Prabhakar Panshikar ( Marathi: प्रभाकर पणशीकर) (14 March 1931 – 13 January 2011) also known as Pant was an actor on Marathi Stage. His

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

as Lakhoba Lokhande in the drama

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 ...

, written by Prahlad Keshav Atre is considered to be one of the immortal roles presented so far on the

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, ...

. Five unique characters played in this drama To Mee Navhech made him famous in Marathi theatre and Maharashtra. He also performed Aurangzeb's role in a play Ithe Oshalala Mrutyu based on the death of Sambhaji Raje Bhosale. He was the owner of Natyasampada, a Marathi drama production organization.

Biography

Panshikar was born into a family of

Karhade Brahmin Karhaḍe Brahmins (also spelled as Karada Brahmins or Karad Brahmins) are a Hindu Brahmin sub-caste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra, but are also distributed in states of Goa, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. Classification Along w ...

in Phanaswadi,

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 ...

. His forefathers had been

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

scholars with his Grandfather translating into Marathi Nighantu Ratnakar, the authoritative manual of Ayurvedic treatment. He had three brothers who were all masters of Sanskrit language. The Panshikar are originally from

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 the ...

, with their roots in the Panshi village in

Pernem Pernem or Pedne (pronounced ) is a town and a municipal council in North Goa district in the Indian state of Goa. It is the capital of the Pernem Sub-District Geography Pernem is one of the twelve sub-districts of Goa. Pernem sub-district ...

Taluka. Prabhakar had enacted in Khotachiwadi when he spend some time at Ramji Purshottam Chawl – V.P. Road. Younger Prabhakar was engrossed in acting and theaters from his childhood. During his school days, he not just watched several famous plays from renowned theater companies, but also he performed them in Ganesha Festival at Girgaon, Mumbai. His passion towards drama took him away from family in his early teens. Later on 13 March 1955, he began his profession in Marathi Stage with a play Ranicha Baag. At the age of 25, he joined writer-director M. G. Rangnekar's organization Natyaniketan and started to act in plays like Kulwadhu, Bhumikanya Sita, Vahini, and Khadashtak. Initially, Panshikar worked and acted under the guidance of veteran Marathi drama director M.G. Rangnekar. Rangnekar gave him his break in the play ''

'' by offering him the main role in 1962. The show became so popular that it was subsequently translated into other Indian languages like

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub ...

and

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

. He has to his credit the distinction of performing as an actor & producer on screen, stage and television. He formed an organization named Natyasampada and he developed local artists and launched them in cities like

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

, Mumbai,

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is ...

Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nagpur is projected to ...

etc. He has spent 53 years on stage with over 8000 performances to his credit. Panshikar also produced very famous Marathi play '' Katyar Kaljat Ghusali'' under his organization. Based on the play a record breaking Marathi movie was released with the same name, in which famous Marathi actor

Sachin Pilgaonkar Sachin Pilgaonkar, often known mononymously by his screen name Sachin, is an Indian actor, director, producer, writer and singer of Marathi and Hindi films. He has directed and acted in several Marathi films of the late 1980s and early 1990s. ...

and renowned singer

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. Personal life and early career Shankar Mahadevan was born in Chembur, Mumbai into a Tam ...

played lead roles.

Personal life

Panshikar was married to Vijaya (née Kulkarni), with whom he had three children and seven grand children. His elder daughter, Janhavi Panshikar-Singh, is also an actress. She is married to TV actor Shakti Singh. Panshikar's son,

Raghunandan Panshikar Raghunandan Panshikar (born 1963) is a Hindustani classical vocalist. He has received training in the Jaipur gharana Panshikar has established his own unique treatment to classical singing under tutelage of Kishori Aamonkar, which diverted from ...

, is

Hindustani classical Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sita ...

singer and is a disciple of noted singer

Kishori Amonkar Kishori Amonkar (10 April 1932 – 3 April 2017) was a leading Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Jaipur ''gharana'', or a community of musicians sharing a distinctive musical style. She was a performer of the classical genre ' ...

. Raghunandan is married to Aparna Deshpande and the couple have two children. Panshikar's younger daughter, Tarangini, is a gold medallist in

. She is married to marine engineer Narendra Khot. They have two children.

Death

Panshikar died in

on 13 January 2011 from cardiac arrest.

Selected plays

*''Bhatala Dili Osari'' *'' To Mee Navhech'' *''Ithe Oshalla Mrutyu'' *'' Ashroonchi Zhali Phule'' *''Thank You Mr.Glad'' *''Jithe Gavtala Bhale Phuttat'' *''Jwalamukhi''

Selected plays as producer

*''Sangeet Madanachi Manjiri'' *''Sangeet Suvarna Tula'' *'' Katyar Kaljat Ghusali'' *''Andhar Maza Sobati'' *''Kimayagar'' *''Putrakameshti'' *"Sangeet Awagha Rang Ekachi Zaala" *"Many Happy Returns (Marathi Play)" *"Vichcha Majhi Puri Karaa" *"Varyavarchi Varaat" *"Lekure Udand Jaali" *"Lagnachi Bedi"

Honours and awards

Vishnudas Bhave Suvarnapadak
*Rajarshee Shahu Suvarnapadak *Natyagaurav Puraskar *Sanget Natak Akademi Puraskar *Natasamrat Bal Gandharva Smriti Puraskar *Natashreshtha

keshavrao Date Keshavrao Date (1889–1971) was an Indian film actor, who worked in both silent and sound movies. He tried to run his own drama company but found it difficult to perform the dual roles of manager and actor. Career His role in the drama ''An ...

Puraskar *Dr.Kashinath Ghanekar Smriti Puraskar *Natvarya Dattaram Puraskar *Acharya Atre Puraskar *Kalashri Puraskar *Uttung Puraskar *Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar *Jagatik Marathi Parishad Puraskar *Dinanath Mangeshkar Smriti Puraskar *NatyaDarpan -'Man of the Year' *Natasamrat Nanasaheb Phatak Smriti Puraskar *Navratna Puraskar *Ratnappa Kumbhar Puraskar *Maharashtra Bhushan Puraskar *First Jeevan Gaurav Puraskar of State Govt., Maharashtra, later this award was named Prabhakar Panshikar award.

References

*Preface to 'To Me Navhech' by

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 ...

*Autobiography 'Toch Me' by Prabhakar Panshikar {{DEFAULTSORT:Panshikar, Prabhakar 1931 births 2011 deaths Indian male stage actors Marathi people Male actors in Marathi cinema Male actors in Marathi theatre Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award