'''Vishnupant Pagnis (1892-1943)'''


Professional actor on the Marathi Sangeet
Natak from the age of 10; part of Kolhapur’s
Swadeshi Hitchantak Natak Mandali where he
played the female roles of Sharada and
Shakuntala in command performances for the
Shahu Maharaj. Appeared in some silent
Maharashtra Film movies but became known
for his female roles in Mama Warerkar’s first
play, Kunjvihari (1908), and in Tembe’s
Shivraj Natak where he played the heroine in
the Hindi version of Siddhasansar. His style is
said to have been strongly influenced by the
Gujarati actor of female roles, Jaishankar
Sundari. He became a music teacher in a
municipal school when his stage career flagged
and was a last-minute casting decision in the
lead of Sant Tukaram (1936). Apparently
remained under the spell of the great saint-poet
whom he played. Was thereafter in some
demand as a keertan singer. He did four more
films, all in the Saint films genre, with Jayant
Desai and Vjay Bhatt. Functioned as music
director for Sant Janabai (1938). His
performance as Tukaram has become a major
reference-point in debates about Indian
performance idioms: e.g. Kumar Shahani’s
essay The Saint Poets of Prabhat, 1981; Geeta
Kapur’s Mythic Material in Indian Cinema,
1987.


'''FILMOGRAPHY''' (* also music d): 1921:
Surekha Haran; 1924: Poona Raided;
1936: Sant Tukaram; 1938: Sant Janabai
(music d only); 1939: Sant Tulsidas*;
1940: Narsi Bhagat; 1943: Mahatma
Vidur; Bhakta Raaj.

[[Actor]]