Meenakshi Shirodkar (born Ratan Pednekar; 11 October 1916 – 3 June 1997), was an Indian actress who mainly worked in Marathi films,

Marathi theatre Marathi theatre is theatre in the Marathi language, mostly originating or based in the state of Maharashtra in India, and elsewhere with Marathi diaspora. Starting in the middle of the 19th century, it flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, ...

and television. She made her debut in 1938 and continued to act in films until the early 1970s. Her appearance in a swimsuit in the Marathi film '' Brahmachari'' (1938) with

Master Vinayak Vinayak Damodar Karnataki (19 January 1906 – 19 August 1947) commonly referred to as Master Vinayak was an Indian actor and film director of the 1930s and 1940s. Personal life Master Vinayak was born in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India. He mar ...

stunned the traditional audience. She is the paternal grandmother of two

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

actresses,

Namrata Shirodkar Namrata Shirodkar (born 22 January 1972), is an Indian actress, producer and beauty pageant titleholder, who was crowned the Femina Miss India in 1993. She is primarily known for her work in Hindi films. She is best known for her works in film ...

and

Shilpa Shirodkar Shilpa Shirodkar (born 20 November 1973) is an Indian actress and former photo model who worked primarily in Hindi-language films from 1989 to 2000. After a 13-year hiatus from acting, she made her comeback to acting, this time on television in ...

Personal life

Shirodkar was born Ratan Pednekar on 11 October 1916 to a Maharashtrian family with

Goan Goans ( Romi Konkani: , ) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, formerly part of Portuguese India (''Estado Português da Índia''). They form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, ...

roots. She started learning

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

at an early age. In 1936, she married Dr. Shirodkar, with whom she had a son, who married Marathi actress Gangu Bai and became parents of film actresses

and

. Namrata was crowned

Miss India Miss India may refer to: Beauty pageants * Femina Miss India, selects representatives to compete in Miss World ** Femina Miss India Bangalore ** Femina Miss India Delhi ** Femina Miss India South * Miss India Worldwide India, selects representa ...

in 1993 and is married to Tollywood actor,

Mahesh Babu Ghattamaneni Mahesh Babu (born 9 August 1975) is an Indian actor who works in Telugu cinema. He is one of the highest-paid actors in Indian cinema and has featured in ''Forbes India''s Celebrity 100 list since 2012. He has appeared in more tha ...

and has two children. On 4 June 1997, Shirodkar died at the age of 80 in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Career

In 1935, Shirodkar joined

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

(AIR) where she worked in

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...

s. After her marriage in 1936, she got a film offer from Pandurang Naik, one of the partners in a film company called ''Hans Pictures''. Though Shirodkar declined the offer in the beginning, Naik convinced Shirodkar's husband that she should make a film debut. Shirodkar debuted with a 1938

Marathi film Marathi cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Marathi language, which is widely spoken in the state of Maharashtra. It is based out of Mumbai. It is the oldest film industry in India an ...

'' Brahmachari'', opposite

. The writer of the film

Pralhad Keshav Atre Pralhad Keshav Atre () (13 August 1898 – 13 June 1969), popularly known as Āchārya Atre, was a prominent Marathi writer, poet, educationist, founder–editor of ''Maratha'' (a Marathi language newspaper), and above all a noted orator. Biog ...

, better known as "Āchārya Atre", changed her name from "Ratan" to "Meenaxi" to suit her big eyes. She created a stir by appearing in a swimsuit in the song "Yamuna Jali Khelu Khel" in the film and stunned the traditional audience. She rose to fame for her then daring act, and for her twin-plait hairstyle in the song, but also got criticized heavily. The song was sung by Shirodkar herself and became a hit. It was also reused in the play by the same name, and years later in other films as well. She continued to do several other films with Master Vinayak such as ''Brandichi Batli'' (1939), '' Ghar Ki Rani'' (1940), ''Amrut'' (1941) and ''Majhe Bal'' (1943). After retiring from major roles in 1950, Shirodkar played a few minor roles in films and joined

with "Nutan Sangeet Natak Mandali". During the period 1950-75, she worked in twelve

Sangeet Natak ''Sangeet Natak'' (Marathi for 'musical drama') is a form of drama which combines prose and poetry in the form of songs to convey the story, similar to musicals. They have played a vital role in the development of Marathi theater and cinema, a ...

s (musical plays) including ''Mruchhakatik'', ''Maanaapmaan'', ''Ekach Pyaala'' and others.

Films

Theater

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shirodkar, Meenakshi Marathi actors Marathi actresses 1916 births Place of birth missing 1997 deaths Actresses in Marathi cinema Actresses in Marathi theatre Actresses in Hindi cinema 20th-century Indian actresses Actresses from Maharashtra