| Realname | Rajaram Vankudre Shantaram |
| 18.11.1901 * | |
| Place of Birth | Kolhapur (Maharashtra) |
| 30.10.1990 † |
Between 1927 and 1987 V. Shantaram directed 43 films, among them many important classics. Inspite of such an impressive record and the fact that V. Shantaram's work stretches from the silent era to modern Hindi cinema, he usually is not mentioned together with those directors, who defined Indian cinema. It is time that Shantaram's social awareness and especially his very progressive films on women are rediscovered.
Making his debut direction in the silent era with Netaji Palkar, Shantaram in his early films followed his mentor Baburao Painter. But his style developed in the mid 1930s. In 1937 his Duniya Na Mane was released. The film tells the story of a woman, who is unwilling to accept her marriage to a much older man. Unique in narration and handling of the subject Duniya Na Mane, Amar Jyoti and Manoos are classics of the early Indian talkies.
In the 1940s Shantaram's best movie was Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani. Finally in the 1950s Shantaram became known outside India with his Do Aankhen Barah Haath about the reintegration of jailors into society. In 1958 he was awarded the special prize of the jury at the Berlin film festival Berlinale and won a couple of other national and international awards. Shantaram was deeply influenced by German expressionist cinema and Sternberg. The influence of the latter can also be seen in Pinjra.
Being in the movies for sixty years Shantaram released his last direction Jhanjhar in 1987, which went unnoticed. Today Shantaram should be mentioned along with Franz Osten and Mehboob as a director, who based his cinema of social and political awareness on a unique and constantly developing style.