Meenakshi Shirodkar

Meenakshi Shirodkar Biography

Meenakshi Shirodkar was a noted actress of Marathi theater and cinema. She was a television celebrity too. She is the grandmother of Bollywood actresses, Namrata Shirodkar and Shilpa Shirodkar. She is better known for wearing a swimsuit in the Marathi film Brahmachari (1938) with Master Vinayak which was a terrible shock to conservative Indian audience then. Her acting career spanned to about 35 years and she died on June 3, 1997 aged 80.

Her real name is Ratan Pednekar, born in a Maharashtrian family in 1916. She was a trained classical singer and started her career in All India Radio in the year 1935. She worked in radio dramas during this time and one year later she got married to Dr. Shirodkar. The couple had one son and Bollywood actresses, Namrata Shirodkar and Shilpa Shirodkar are her granddaughters. She got a got a film offer from Pandurang Naik after her marriage. Though she declined the role, the producer convinced her husband and thus Meenakshi entered the magical world of cinema.

1938 Marathi film Brahmachari opposite Master Vinayak marked her big screen debut. But she stunned the audience by wearing a bikini in one of its song sequences - "Yamuna Jali Khelu Khel", sung by herself. She received heavy criticism for this swimsuit appearance as well as her twin-plait hairstyle. But she rose to fame after this movie. Her name was changed to Meenakshi by Pralhad Keshav Atre who wrote the script of the movie. The successful Jodi later worked together in a few more movies like Brandichi Batli, Ghar Ki Rani, Amrut and Majhe Bal. With early 1950’s, she retired from lead roles of Marathi cinema and later joined Marathi theater.

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Updated: March 31, 2014