Raja Thakur (1923–1975) was an Indian film director predominantly working in the Marathi film industry. He is best known for his films ''Me Tulas Tujhya Angani'' (1960), ''Rangalya Ratree Ashya'' (1962), ''Ektee'' (1968), ''Mumbaicha Jawai'' (1970), ''Gharkul'' (1971) and ''Jawai Vikat Ghene Aahe'' (1972); for which he won National and State-level awards.

Career

Thakur was born in 1923 in Phonda near Kolhapur, Maharashtra. He started his film career as assistant to

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 ma ...

and Raja Paranjape and directed various films in the 1960s based on storylines of middle-class Maharashtrian people. This genre was a repeated feature in directorial works of Thakur and Rajdutt, who dominated the industry then before the comedies of

Dada Kondke Krishna "Dada" Kondke (Marathi pronunciation: ̪aːd̪a koːɳɖke 8 August 1932 – 14 March 1998) was an Indian actor and film producer. He was one of the most renowned personalities in Marathi film industry, famous for his double entendre d ...

became popular in the 1970s. He also produced films under his banner "Nav Chitra". The 1955 released social film ''Me Tulas Tujhya Angani'' was produced under his banner Nav Chitra and had

Hindustani classical music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sit ...

-based songs sung by

Bhimsen Joshi Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi BR (; ; 4 February 1922 – 24 January 2011), also known by the honorific prefix Pandit, was one of the greatest Indian vocalists from Karnataka, in the Hindustani classical tradition. He is known for the ''khayal ...

. The film won the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film at the 3rd National Film Awards. In continuation to the film adaptations of works written by Damuanna Malvankar and

V. S. Jog ''V.'' is the debut novel of Thomas Pynchon, published in 1963. It describes the exploits of a discharged U.S. Navy sailor named Benny Profane, his reconnection in New York with a group of pseudo- bohemian artists and hangers-on known as the Wh ...

which Master Vinayak made, Thakur directed the 1957 comedy ''Gharcha Jhala Thoda''. The 1962 ''Rangalya Ratree Ashya'' was a musical film based on the story written by author

Ranjit Desai Ranjit loda Desai (8 April 1928 – 6 March 1992) was an Indian Marathi-language writer from Maharashtra, India. He is best known for his historical novels Swami and Shriman Yogi. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1964 and the Padma ...

and starring Arun Sarnaik as a talented drummer who falls in love with a courtesan. The film won Thakur another President's Silver Medal at the 10th National Film Awards. Starring

Kashinath Ghanekar Kashinath Ghanekar (14 August 1930 - 2 March 1986) was a popular stage actor and dental surgeon. Early life Ghanekar was born in the Chiplun and did his schooling and higher studies in Chiplun, Maharashtra, India. Personal life He marrie ...

, Thakur achieved his third National Film Award for ''Ektee'' (1968) at the

16th National Film Awards The 16th National Film Awards, presented by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in 1968. Ceremony took place at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi on 13 February 1970. With 16th National F ...

. The 1970s directorial venture ''Mumbaicha Jawai'' was a depiction of cosmopolitan Mumbai and how a newly married couple embrace the social values while living in the crowded ''

chawl A chawl is a type of residential building found in western India, similar to a tenement. Typically low quality housing, chawls are generally associated with poverty. The first chawls were constructed in the early 1700s, as housing for industr ...

''. The film was also released in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and was later adapted into a Hindi film by

Basu Chatterjee Basu Chatterjee ( bn, বাসু চ্যাটার্জ্জী; 10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Chatterjee became associated with what came to be known as mi ...

as ''

Piya Ka Ghar ''Piya Ka Ghar'' ( My beloved's house) is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language comedy set in Mumbai in the 1970s. It is a remake of Raja Thakur's Marathi film ''Mumbaicha Jawai''. It portrays the difficulties of life in India's biggest city during the ...

''. The film won the fourth National Film Award presented at the 18th National Film Awards and also the "Best Film" award at the Maharashtra State Film Awards. He went on to bag the Maharashtra State Film Award, presented by the State Government of Maharashtra, consecutively for the next two years for ''Gharkul'' (1971) and ''Jawai Vikat Ghene Aahe'' (1972). In 1975 Thakur directed his first Hindi film '' Zakhmee''. Produced by

Tahir Hussain Mohammad Tahir Hussain Khan (19 September 1938 – 2 February 2010), better known as Tahir Hussain, was an Indian film producer, screenwriter, actor and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. Personal life Tahir Hussain ...

, the film had a star cast of

Sunil Dutt Sunil Dutt (born Balraj Dutt; 6 June 1929 — 25 May 2005) was an Indian actor, film producer, director and politician. Dutt was one of the major stars of Hindi cinema in the late 1950s and 1960s and continued to star in many successful film ...

Rakesh Roshan Rakesh Roshan (born 6 September 1949) is an Indian film producer, director, screenwriter, and actor who works in Hindi films. He is the son of Indian music director Roshan and Indian Bengali singer Ira Roshan. He had appeared in 84 films thr ...

and

Asha Parekh Asha Parekh (born 2 October 1942) is a retired Indian actress, film director, and producer who appeared in many commercially successful films throughout her career. She was the highest paid actress of her time and was one of the most successful ...

. In 1976 his Hindi film ''Raeeszada'' was released. Produced by V. L. Khare, the film starred Vikram,

Zarina Wahab Zarina Wahab is an Indian actress who predominantly worked in Hindi and Malayalam films. Known for critically acclaimed roles in '' Chitchor'' and '' Gopal Krishna'' in Hindi and Malayalam cinema with films like '' Madanolsavam'', '' Chamaram' ...

Shriram Lagoo Dr.Shriram Lagoo (16 November 1927 – 17 December 2019) was an Indian film and theatre actor, in Hindi and Marathi, in addition to being an ENT Surgeon. He was known for his character roles in films. He acted in over 250 films including Hindi ...

and Helen. In 1972 he had also directed an English film ''Birbal My Brother''.

Filmography

Thakur directed the following films:

Awards and recognition

Thakur's four directorial pursuits won the

National Film Award The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directora ...

in the Best Feature Film in Marathi category. He made a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

by winning the Maharashtra State Film Awards in Best Film category from 1970 to 1972 and is the only director to do so. In 2013, the Marathi-weekly magazine '' Lokprabha'' of the ''

Indian Express Group Indian Express Limited is an Indian news media publishing company. It publishes several widely circulated dailies, including ''The Indian Express'' and '' The Financial Express'' in English, the ''Loksatta'' in Marathi and the '' Jansatta'' in ...

'' included ''Me Tulas Tujhya Angani'' and ''Mumbaicha Jawai'' in their "Must Watch 40 Marathi Films" list.

References

Bibliography * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thakur, Raja 1923 births 1975 deaths Marathi film directors People from Kolhapur district 20th-century Indian film directors Film directors from Maharashtra