Sai Paranjpye (born 19 March 1938) is an Indian movie director and screenwriter. She is the director of the award-winning movies Sparsh, Katha, Chasme Buddoor and Disha. She has written and directed many Marathi plays such as Jaswandi, Sakkhe Shejari, and Albel.
Sai Paranjpye was born on 19 March 1938 in Mumbai to Russian Youra Sleptzoff and Shakuntala Paranjpye.[2] Sleptzoff was a Russian watercolor artist and a son of a Russian general. Shakuntala Paranjpye was an actor in Marathi and Hindi films in the 1930s and 1940s, including V. Shantaram's Hindi social classic – Duniya Na Mane (1937). Later she became a writer and a social worker, was nominated to Rajya Sabha, Upper House of Indian Parliament and was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2006.[3]
Sai's parents divorced shortly after her birth. Her mother raised Sai in the household of her own father, Sir R. P. Paranjpye, who was a renowned mathematician and educationist and who served from 1944 to 1947 as India's High Commissioner in Australia. Sai thus grew up and received education in many cities in India, including Pune, and for a few years in Canberra, Australia.[4][5] As a child, she used to walk up to the home of her uncle Achyut Ranade, a noted filmmaker of the '40s and '50s, on Fergusson Hill in Pune, who would tell stories as if he were narrating a screenplay.[6] Sai took to writing early in her life: Her first book of fairy tales – Mulānchā Mewā (in Marathi), was published when she was eight.[7][8][9]
Over the years, Paranjpye has written and directed plays in Marathi, Hindi, and English for adults and children. She has written and directed six feature films, two children's films, and five documentaries. She has written many books for children, and six of them have won national or state level awards.
Paranjpye worked for many years as a director or a producer with Doordarshan Television in Delhi. Her first made-for-TV movie – The Little Tea Shop (1972), won the Asian Broadcasting Union Award at Teheran,[11]Iran. Later that year, she was selected to produce the inaugural program of Bombay (Mumbai) Doordarshan.
In the 1970s, Paranjpye twice served as the Chairperson of Children's Film Society of India (CFSI), which is a government of India organization with the objective of promoting and ensuring value-based entertainment for children.[12] She made four children's films for CFSI, including the award-winning Jādoo Kā Shankh (1974) and Sikandar (1976).[13]
Paranjpye's first feature film Sparsh (The Touch), was released in 1980. It won five film awards, including the National Film Award. Sparsh was followed by the comedies Chashme Buddoor (1981) and Kathā (1982). Kathā was a musical satire based on the folk tale of the hare and the tortoise.[14] She next made the TV serials Ados Pados (1984) and Chhote Bade (1985). Paranjpye worked as director, writer and narrator for the Marathi drama Maza khel mandu de. It was played on 27 September 1986 at Gadkari Rangayatan, Thane.[15]
Paranjpye's subsequent movies include Angoothā Chhāp (1988) about the National Literacy Mission; Disha (1990) about the plight of immigrant workers; Papeeha (Forest Love Bird) (1993); Saaz (1997) (possibly inspired by the lives of Indian playback singing sisters, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle);[16] and Chakā Chak (2005), which was aimed at creating public awareness about environmental issues.[7]
She also made the serials Hum Panchi Ek Chawl Ke, Partyana and Behnaa. Sridhar Rangayan assisted her in the film Papeeha and in the serials Hum Panchi Ek Chawl Ke and Partyana.[citation needed]
Paranjpye has also written and staged plays like Maza Khel Mandu De, Jaswandi and Sakhe Shejari.[17]
Paranjpye directed several documentary movies, including Helping Hand (London), Talking Books, Capt. Laxmi, Warna Orchestra, and Pankaj Mullick. Her 1993 documentary Choodiyan, on the anti-liquor agitation in a small Maharashtra village for the Films Division, received the National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues.[11]
In 2001, Paranjpye made the movie for children, Bhago Bhoot. At the first Indian International Women's Film Festival, held in Goa in 2005, a review of her movies was held, and it featured her best movies.[18] She headed the jury in the feature film category of the 55th National Film Awards for 2007.[19]
In July 2009, Paranjpye's documentary film Suee was released, emerging from the South Asia Region Development Marketplace (SAR DM), an initiative spearheaded by the World Bank.[11]Suee explores a number of areas in the lives of injecting drug users including treatment, care, peer and community support, rehabilitation and the workplace, and was produced in partnership with the Mumbai-based NGO Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust. The 29 minute film was aired on Doordarshan on World AIDS Day, 1 December 2009.[20][21]
In 2016, she released her autobiography, Saya: Majha Kalapravas, written in Marathi. It was a bestseller that had reached its fifth edition in 2020. She then released A Patchwork Quilt – A Collage of My Creative Life, the English version of her autobiography, in 2020, with some chapters rewritten.[17]
Personal life
Sai was married to theater artist Arun Joglekar; they had a son, Gautam, and a daughter, Winnie. Sai and Arun separated after two years.[22] They remained friends until Arun's death in 1992. After their separation, Arun acted in Sai's Sparsh (1980) and Katha (1983).[23] Their son, Gautam Joglekar is a director of Marathi films (Pak Pak Pakaak, Jai Jai Maharashtra Maaza) and a professional cameraman, and their daughter Winnie Paranjpe Joglekar is an educationist and homemaker. Winnie acted in many of Sai's movies, dramas and TV serials in the 1980s.[24] Winnie and her husband, Abhay, now deceased, have two children; Abeer and Anshunee. Gautam starred as the male lead in Nana Patekar's directorial venture Prahaar with Madhuri Dixit playing the female lead.
