Vanmala immortalised Sane Guruji's 'Shaymchi Aai'

Mumbai, May 30 (UNI) ''Vanmala'' Sushila Pawar, daughter of Sardar Bapurao Pawar, who was related to the Gwalior princely family, carved a niche in the film industry following her portrayal of a mother's role in the Marathi film ''Shyamchi Aai'' that won the President's medal.

Acharya Prahlad Keshav Atre's ''Shyamchi Aai'' was based on Sane Guruji's classic novel by the same name that told the story of his childhood.

Born on May 22, 1915, Sushila received her education upto BA, BT after which she started teaching in the Agarkar School in Pune. She had an unsuccessful marriage with P K Sawant who, incidentally, became a Maharashtra minister later.

Trained in music and dance Sushila had also played leading roles in many classic dramas with Nanasaheb Pathak and Durga Khote.

While serving as a teacher, she was spotted by Acharya Atre who was the principal in the same school.

Atre, then, was engaged in making a Marathi film ''Lapandao'' along with Master Vinayak Pendharkar under the banner of the Navyug Pictures. Atre offered Sushila a role in the film and also renamed her as ''Vanmala'' in 1940. Her relations with Atre had later soured.

In a career spanning 14 years, Vanmala acted in 33 films that included Marathi as well as Hindi. Among them were ''Vasantsena (Hindi)'', and ''Gharjavai'' and ''Oayachi Dasi'' in Marathi. She had produced 14 films including ''Vasantsena'' and ''Shyamchi Aai''.

After her first movie''Lapandao'', Vanmala was offered an opportunity by Sohrab Modi to act in ''Sikander'' in which she portrayed the role of ''Ruksana'' with Prithviraj Kapoor. She also played the lead role in ''Sharbati aankhe'' by Wadia.

After playing a character role in her last movie ''Angare'', Vanmala retired from films and started living the life of a recluse.

Vanmala was the recepient of Maharashtra Government's V Shantaram award and also honoured by the President in 1976 for her outstanding stage performance.

She had actively participated in the 1942 Quit India movement along with Aruna Asaf Ali and Jay Prakash Narayan.

UNI