Journalism of Courage
Did you know that Lalita Pawar, known for negative roles in Hindi as well as Marathi film industry, once used to play only the lead roles till an accident changed her career forever.
In 1942, while shooting for the film Jung-E-Azadi, Pawar had to enact a scene where she was slapped by her co-actor Bhagwan Dada.
Unfortunately, the slap was so hard that it ruptured Pawar’s facial vein that carried blood to her left eye, resulting in facial paralysis.
Despite taking treatment for three years, her eye remained defective. Pawar stopped taking roles of the leading lady after the incident.
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However, she didn’t quit. She rose to fame with her damaged eye, which later on became her identity and the actor garnered praises for her roles in hit films such as Manacha Paan (1949), Amar Bhoopali (1951), Nandkishor (1951), Shree 420 (1955), Mr. and Mrs. 55 (1955), Hum Dono (1961) and many more.
Rare and interesting facts like this and many more can be found in Shilpkaar Chartrakosh, a unique encyclopedia that traces the journey of over 650 artistes from the Marathi films and music industry. While the film section chronicles actors, directors, music composers, cameramen, producers, lyricists, script writers, art directors, screenplay writers, distributors, singers, critics, make-up artistes and film collectors, the music section has singers, instrumentalists and dancers.
Pune-based musician Chaitanya Kunte, who has worked as the editor for the music section that documents life and times of 390 musicians, says, “The idea was to bring together all the artistes who have contributed to the art and cultural face of Maharashtra. We contacted experts from the field and those who knew these artistes closely to write pieces on the respective artistes. I began working on it in 2010.” The encyclopedia was launched recently in Mumbai in the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and actor Amitabh Bachchan. The 940-page edition in Marathi has been published by Mumbai-based Saptahik Vivek.
The 350-plus artistes covered in the film section, which is edited by Sudhir Vasudev Nandgaonkar, includes Dada Kondke, Durga Khote, Shriram Lagoo, Vishnu Govind Damle, Bhalji Pendarkar, Baburao K Painter, Shobhana Samarth, C Ramchandra, Sadashiv Amrapurkar and many more.
The music section has names such as Abdul Karim Khan, Alla Rakha, Chota Gandharva, Shama Bhate, Lachchu Maharaj, Suresh Wadkar, Sitaradevi, Jayram Shiledar and so on. “We have covered musicians who rose to fame in the last 200 years. For instance, artistes such as Mahadev Ganesh Gokhale, Bhaiyya Ganpat Shinde and Balkrishnabuwa Ichalkaranjikar were all born in mid-1850s,” said Kunte, adding that the encyclopedia comes with some rare pictures and life anecdotes of each artiste.
