Ganpat Patil (1920 – March 23, 2008)
was an Indian
actor
An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
in
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
**Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...
movies and drama. died due to old age . He was interested in acting so much that he accepted role of side singer in Tamashapat
a traditional character in Marathi
Tamasha
Tamasha () is a traditional form of Marathi theatre, often with singing and dancing, widely performed by local or travelling theatre groups within the state of Maharashtra, India."Tamasha", in James R. Brandon and Martin Banham (eds), ''The Cambr ...
s and
Lavani
Lavani is a genre of music popular in Maharashtra, India. Lavani is a combination of traditional song and dance, which particularly performed to the beats of ''Dholki'', a percussion instrument. Lavani is noted for its powerful rhythm. Lavani h ...
s, due to his portrayal of this character.
Early life
Ganpat Patil, born in 1920, had a rough childhood due to the early death of his father. After his father's death, along with his mother, he had to take on menial jobs to support their family of seven. Even though their livelihood mostly came from selling garlands and bread, Ganpat wanted to be an actor. As a child actor his first role was as an extra in the film ''
Bal Dhruv''.
He did attempt to commit suicide in Panchganaga river in Kolhapur.
He has two sons and two daughters. He went through a tough time to arrange the marriage of his sons because of his acting (pansy) character in movies.
Acting career
In an acting career spanning 62 films and 17 dramas, Ganpat specialized in acting the role of Nachya,
beginning with ''Aika Ho Aika'' and ''Jali Mandi Pikali Karavand''. This attracted the attention of director Krishna Patil who offered him a similar role in ''Waghya Murali''.
Though primarily acting in supporting roles, Ganpat played a lead role in
Bhalji Pendharkar
Bhalji Pendharkar (3 May 1897 – 26 November 1994) was an Indian film director and producer, and a recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the most prestigious award in the field.
Early life and family
He was born to Radhabai and Gopal Pendha ...
's movie ''Sakhya Sajana''. The movie script was specifically written with Ganpat in mind, and is about a Nachya in films who is not happy about his sexuality and decides to have it treated, after which he regains confidence and eventually lives a happily married life. Apparently for this movie Ganpat Patil had to give up a Nachya role in V. Shantaram's film ''Pinjara''.
Awards
* Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal (ABMCM) honored Ganpat Patil with the ''Chitrabhushan'' award in 2006 for his contribution and service to the Marathi film industry.
* He was also given the Zee Marathi Lifetime Achievement Award.
References
See also
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patil, Ganpat
1920 births
2008 deaths
Male actors in Marathi cinema
Male actors in Marathi theatre