Sanjit Narwekar

Sanjit Narwekar (born May 8, 1952) is a documentary filmmaker and author.^[1] He completed his Bachelor’s in Statistics (1974) and his Master’s in Economics (1976) from the University of Mumbai.

Early career

He began writing in 1970 while he was still in college and has more than 2500 articles to his credit in the last 44 years. During his post graduation he worked at the National Institute of Bank Management but opted to work in journalism soon after he had completed his Masters. He worked in a wide variety of newspaper organizations and has been News Editor of Screen (1980-1991), Editor of TV & Video World (1994–95) and Executive Editor of Documentary Today (2007-2012).^[2]

Career

Narwekar has authored/edited 20 books on film history and published more than 100 books for various organizations. He has also hosted interviews/magazine programs for All India Radio and Doordarshan. He has participated in several national and international seminars and conducted workshops on various aspects of Indian cinema, both in India and abroad. He has also served on several selection committees and juries and has been a member of the Film Advisory Board of the Government of India (1992–93).^[3][4]

He worked briefly as scriptwriter before turning to documentary films. He is based in Mumbai, India and heads his content management company Transedit.

Awards

He was awarded the Swarna Kamal (National Award) for the Best Book on Cinema in 1996 for the book Marathi Cinema in Retrospect.^[5] The Delhi-based newspaper The Pioneer nominated it among the top five books on Indian cinema in post-independent India (1947–1997).^[6]

Films: Documentaries

• Nani Palkhivala: The Man Who Defied Mrs G (Writer-Director) (2015)
• Nations in Turmoil (Writer-Director) (2011)
• The Pioneering Spirit: V.Shantaram on YouTube (Writer-Producer-Director) (2010)
• Dreaming Movies (Writer-Director) (2007)
• Protecting Creativity (Writer-Director) (2005)
• Remembering Devendra Goel (Creative Consultant) (2005)
• Lavni Rupdarshan (Director) (2004)
• Life On The Edge (Writer-Director) (2002)
• Yes! I Am A Communist (Writer/Co-director: Vinay Newalkar) (2002)
• India Unveiled (Writer-Director) (1998)
• Lavni (Executive Producer-Writer) (1998)

Films: Short Fiction

• Mahilaone Thama Tha Akash (miniseries)(Executive Producer) (2002)
• Yeh Kal Kab Aayega (Writer-Director) (2001)

Film Scripts

• Durghatna (Hindi) (1994/unproduced)
• Ghar Sansar (Marathi) (1993)
• Khulyancha Bazaar (Marathi) (1992)
• Premankur (Marathi) (1992)
• Anapekshit (Marathi) (1990)
• Saboot (Hindi telefilm) (1989)
• Samarpan (Hindi telefilm) (1988)

Books: Biography

• Ambalal Patel: A Visionary (2014)
• K.A.Abbas: The Celluloid Revolutionary (2009/unpublished)
• Bimal Roy: The Silent Thunder (2008/unpublished)
• Dilip Kumar: The Last Emperor (2003) ISBN 81-291-0886-0
• V.Shantaram: The Legacy of the Royal Lotus (2003) ISBN 81-291-0218-8
• Mother Shamala: A Gift Of Motherhood (1998)
• J.G.Bodhe: The Uncommon Common Man (1986)

Books: Film History

• Nitrate Dreams: The Silent Film in India (work in progress)
• Eena Meena Deeka: The Story of Hindi Film Comedy (2005) ISBN 81-291-0859-3
• The Watchdogs of Democracy: The Story of Investigative Journalism (2005)
• Flashback: A Panorama of Indian Documentaries 1981-2001 (2001)
• Crafting Movies: Exploring Hindi Mainstream Cinema (2000)
• Directory of Indian Documentary (1998)
• The Arrival of Cinema in India (1996)
• Marathi Cinema: In Retrospect (1995)
• A Directory of Indian Filmmakers & Films (1994) ISBN 978-0313292842
• Films Division & The Indian Documentary (1992)
• Genres of Indian Cinema (Co-Editor: B. K. Karanjia) (1988)

References