He lived his life in solitude but through a new documentary film,
‘Zaad Nirakar’, the story of poet Shankar Ramani, is reaching out to different
parts of the country and his poems are gaining praise while the documentary is
winning accolades.
The documentary is directed, edited and the
screenplay is written by Dnyanesh Moghe and produced by Vinda Nitin Borkar,
grandniece of Shankar Ramani. The music is by Mukesh Ghatwal, camera and sound
is recorded by Ravi Monkar and the art directors are Rajlakshmi Bhatkar and
Sagar Naik. The cast includes Rajlakshmi Bhatkar, Sujata Bhatkar, Damodar
Bhatkar, Saurabh Karkhanis, Sudesh Kamat, Dnyanesh Moghe and Dr Nitin Borkar.
The documentary received the second prize
at the Shrirampur National Film Festival in Maharashtra in March 2023 and now
on May 3, it received the Best documentary award at the Chandigarh University
International Film Festival (CUIFF).
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Shankar Ramani was a humble man who rarely
socialised. Born on June 22, 1922 at Betim Verem, Reis Magos, he completed his
early education in Vasco da Gama before moving to pursue Lyceum studies in
Panjim. After completing his matriculation, he joined the Department of Rivers
& Navigation, Goa Government during the Portuguese rule and continued to
work there till his retirement in 1980. His first wife was Kamal, passed away
in 1972, and his second wife was Leelabai. His demise on November 28, 2003
saddened the family and the community of poets in Goa.
A member of the family, Dr Nitin Borkar throws more light on the
enigmatic personality of Shankar Ramani. “We started working on the documentary
last year, as we were celebrating the Birth Centenary of Shankar Ramani on June
26 and the first screening was held at that function. We later re-edited and
added more footage to the documentary. My wife, Vinda, is the grandniece of
Shankar Ramani. Her mother, Lalita is the daughter of Shankar’s elder brother,
Yeshwant. It was a tribute to a great literary figure in Konkani and Marathi
who only wrote poetry throughout his life,” says Nitin, as he vividly remembers
visiting Shankar on several occasions as a child.
This documentary was uniquely done and though the entire
documentary is in Konkani with English subtitles, it still manages to the tug
at the heartstrings of its viewer. “Shankar was not a social person, he
preferred being away from the limelight but he was involved with many
associations. We had to take permissions from Goa Marathi Academy, Sahitya
Academy, Konkani Academy and Goa University. The film uses his poetry to tell
his own story right from his birth to his death and his evolvement as a poet.
His poem, ‘Ave Maria’ is prominently featured in the form of dialogues and the
music has been provided by students of Goa College of Music, Altinho,” adds Dr
Nitin.
He wrote poems on spirituality, love, nature and various other
themes. He also loved interacting with other literary figures and he had three
old trunks of letters to prove this correspondence. The team behind ‘Zaad
Nirakar’ also used these letters in the narrative. “He would evaluate their
work and even write his unpublished poems to them. He had a unique personality
and young authors at that time like Damodar Mauzo, Uday Bhembre and
Mahabaleshwar Sail had tremendous respect for him,” says Dr Nitin.
The Marathi Poetry collection of Shankar Ramani include books
like ‘SuryaPhule’ his first children poetry book in 1949, ‘Katarvel’,
‘Abhalwata’, ‘Urmila’ , ‘Paalan’, ‘Darpanache Deep’ and ‘Garbhagar’ in 2000.
His Konkani Poetry collection included ‘Jogalache Zaad’ in 1987, ‘Neele Neele
Bramha’, ‘BramhaKamal’ and ‘Niranjan’ in 1998.
Shankar was awarded many awards during his lifetime as well as
posthumously. He was awarded the Keshavsut award by the Maharashtra Government
in 1968, Gomantak Marathi Sahitya Gold medal in 1977, Balkavi award by the
Maharashtra Government for ‘Darpaniche Deep’, Sahitya Academy Award in 1996 for
‘Neele Neele Bramha’, a Konkani poem, Indira Sant award in 2001 for Marathi
poem, ‘Garbhagar’, Gomant Sharda award from Kala Academy, Goa in 2002. He was
also awarded the Yeshwantrao Chavan, Karhad Award and Krishnadas Shyama
Puraskar from Gomantak Marathi Academy. Kala Academy, Goa honoured him with
awards for his books like ‘Abhalvata’, ‘Palan’, ‘Darpaniche Deep’ and
‘Jogalanche Jhaad’.
He was posthumously awarded the Goa State Cultural Award from
Goa Government, Goa – 2005 Kavivarya Bakibab Borkar Smruti Puraskar” from
Borim Development Trust, Goa – 2010. A poetry competition was also initiated by
Konkani Department, Goa University in 2004 in the memory of Late Shankar
Ramani.
Many organisations in Goa and Maharashtra have been working
towards preserving his poems by publishing anthologies. Some of these books
include, ‘Gomatakiya Kavi Shankar Ramani’ compiled by Prof Dr KK Ahire and
‘Kavitavrati Kavi Shankar Ramani’, written by Prof Dr KK Ahire. In 2022, the
birth centenary year of Shankar Ramani, Goa Marathi Academy, Goa published two
books, ‘Ramani – Shankar Ramani yanchi Samagrah Marathi Kavita’, compiled by
Anuja Joshi and ‘Ekalyache Gaane’, a compilation of Ramani Patravyavahar Marathi,
compiled by Paresh Prabhu. ‘Samagrah Ramani hanchi Konkani Kavita’, compiled by
Madhav Borcar was also released in 2022.
Dnyanesh Moghe is a filmmaker who has directed Konkani films
like ‘Kantyatlem Full’, ‘It’s My Life’, ‘Zuzari’, ‘Poet Borkar Speaking’, a
documentary on the life of noted Marathi poet, B B Borkar, ‘Digant’ and
‘Ranmale’. ‘Digant’ was also selected for Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI)
Film Festival and International Film Festival of India for the Indian Panorama
section. He has also been twice a jury member for the National Awards for
films.
‘Zaad Nirakar’ was a humble production and we worked well on the
limited resources we had in hand. I was very clear from the beginning of the
documentary that I will not follow the typical biopic method. Since he was a
well-known poet in Goa, I used whatever he has written as the narrative for the
documentary. He lived a dark life and the colourful moments that came to his
life were also short lived. Nitin has preserved his poems well and he shared
the poems with me. I read all his poems and arranged them in a way that could
chronicle his life,” says Dnyanesh.
The film was submitted for the Indian Panorama Non-Feature film
Section at the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in 2022. Unfortunately,
it was not shortlisted for the final list of films at the festival. “As a
filmmaker, I don’t feel like submitting the film for the Goan section of the
International Film Festival of India as this section is not respected and is
ill-treated section of the festival. Film making is a serious business and it
is sad to see Goan films not getting the same platform. The films are slotted
at odd hours and it is difficult for film lovers to even watch the films,” adds
Dnyanesh.
Dr
Nitin says, “I hope the film could be shown at different venues in Goa to
spread the word about Shankar Ramani and to encourage poets in Goa. Goan poets
should be celebrated and this is one way we thought of paying a tribute to the
legendary, Shankar Ramani.”
