There have been very few women in cinema who have openly opposed wrongdoing. Such was the singing star Shanta Apte who not only stood up against big studios and big names, but also was not afraid of a high stature editor like Baburao Patel. That is why she was called "woman of rare metal".
Born on 23 November 1916 in Maharashtra, Shanta Apte was a famous singer-actress of Marathi and Hindi cinema. Her father was a station master, but she was very interested in singing. Shanta Apte also liked to sing from him. He started singing bhajans in the local Ganeshotsav since childhood. Later he also took music education from Maharashtra Sangeet Vidyalaya in Pandharpur.
At the age of nine, Baburao Pendharkar introduced her as a child artist in the film Shyam Sundar. His brother Baburao Apte also acted in this film. The film was directed by Bhalji Pendharkar, this film is considered to be the first silver jubilee of Marathi. After this, she appeared in Prabhat Films' superhit film "Amrit Manthan" as the hero's sister. The film was screened at the International Film Festival of Venice.
Shanta Apte also sang four solo songs under the music direction of Keshavrao Bhole, one of which was also the first recorded film Ghazal. All the songs in this film became very popular, however Sangeet Keshavrao Bhole was not very sure about Shanta Apte, doubting whether she would be able to adopt his light classical style. But when the film and songs gained popularity outside Maharashtra, everyone's doubts were cleared and she joined the main three leading ladies of Prabhat, after that she worked as a singer actress in many famous films of Prabhat.
Amar Jyoti was Prabhat's first film to use playback, in which Shanta Apte's performance was also liked. But his most important film came in 1937, in which he sang an English song so well that his singing talent was astounding.
This film was released in Marathi as "Kunku" and in Hindi as "Duniya Na Mane" in this film, she played the role of a young girl who is married to a rich old widower. But the girl refuses to accept him as her husband. Her acting as both an easygoing girl and then a determined woman was excellent. The subject of this film was far ahead of the thinking of the society at that time and Shanta Apte's acting gave it a revolutionary look. This character made her an inspiration to many young girls.
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bravery of shanta apte
Shanta Apte took revolutionary steps not only in films but also in real life. In those days, artists worked under contract with one studio on a monthly salary, so could not work with another studio or film production company. Most studios used to make such contracts. But as Shanta Apte's popularity was increasing, other studios also wanted to make films with her.
Shanta Apte requested the owners of the studio to free them from this bondage but they were not ready for this. Then in July 1939, at the peak of her stardom, Shanta Apte challenged this clause of the contract of Prabhat Film Company and went on hunger strike for two days. Calling this a public stunt, the press supported Prabhat Studio and criticized them a lot. After this she left Prabhat and started working as a freelance artist.
