Youtor
Shanta Apte
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EVERY DANCE DIRECTOR in the film industry owes a small debt to Shanta Apte. Until she began singing on screen, most actor-singers of those pre-playback years simply stood still while singing. She was one of the first to use spontaneous gestures and eye movements while singing eloquently and melodi ously. Compared to her, other artistes began to seem stagey and pompous. She may not have been the greatest dancer in film history, but she was certainly the first to dare to use her eyes and hands freely as she sang. Her confidence came from her training at the Maharashtra Sangeet Vidyalaya music school in Pandharpur, not far from Dudhni, Maharashtra, where she was born. And it wasn't just her eloquent gestures that gained popularity. Her singing talent later marked her as one of the two greatest stars of the prc-playback era, the other being Kanan Devi. She began her acting career with 'Shyam Sundar' in 1932. But the real break came a year later when her songs in Prabhat Studio's 'Amritmanthan', where she played not the heroine but the hero's sister, caused a box-office bonanza, making the film a hit even in the North where Prabhat had been try ing hard to make inroads. But as with most breakthrough performers, Apte faced doubt and even derision at first. Even music director Keshavrao Bhole doubted whether she could sing light classical effectively until the runaway success of 'Amritmanthan'. • Her most famous performance came in 'Duniya Na Mane' opposite Keshavrao Date, a film that critics still consider watchable today. Later, she worked with Bhalji Pendharkar (her mentor who introduced her to films at the age of 9), Phani Majumdar, Master Vinayak, Nandlal Jaswantlal, Moti Gidwani and Raja Paranjpe. Her unique singing and acting style also got her a Tamil film, 'Savithri', alongside the Carnatic musician and singing star M.S. Subbulakshmi. A woman of rare mettle, Shanta Apte's strength of character showed in her real life as much as in her reel life. She wrote a popular autobiography 'Jau Mi Cinemaat?' And her hunger strike at the gates of Prabhat Studio in July 1939 (over a clause in her contract) was talked about for decades afterward. Some of her other films include 'Shyam Sundar', 'Amarjyoti', 'Rajput Ramani', 'Wahan', 'Gopal Krishna', 'Apna Ghar', 'Zamindar', 'Duhai', 'Mohabbat', 'Subhadra', 'Mulu Manek' and 'Chandi Puja'. It's likely that sooner or later, other actors would also have begun moving spontaneously as they sang, but Shanta Apte did it first. And even to day, if you look at her films, you might be tempted to say, she did it best for that era certainly, and compared to today'sjumping-jack styles, perhaps for this era too! • http://www.bollymood.com/biography/sh...
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