Ganpat Patil

Ganpat Patil (1920 - March 23, 2008), was a notable actor in Marathi movies and drama. He was nicknamed Nachya , an traditional character in Marathi Tamasha's and Lavani's, due to his portrayal of this character.

Early life

Ganpat Patil, born in 1920, had a rough childhood due to early demise of his father. After his father's demise he along with this mother had to take up menial jobs for supporting their family of seven. Even though their lively hood mostly came off selling garlands and bread, Ganpat desired to get into acting. As a child actor he got his first a role as an extra in the film Bal Dhruv.

Acting career

In an acting career spanning 62 films and 17 drama's Ganpat specialized in the acting Nachya role . Ganpat Patil started his Nachya role in dramas in ‘’Aika Ho Aika’’ and ‘’Jali Mandi Pikali Karavand’’. This got attention of director Krishna Patil who offered him similar role in the film ‘’Waghya Murali’’.

Even though Ganpat was acted in supported roles, he played a lead role in Bhalji Pendharkar’s movie ‘’Sakhya Sajana’’. The movie script was specifically writing with Ganpat in mind and about a nachya in films who is not happy about his sexuality and decides to get it treated after which he regains confidence and live a married happy life eventually. Apparently for this movie Ganpat Patil had to give up a Nachya role in V. Shantaram’s film Pinjara.

Awards

• Chitrabhushan award (2006) for his contribution to Marathi movies

Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal (ABMCM) honored Ganpat Patil with Chitrabhushan award in 2006 for his contribution and service to the Marathi film industry. He was also conferred with the Zee Marathi Lifetime Achievement Award.