 1947) commonly referred to as Master Vinayak was an Indian actor and film director of the 1930s and 1940s. Personal life Master Vinayak was born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India. He mar ...

stunned the traditional audience. She is a grandmother of two

Bollywood 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 ...

actresses,

Namrata Shirodkar Namrata Shirodkar (born 22 January 1972) is an Indian actress and former model primarily known for her work in Hindi films. She won the Femina Miss India title in 1993. She is best known for her works in films such as the '' Kachche Dhaage'' ( ...

and

Shilpa Shirodkar Shilpa Shirodkar (born 20 November 1969) is an Indian actress and former photo model who worked primarily in Hindi-language films from 1989 to 2000. After a 13-year hiatus from acting, she made her comeback to acting, this time on television in ...

Personal life

Shirodkar was born Ratan Pednekar on 11 October 1916 to a Maharashtrian family. She started learning Indian classical music at an early age. In 1936, she married Dr. Shirodkar, with whom she had a son, who married Marathi actress Gangu Bai and had the

actresses

and

, who also worked in the film industry. Namrata was crowned as

Miss India Miss India may refer to: * Femina Miss India, the most prestigious and oldest surviving national beauty pageant in India that started in 1964. It sends its winner to Miss World. * Miss Diva, the national beauty pageant that sends its winners to Miss ...

in 1993 and is married to Tollywood actor,

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor, producer, media personality, and philanthropist who works mainly in Telugu cinema. He has appeared in more than 25 films, and won several accolades including, eight Nandi Awar ...

and has two children. On 4 June 1997, Shirodkar died at the age of 80 in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

Career

In 1935, Shirodkar joined

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

(AIR) where she worked in

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

s. After her marriage in 1936, she got a film offer from Pandurang Naik, one of the partners in a film company called ''Hans Pictures''. Though Shirodkar declined the offer in the beginning, Naik convinced Shirodkar's husband that she should make a film debut. Shirodkar debuted with a 1938

Marathi film Marathi cinema is an Indian film industry of Marathi-language motion pictures. It is based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Based in old Mumbai, it is the oldest film industry of Indian cinema. The first Marathi film to be released in India was '' S ...

'' Brahmachari'', opposite

. The writer of the film

Pralhad Keshav Atre Prahlad Keshav Atre () (13 August 1898 – 13 June 1969), popularly known as Āchārya Atre, was a prominent Marathi writer, poet, educationist, founder–editor of ''Maratha'' (a Marathi language newspaper), and above all, a noted orator. Bio ...

, better known as "Āchārya Atre", changed her name from "Ratan" to "Meenaxi" to suit her big eyes. She created a stir by appearing in a swimsuit in the song "Yamuna Jali Khelu Khel" in the film and stunned the traditional audience. She rose to fame for her then daring act, and for her twin-plait hairstyle in the song, but also got criticized heavily. The song was sung by Shirodkar herself and became a hit. It was also reused in the play by the same name, and years later in other films as well. She continued to do several other films with Master Vinayak such as ''Brandichi Batli'' (1939), '' Ghar Ki Rani'' (1940), ''Amrut'' (1941) and ''Majhe Bal'' (1943). After retiring from major roles in 1950, Shirodkar played a few minor roles in films and joined

with "Nutan Sangeet Natak Mandali". During the period 1950-75, she worked in twelve

Sangeet Natak ''Sangeet Natak'' in Marathi language literally means Musical Drama. As the name suggests, this form of drama combines prose as well as poetry in form of songs to convey the story. In a manner, they are very much similar to Musicals. ''Sangee ...

s (musical plays) including ''Mruchhakatik'', ''Maanaapmaan'', ''Ekach Pyaala'' and others.

Films

Theater

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shirodkar, Meenakshi Marathi actors People from Maharashtra 1916 births Place of birth missing 1997 deaths Actresses in Marathi cinema Actresses in Marathi theatre Actresses in Hindi cinema 20th-century Indian actresses