Google dedicates its doodle to V Shantaram on his 116th birthday

Google on Saturday paid its tributes to V. Shantaram, renowned Indian filmmaker and producer, through a dedicated doodle on the occasion of his 116th birth anniversary.

Born as Rajaram Vankurde Shantaram on 18 November in 1901, V. Shantaram was known for films such as Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946), Amar Bhoopali (1951), Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955), Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957), Navrang (1959), Duniya Na Mane (1937) and Pinjra (1972).

The doodle depicts three films produced and directed by Shantaram in the 1950s that won him numerous national and international awards. Amar Bhoopali told the true story of an ordinary cow herder with a natural gift for poetry, set in the days of the Maratha Confederacy.

Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje, a love story set against the background of classical Indian dance, was among the first films in India to use Technicolor.

Do Aankhen Baara Haath portrayed the tale of a young jail warden who would reform dangerous prisoners into persons of virtue through hard work. Shantaram's powerful approach to advocating humanism while still exposing injustice made this film a classic.

The doodle by Sukanto Debnath celebrates Shantaram's lasting impact on Indian cinema.

He started his film career doing odd jobs in Maharashtra Film Co. owned by Baburao Painter at Kolhapur and went on to debut as an actor in the silent film Surekha Haran in 1921.

Shantaram, fondly known as Annasaheb, had an illustrious career as a filmmaker for almost six decades.

He was one of the early filmmakers to realize the efficacy of the film medium as an instrument of social change and used it successfully to advocate humanism on one hand and expose bigotry and injustice on the other.

Shantaram was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1985 and was awarded the Padma Vibhushan in 1992.

He died on 30 October 1990 in Mumbai. The V. Shantaram Award was constituted by Central Government and Maharashtra State Government in his honour.