Vasant Shankar Kanetkar


Vasant Shankar Kanetkar was a Marathi playwright and novelist from Maharashtra, India.
He was born in the town of Rahimatpur in Satara District, Maharashtra. His father, Shankar Keshav Kanetkar, was a poet who wrote poetry under the pen name Kavi Girish and was a founding member of a circle of poets named Ravikiran Mandal. Vasant Kanetkar was educated in Pune and Sangli. After passing M.A. exam in 1948 from Sangli, he joined as a lecturer in Nashik in 1950. He received wide admiration from the audience after his play 'Raigadala Jevha Jag Yete'. He kept the Marathi commercial theatre vibrant and live for more than two decades. Five of his plays received best play award of the year given by Maharashtra State Government. In 1966, Kanetkar received a Filmfare Award for Best Story for the Hindi movie Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool, which was an adaptation of Ashroonchi Zhali Phule. Kanetkar received a Padma Shri award in 1992 for his literary accomplishments.

List of plays

The following is a partial list of Kanetkar's plays:
One Act Plays
Kanetkar's plays covered a wide range of subject matters. His favorite subject matters were the life of warrior-king Shivaji from Maharashtra, the cultural reformation in late nineteenth-century Maharashtra, human relationships, and the decline of morality in post-independence India.

List of Novels

Kanetkar wrote four novels.
In 1970, Kanetkar received a Filmfare Award for Best Story for the Hindi movie Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool, the story having been an adaptation of his Marathi play Ashrunchi Jhali Phule.
He presided over Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in 1988.
Kanetkar received a Padma Shri award in 1992 for his literary accomplishments.