Google Doodle honours film pioneer V Shantaram on his 116th birth anniversary

Actor, producer, filmmaker — the influence of V Shantaram over the Indian film industry is a long-standing and illustrious one. Not only did Shantaram (full name Shantaram Rajaram Vankrude) have a sterling career in the business, spanning six decades — years that were associated with cinema of a high standard, he was also one of the industry’s pioneers. He made the first Technicolor film in India; he also produced and directed the first Marathi language film — Ayodhyache Raje — here. And on what would have been his 116th birthday, a Google Doodle honours Shantaram’s contributions and filmmaking legacy. [caption id=“attachment_4215879” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Google Doodle on V Shantaram.[/caption] The Google Doodle features watercolour style paintings of some of Shantaram’s best films, including Do Aankhein Baaraah Haath, Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje and Amar Bhoopali. All three films date from the 1950s. V Shantaram’s contributions to cinema cannot be measured in technical terms alone. He strongly believed in films as a medium of change and with that in mind, several of his movies had a social message of some kind. Do Aankhein Baaraah Haath, for instance, had reformation as its theme. Exposing social prejudices and ignorance was another objective Shantaram hoped to achieve through his films. Shantaram married three times; Pandit Jasraj was his son-in-law. V Shantaram was conferred the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1985; and the Padma Vibhushan in 1992 — two years after his death at the age of 88.