Profiles in Creativity; Upadhyay, Madhusoodhan Narasimhacharya, Namaste Exports Ltd., 1991 Part II, 53. ISBN81-900349-0-1 .[28]
Related Research Articles
Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by Vaman Shriram Apte, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vishnushashtri Chiplunkar, Mahadeo Ballal Namjoshi and Gopal Ganesh Agarkar. Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its first principal. Social reformer, journalist, thinker and educationist Gopal Ganesh Agarkar served as the second principal from August 1892, till his death in June 1895.
Narayan Shripad Rajhans, popularly known as Bal Gandharva, was a famous Marathi singer and stage actor. He was known for his roles as female characters in Marathi plays, since women were not allowed to act on stage during his time.
Prabha Atre was an Indian classical vocalist from the Kirana gharana. She was awarded all three of the Padma Awards by the Government of India. She died after experiencing breathing difficulty in the early hours and was taken to Dinanath Mangeshkar Hospital. She died from cardiac arrest before reaching the hospital. Atre died on 13 January 2024, at the age of 91.
Gajānan Digambar Mādguḷkar was a Marāthi poet, lyricist, writer and actor from India. He is popularly known in his home state of Mahārāshtra by just his initials as Ga Di Mā (गदिमा). He was awarded Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1951 and Padma Shri in 1969. He has written 157 screen plays and over 2000 songs in his career. He was called Ādhunik Valmiki of current era due to his composition of Geet Rāmāyan as the most notable work. 2019 is celebrated as his Birth Century year. Government of Maharashtra hosts various events and festivals to grace the occasion.
Saaz is a 1998 Hindi movie produced and directed by Sai Paranjpye, starring Aruna Irani and Shabana Azmi in lead roles. The plot is allegedly based on the life of legendary singing sisters of Bollywood, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle.
Sparsh (transl. Touch) is a 1980 Indian Hindi feature film directed by Sai Paranjpye. It stars Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi playing the characters of a visually impaired principal and a sighted teacher in a school for the blind, where they fall in love though soon their complexes tag along and they struggle to get past them to reconnect with the "touch" of love. The film remains most memorable for the subtle acting of its leads, plus the handling of the issue of relationships with the visually disabled, revealing the emotional and perception divide between the worlds of the "blind" and the "sighted", epitomized by the characters. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. However, the film's release was delayed by almost 4 years.
Sir Raghunath Purushottam Paranjpye also known as Wrangler Paranjpye was an Indian mathematician and diplomat who served as the 1st High Commissioner of India to Australia from 1945 to 1947. He became the first Indian to achieve the coveted title of Senior Wrangler at the University of Cambridge. Later in life he also served as the Vice Chancellor of many Indian universities.
Shakuntala Paranjpye was an Indian writer, actress and a prominent social worker. She was a member of Maharashtra Legislative Council during 1958–64, and served as nominated member of Rajya Sabha during 1964–70. In 1991, she was awarded Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, as recognition of her significant contributions in colonial and post colonial period particularly pioneering work in the field of family planning.
Katha is a 1983 Indian romantic comedy film directed by Sai Paranjpye starring Farooq Sheikh, Naseeruddin Shah and Deepti Naval in the main roles. The film is about the daily lives of people living in a Mumbai chawl. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. The story is based on S.G. Sathye's Marathi play Sasa Aani Kasav, which was also adapted into the 1988 movie Mukunthetta Sumitra Vilikkunnu.Film and music expert Rajesh Subramanian reveals that Kishore Kumar sang the song Maine tumse kuch nahin manga free of cost. Since he wanted to render a song for an art house cinema he told director Sai Paranjpee he will do it free.
Mangesh Keshav Padgaoankar was a legendary Marathi poet from Maharashtra, India.
Mugdha Vaishampayan is one of the finalists in the Marathi championship of Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Marathi L'il Champs, which aired on Zee Marathi television between July 2008 and February 2009. She was referred to as "Little Monitor".
Prakash Gopalrao Pohare is the editor-in-chief of popular Marathi language daily newspaper Deshonnati. He lives in Akola, where the headquarters for Deshonnati are located.
Archana Joglekar is an Indian actress and classical dancer. She has acted in Marathi, Odia and Hindi films and television serials. Some of her noted films are Sansar (Hindi), Eka Peksha Ek (Marathi) and Anapekshit (Marathi). She is a Kathak dancer and choreographer. She was trained in Kathak by her mother, Asha Joglekar, a Kathak dancer and instructor. In 1963, her mother founded a dance school in Mumbai called Archana Nrityalaya. In 1999, Joglekar opened a branch of this dance school in New Jersey, US.
Shivajirao Girdhar Patil was an Indian social activist and politician from the state of Maharashtra. He began his social activism at an early age when he participated in the Indian independence movement. Post-independence, he was associated with various political parties and had been member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and even the Rajya Sabha for one term. In 2013, he was presented with the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award. He was the father of Indian film actress Smita Patil.
Padmaja Phenany Joglekar is a Hindustani Classical singer. She is a disciple of Pandit Jasraj. She was awarded the Padma Shri Award in 2001.
Yamunabai Waikar, née Yamunabai Vikram Jawle was an Indian folk artist, known for her expertise in the Marathi folk traditions of Lavani and Tamasha, folk art forms involving music and dance and reported to be one of the leading exponents of the art genres. A recipient of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, she was honored by the Government of India, in 2012, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.
Vibhavari Apte Joshi is an Indian singer in Bollywood, and in Marathi and Tamil language films.
Ashok Laxmanrao Kukade is an Indian surgeon and author, who was awarded Padma Bhushan (2019), India's third-highest civilian award for his work in the medical field. He is the co-founder of Vivekanand Hospital and Research Center along with Dr.Firke, Dr.Alurkar in Latur, Maharashtra.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
