Rajdutt

Dattatray Ambadas Mayaloo, known in cinema as Rajdutt, is a Marathi film director whose career spans more than six decades. He was named for the Padma Bhushan in 2024 in the field of art, from Maharashtra ^[1].

Early life

He was born on 21 January 1932 in Dhamangaon, Amravati district, and studied commerce in Wardha ^[2]. A member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh from childhood, he was jailed for two and a half months as a young man for his RSS activities, and took part in the movements to free Goa and Dadra and Nagar Haveli from Portuguese rule ^[2]. He also volunteered with leprosy patients at the Gopuri centre near Sevagram and at Baba Amte’s Anandwan ^[2].

He then worked as a journalist for Tarun Bharat in Nagpur and Bharat in Pune, and for the children’s magazine Chandamama in Madras ^[2].

Director

In Madras he met the director Raja Paranjape and assisted him for seven years ^[2]. As a mark of respect he took “Raj” from his teacher’s name and “Dutt” from his own, and began directing films in 1967 ^[2]. He made more than 30 Marathi and Hindi films, including Madhuchandra, Devki Nandan Gopala, Ashtavinayak and Sarja, as well as television serials and documentaries ^[2].

Three of his films won the National Award for best Marathi feature film: Shapit (1982), Pudhcha Paool (1985) and Sarja (1987) ^[2]. He has also won 13 Maharashtra state film awards and a Filmfare award, and his films have been shown at festivals in Tashkent, Venice and Cork ^[2]. He headed the cultural organisation Sanskar Bharati for ten years and, at 92, had begun a second career as an actor ^[2].