Vasant Kanetkar

Vasant Shankar Kanetkar or Vasant Kanetkar (वसन्त शंकर कानेटकर) (March 20, 1920 - January 31, 2000) was an Indian playwright who wrote in the Marathi language. He was born in the small town of Rahimatpur in what is now Satara District, Maharashtra. He spent most of his early life in Pune, and later, Sangli, where his father was a professor at Willingdon College. After acquiring a Master's degree in Arts from Willingdon College, Kanetkar joined H.P.T. College in Nasik, as a lecturer and later as professor. Here, Kanetkar embarked on a career as a playwright, ending up with a tally of 40 three-act plays, all performed on the professional Marathi stage.

Many of his plays went on to become big commercial successes, and he has been credited with rejuvenating the Marathi theatre scene when it was in decline, as the age of the 'Sangeet Natak' or stage musical came to an end. He was a contemporary of other notable Marathi playwrights of the same generation such as V.V. Shirwadkar, Vijay Tendulkar, P.L. Deshpande and Jaywant Dalvi.

In the late 1960s and 1970s, Kanetkar was at his peak, as he delivered many stage hits, which allowed him to resign from his post as professor at H.P.T. College and become almost the only full-time professional playwright writing in Marathi at the time.

Some of his successful plays include "Vedyache Ghar Unhaat" ("वेड्याचे घर ऊन्हात"), "Prema Tuza Ranga Kasaa" ("प्रेमा, तुझा रंग कसा?"), "Ashroonchi Zaali Phule" ("अश्रूंची झाली फुले"), "Raigadaala Jevha Jaag Yete" ("रायगडाला जेंव्हा जाग येते"), "Himalayaachi Saavli" ("हिमालयाची सावली"), "Vishavrukshaachi Chhaayaa" ("विषवृक्षाची छाया"), "Lekure Udanda Zaahli" ("लेकुरे उदंड जाहली"), "Premaachya Gaava Jaave" ("प्रेमाच्या गावा जावे"), "Jithe Gavtaas Bhaale Phuttaat" ("जिथे गवतास भाले फुटतात"), "Suryaachi Pille"("सूर्याची पिल्ले"), "Jithe Oshalhla Mruthyu" ("जिथे ओशाळला मृत्यु"), and "Matsyagandha" ("संगीत मत्स्यगंधा").

Kanetkar was versatile in selecting the subject matters for his plays. But his pet themes were the life of Marathi folk-hero and warrior-king Shivaji, the cultural reformation in late nineteenth-century Maharashtra, human relationships and the decline of morality in post-independence India.

Although his plays were commercially successful, he was often accused by critics of pandering to middle-class moralities, and of symbolizing the 'hallucinations of the Marathi middle-class'.

In addition to his plays, Kanetkar also penned three novels, and also bagged a Filmfare Award for Best Story in 1966 for the film "Aansoo Ban Gaye Phool", which was an adaptation of his immensely successful Marathi play "Ashroonchi Zaali Phule". He was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award, for his services to Marathi literature. He was elected president of the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in 1988.

He was married to Sindhu (Usha) Kanetkar.