Kumar Shahani
TSW Citation
Crazy about vacation at Kerala sea shores and deeply interested in performing art and ancient culture famous Sindhi Kumar Shahani is considered as symbol of perfectness in the world of Parallel cinema. If one goes by number, he will find very limited number of films Directed by Kumar Shahani but the real quality work done by him reflects from the awards Kumar’s every film has won. Kumar Shahani is one director whose films are always bagged National Film Award and good remarks from Bollywood critics.
Kumar Shahani - Biography / Filmography
Famous Sindhi: Sindhi Director: Sindhi in Bollywood Films: Offbeat Cinema
Like the popular and famous name of Sippy in commercial arena of Bollywood films, Kumar Shahani, yet another Sindhi Director was the symbol of perfectness in the world of Parallel cinema. Though there was a gap of twelve long years between the first and second full length film of Kumar Shahani but this was not because of his talent, dedication and hard work. Both of these films Maya Darpan [1972] and Tarang [1984] are proved awards winning.
Fond of Sea Shores, Kerala is the hot Favorite holiday / relaxing destination of Kumar Shahani. He was also much interested to learn more and more about the performing arts of Kerala. According to him
The performing arts of Kerala are varied. They are a meeting point of several cultures. It is a treasure we need to not only preserve, but also bring into our daily lives.
Karachi born [07 December 1940] Kumar Shahani was quite innocent when his family was forced to shift Bombay in 1947. He was brought up and educated in Bombay and went on be graduated from university of Bombay, degree of B.A. with Political Science and History. He also studied screenplay writing and Advanced Direction under the guidance of Ritwik Ghatak at the Film and Television Institute of India. He went to Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) France for further studies due to curtsy of Scholarship awarded by French Government.
After returning back to Mumbai, Kumar started with two short films Rails for the World [1970] and Object [1971]. His first full length film Maya Darpan [1972] has opened the flood gates of success and fame as Kumar was felicitated with prestigious Film fare Award – Best Film [Critics] for the year not only this but the film also brought for him first National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
This was a long wait of twelve years for second full length film of Kumar Shahi but 1984 release Tarang succeeded in bagging National Film Award – Special Jury Award and was highly appreciated even by the critics of main stream Hindi Film world. In between these twelve years he presented two short films Fire in the Belly [1973] and Our Universe [1976].
During this gap of twelve-year Kumar Shahani went on study the epic tradition of the Mahabharata, Buddhist iconography, Indian classical music and the Bhakti movement as during 1976-1978 he was awarded with Homi Bhabha Fellowship for the purpose. According to Kumar Cinema is world of austerity and ornamentation. One needs to motivate self to have spectacle. Kumar has also wrote a book with title The Shock of Desire and Other Essays .
Kumar Shahani Award Winning Films
In 1987 he again came with short film Vaar Vaar Vaari. In 1989 Khayal Gatha has not only bagged second Film fare Award – Best Film [Critics] but also proved Winner FIPRESCI Prize – Rotterdam International Film Festival. He was awarded with his third Film fare Award – Best Film [Critics] in the year 1990 for film Kasba. In the year 1991 Oriya documentary, Bhavantarana was awarded with National Film Award for Best Biographical Film. Kumar Shahani’s few other creations are A Ship Aground [1989], Char Adhyay [1997], The Bamboo Flute [2000] and As the Crow Flies [2004].
Famous and popular Sindhi folk singer Bhagwanti Navani is eventually immortal as she even after losing the physical existence still alive at hearts of thousands and thousands of Sindhi music lovers. Often called as Sindhi Koyel Bhagwanti was born on 01 Feb 1940 at Nasarpur. Undisputed queen of Singing Sindhi Lada (marriage ritual songs) Bhagwanti will always be remembered for singing Sukhamani Sahib (Guru Bani) in Sindhi. She also acted in Sindhi film Sindhua Je Kinare. On 22 Oct 1986 she left for heavenly abode.