Gajanan Jagirdar

Gajanan Jagirdar (2 April 1907 – 13 August 1988) was a veteran Indian film director, screenwriter and actor. He worked in Hindi Cinema, also called Bollywood, as well as Marathi cinema. The period of 1942 to 1947, saw his rise as a film director with Prabhat Films.
He was appointed as the first director (then principal) of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in 1960 which was known as Film Institute of India then. Jagirdar served as the director of the FTII for just over a year, from 1961 to 1962. He was associated with the Prabhat Film Company three decades before his FTII role, when the campus was the base of the Prabhat.
He became a well-known pedagogue applying the acting theories of Stanislavsky to the prevailing local conditions.
At the 1962 National Film Awards his film "Vaijayanta" was awarded the Second Best Marathi Feature Film.
Early life.
Gajanan Jagirdar was born on 2 April 1907 in Amravati, a city in Amravati district, which was a part of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency of British India. He started acting as a child actor in the amateur stage. Gajanan was a teacher before joining the film industry.
Film career.
Gajanan began his film career in 1931 as a scenarist and assistant director in Prabhat Film Company and became a full-fledged film director only two years later in 1934. His first Bollywood film was "Sinhasan" (1934) as a director.
Gajanan Jagirdar's role of Ramshastri in the movie Ramshastri (film) won him immense appreciation and popularity.
Awards and honors.
Gajanan Jagirdar was awarded the best actor award for his portrayal of the poet Parshuram in the film Shahir Parshuram by Government of Maharashtra in 1962. The Bengal journalists Association in 5th Annual BFJA Awards bestowed upon him the best actor award for his performance in the film's Padosi. The same Bengal journalists Association in 8th Annual BFJA Awards honoured him doubly in 1944 by citing him both as Best Actor of the Year and Best Director of the Year for his film Ramshastri.
Death.
Gajanan Jagirdar died of a heart attack on 13 August 1988 at his residence in Bombay (now Mumbai), aged 81.