Vasantrao Deshpande
Vasantrao Deshpande (2 May 1920 – 30 July 1983) Vasantrao_Deshpande.wav was a Hindustani classical vocalist renowned for his contribution to Sangeet Natak. Deshpande notably starred in Purushottam Darvhekar's popular play Katyar Kaljat Ghusli.
Vasantrao Deshpande
- Name
- Vasantrao Deshpande
- Born
- 2 May 1920
- Birthplace
- Sawalapur, Tal.
- Died
- 30 July 1983
- Place of death
- Pune, Maharashtra, India
- Occupation
- Singer, actor, musician
- Nationality
- India · British Raj · Dominion of India
- Honours
- Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
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Vasantrao Deshpande (2 May 1920 – 30 July 1983) Vasantrao_Deshpande.wav was a Hindustani classical vocalist renowned for his contribution to Sangeet Natak. Deshpande notably starred in Purushottam Darvhekar's popular play Katyar Kaljat Ghusli.
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Vasantrao Deshpande (1920–1983) was an actor, composer and singer and a national of the British Raj and the Dominion of India. Born in Murtajapur, the actor died in Pune. Vasantrao Deshpande received Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 01 October 2026
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wikidata · Q7916376 · wikipedia · Vasantrao Deshpande
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Key facts
Key facts
• Honorific Prefix — Doctor • Name — Vasantrao Deshpande • Native Name — वसंतराव देशपांडे • Born — 2 May 1920 • Birthplace — Sawalapur, Tal. Murtijapur, Akola district, Maharashtra • Died — 30 July 1983 • Place of death — Pune, Maharashtra, India • Genre — Hindustani classical music (which included Khayal, Natya Sangeet, Thumri, Ghazal, Tappa) • Occupation — Singer, actor, musician • Years Active — 1928–1983 • Instrument — Vocals • Website — vasantraodeshpande.com
Early life
Early life
Dr. Vasantrao Deshpande was born into a Deshastha Brahmin family in Murtizapur, Akola District, in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in India. At the age of eight, Vasantrao Deshpande's ability was observed by Bhalji Pendharkar, who cast him in the role of Krishna in the Hindi movie Kaliya Mardan (1935). He obtained his PhD in Music.
Training
Training
Dr. Vasantrao Deshpande got trained under several gurus, in various different schools of singing. He began his musical training with Mstr. Shankarrao Sapre of Gwalior, a disciple of V. D. Paluskar, in Nagpur. His training was alongside C. Ramchandra under their Guru Master Shankarrao Sapre. After this, he studied under several musicians including Sureshbabu Mane (son of Ustad Abdul Karim Khan) of Kirana gharana, Asad Ali Khan of Patiala gharana, Aman Ali Khan and Anjanibai Malpekar of Bhendibazaar gharana, and Ramkrishnabuwa Vaze (Vazebuwa) of the Gwalior gharana. Dinanath Mangeshkar, a direct disciple of Vazebuwa, had a particularly strong influence over Deshpande, who is regarded as Mangeshkar's musical heir, having adopted his signature mercurial and dramatic style of singing.
Career
Career
Dr. Deshpande performed classical and semi-classical music, appearing in movies including Kaliya Mardan, Dudh Bhaat, and Ashtavinayak. He issued several commercial releases under his name, and created raga Raj Kalyan, a variant of Yaman without pancham. Deshpande's students included Chandrakant Limaye, Vijay Koparkar and Pt Padmakar Kulkarni.
Family
Family
His grandson, Rahul Deshpande, is also a singer, and has also reprised some of his roles on stage and screen, such as Khansaheb in Katyar Kaljat Ghusali. Rahul Deshpande has portrayed Vasantrao in a film entitled Me Vasantrao, that is based on Deshpande's life.
Theatre
Theatre
• Year — Production — Role — Producer — Notes • 1967 — Katyar Kaljat Ghusli — Khansaheb — Purushottam Darvhekar — Over 1000 performances by 1976.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Murtajapur.
Birth place
Pune.
Death place
Legacy
A foundation, the Dr. Vasantrao Deshpande Pratishthan, organizes Vasantotsav, an annual music festival at Pune in his memory. The annual festival is held over three days during January. During the festival, two awards, the "Vasantotsav Youth Award" for Promising Artists and the "Vasantotsav Award" for veteran artists, are given out. In 2011, a three-day music and dance festival in Nagpur was organized by the Indian government's South-Central Zone Cultural Centre (SCZCC) in Deshpande's memory. A film entitled Me Vasantrao, based on Deshpande's life, was scheduled to be released on 1 May 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Later it was released on 1 April 2022.
Awards
• 1982 – Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Directorate-General of Information and Public Relations. Lokrajya. 13, 15, 20. 1983.
- 2.Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press. The Illustrated Weekly of India, Volume 95. 31. 1974.
- 3.Dr. Vasantrao Deshpande Hall.
- 4.Mathur, Barkha. Vidarbha has rich tradition of Hindustani classical music. The Times of India. 3 July 2016.
- 5.Misra, Susheela. Some immortals of Hindustani music. Harman Publishing House. January 1990. 9788185151144.
- 6.Jeffrey Michael Grimes. The Geography of Hindustani Music: The Influence of Region and Regionalism on the North Indian Classical Tradition. 160–. 2008. 978-1-109-00342-0.
- 7.Swaminathan, Chitra. Vasantrao Deshpande's unique musical legacy. The Hindu. 2019-05-23. 0971-751X.
- 8.Michael S. Kinnear. A discography of Hindustani and Karnatic music. Greenwood Press. 294. 1985. 978-0-313-24479-7.
- 9.Wel come to .ptchandrakant. sabmumbai.com.
- 10.Artistesdetails.
- 11.Grandson Rahul to carry Pt Vasantrao's legacy forward. The Times of India. 28 August 2009.
- 12.Sangeet Natak Akademi. Sangeet Natak, Issues 79–82. 47. 1986.
- 13.Me Vasantrao (2020) - IMDb. IMDb.
- 14.Pranav Kulkarni. Vasantotsav to kick off from January 9. The Indian Express. 23 December 2008.
- 15.Celebrating the five elements of nature. Pune Mirror. 23 December 2008.
- 16.Vasantotsav to start on Jan 18. The Times of India. 6 January 2013.
- 17.Season of Music. The Indian Express. 21 January 2012.
- 18.IBN Live News. Music festival in memory of Vasantrao Deshpande in Nagpur. 28 July 2011.
- 19.Mee Vasantrao (2020) - IMDb. IMDb.
- 20.Sangeet Natak Akademi Official website. SNA: List of Akademi Awardees.
- 21.Kasbekar, Asha. Pop Culture India!: Media, Arts, and Lifestyle. Bloomsbury Academic. 2006. 9781851096367.
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