Bhalji Pendharkar (3 May 1897 – 26 November 1994) was a film personality in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, and recipient of

Dadasaheb Phalke Award The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is India's highest award in the field of cinema. It is presented annually at the National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals, an organisation set up by the Ministry of Information and Broad ...

, 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 Baburao Pendharkar (22 June 18968 November 1967), was an Indian actor, director, film producer and writer. Personal life Baburao Pendharkar was born on 22 June 1896 in Kolhapur in a Brahmin family. Born to Radhabai and her patron Dr Gopal Pendha ...

, half-brother and actor-Director,

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 ...

Karnataki, and maternal cousin

V Shantaram Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre (18 November 1901 – 30 October 1990), referred to as V. Shantaram or Shantaram Bapu, was an Indian filmmaker, film producer, and actor known for his work in Hindi and Marathi films. He is most known for films such ...

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 ''Do Aankhen Barah Haath'' () is a 1957 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by V. Shantaram, who also starred. It is considered to be one of the classics of Hindi cinema and is based on humanistic psychology. It won a Silver Bear at the ...

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 film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...

s. He was associated with

Prabhat Film Company Prabhat Film Company (popularly known as Prabhat Films) was an Indian film production company and film studios founded in 1929 by the noted film director V.Shantaram and his friends. It was formed in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India in 1929, towar ...

's earliest

talkies A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...

, and also worked with other studios in hometown of

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 ...

. 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. His more famous films are: Netaji Palkar, Thoratanchi Kamala,

Chhatrapati Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adilsh ...

, Mohityanchi Manjula,

Maratha Titutka Melvava The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a ...

, Sadhi Manse, Tambdi Maati. Hindi: Maharathi Karna, Valimi, Chhatrapati Shivaji.Ganimi Kawa Bhalji was awarded the

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 {{india-film-bio-stub