{{Short description|Indian writer and politician}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{infobox person | honorific_prefix = '''Āchārya''' | name = Pralhad Keshav Atre | image = PralhadKeshavAtreImg.jpg | image_size = 200px | birth_date = 13 August 1898 | birth_place = Kodit Khurd, Pune district, Maharashtra | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1969|6|13|1898|8|13}} | death_place = Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | occupation = Writer, editor, politician, social activist, Director | other_names = ''Āchārya Atre'' | education = Bachelor of Arts | alma_mater = University of Pune<br/>University of London | children = Shirish Atre-Pai, Meena Deshpande | movement = Indian Independence Movement <br/> Samyukta Maharashtra Movement | awards = | signature = 170px | signature_alt = | module = {{infobox officeholder|embed=yes | office1 = Member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly | term1 = 1962 - 1967 | constituency1 = Dadar | predecessor1 = ''position established'' | successor1 = Vaman Matkar | office2 = Member of Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti | term2 = 1959 -1960 | successor2 = ''position abolished''
}} }} '''Pralhad Keshav Atre''' ({{audio|Ma-PK Atre.ogg|pronunciation}}) (13 August 1898 – 13 June 1969), popularly known as '''Āchārya Atre''', was a prominent Marathi writer, poet, educationist, founder–editor of ''Maratha'' (a Marathi language newspaper), and above all a noted orator.
==Biography== ===Early life=== Atre was born on 13 August 1898 in a Marathi Deshastha Rigvedi Brahmin<ref name="iwi74">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AsU7R69gqDIC|title=The Illustrated Weekly of India, Volume 95|publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press|page=31|year=1974|quote=Marathi literature is strewn with Deshastha writers. Some of the luminaries are B. S. Murdhekar, the neo classical poet and critic; the popular dramatists P. K. Atre, V.V.Shirwadkar; the poet and story writer G.D.Madgulkar popularly known as the "Modern Walmiki" of Maharashtra, Sahitya Akademi Award winners G. T. Deshpande, Laxmanshastri Joshi, S. N. Banhatti, V. K. Gokak and Mugali all belong to this community.}}</ref> family of Kodit Khurd, a village near Saswad in Pune district. His father was a clerk and also a secretary of Saswad Municipality for a brief period and his uncle was teacher at MES Waghire High School Saswad. He completed his primary and High School education from MES Waghire High School, Saswad. He matriculated from Fergusson college in 1919. He completed Bachelor of Arts from University of Pune. After graduation Atre took up a career as a school teacher. Atre did his T. D. (teacher's diploma) from the University of London in 1928.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedic dictionary of Marathi literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nrR9D_ydGwoC|editor=Sunita Deshpande|author=Jaquir Iqbal|publisher=Global Vision Publishing House|access-date=1 October 2009|pages=37–38|isbn = 9788182202214|date = October 2009}}</ref> Before returning to India he studied Experimental Psychology under Cyril Burt and taught at Harrow.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLkABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA47|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema|author1=Ashish Rajadhyaksha|author2=Paul Willemen|publisher=Routledge|access-date=10 July 2014|page=47|isbn=9781135943189|date=10 July 2014}}</ref>
==Film and theatre career== His Marathi film, ''Shyamchi Aai'' won the 1954 National Film Award for Best Feature Film.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0040899/awards Awards] IMDb</ref> Atre wrote seven plays; some of them had a humorous theme while others, a serious one. All of them received high public acclaim. His comedy-play, ''Moruchi Mavshi'' was later adapted into Hindi film, ''Aunty No. 1'' (1998), starring Govinda and Raveena Tandon. His movie Mahatma Phule (1955) received the ''President's Silver Medal''.
==Writing and Publishing== Atre was the founder–editor of four Marathi newspapers. Two of them had a short life. But the other two, ''Maratha'' and ''(Weekly) Navayug'', ran for many years with a large circulation. Below are some of his works.
Poetry collections: 1.Akrava Avtar (अकरावा अवतार) (1920) 2.Zenduchi Fule (झेंडूची फुले) (1925) 3.Geetganga (गीतगंगा) (1935) 4.Panchagavya (पंचगव्य) (1958)
Novels: 1.Maharashtra Mohra (महाराष्ट्र मोहरा) (1914) 2.Mohityancha Shaap (मोहित्यांचा शाप) (1921) 3.Changuna (चांगुणा) (1954)
Autobiographical works: 1.Mi Kasa Jhalo (मी कसा झालो) 2.Karheche Pani (कर्हेचे पाणी)
== Career == ===Political=== * Member of Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti during 1956–60. He was arrested in 1956 under the Preventive Detention Act for his agitation. * Member of Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha from Dadar constituency (18) 1962
===Novels, Biographies, and Essays=== * Gharābāher (1934) * Bhramāchā Bhopalā (1935) * Udyāchā Sansār (1936) * Lagnāchi Bedi (1936) * Moruchi Māwashi (1947) a Marathi comedy play * To Mi Navhech (1962) * Chāngunā (1954) * Battāshi Wa Itar Kathā (1954) * Mahātmā Jyotibā Phule (1958) * Suryāsta (1964) (On the life of Jawaharlal Nehru) * Samādhiwaril Ashru (1956) * Kelyāne Deshātan (1961) * Krantikarkanche kulpurush Savarkar (1983) * Atre Uwāch (1937) * Lalit Wāngmaya (1944) * Hashā Āni Tālyā (1958) * Dalitanche Baba (Remembering Dr. Ambedkar) *Mi Kasā Jhālo (1953)
===Movies=== * Brahmachari (1938) * Vasantsena (Marathi and Hindi 1942) *Shyāmchi Aai (1953) * Premveer (Script writer) * Dharmveer (Script writer) * Brandichi Bātali (Script writer) * Paayaachi Daasi (Hindi: Charanon Ki Daasi). Producer. * Mahātmā Phule (1954) * Parinde (Hindi, Director under name of Principal Atre) (1945)
===Journalism=== * Founder/Editor of (weekly) ''Sāptāhik Navyug'' (1940–1962) and ''Tukārām'' (1954) * Evening newspaper ''Jai Hind'' (1948) * Daily ''Marāthā'' (1956 – Till the end)
== Honors == * President of 38th ''Natya Sammelan'' at Belgaon (1955) * President of 10th ''Maharashatra Patrakar Sammelan'' (1950) * President of ''Regional Sahitya Sammelan'' at Baroda, Indore and Gwalior * In his honor there is an ''Acharya atre bhavan'' in Saswad
== Awards ==
;National Film Awards (India) * 1st National Film Awards (1953) – President's gold medal for the All India Best Feature Film – Shyamchi Aai<ref name="1stawardPDF">{{cite web|url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/1st_nff_1954.pdf|title=1st National Film Awards|publisher=Directorate of Film Festivals|access-date=21 August 2011}}</ref> * 2nd National Film Awards (1954) – President's silver medal for Best Feature Film in Marathi – Mahatma Phule<ref name="2ndawardPDF">{{cite web|url=http://dff.nic.in/2011/2nd_nff_1955.pdf|title=2nd National Film Awards|publisher=Directorate of Film Festivals|access-date=10 March 2012}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}} * ''Prahlad Keshav Atre'', by A. N. Pednekar. Sahitya Akademi Publications. {{ISBN|81-260-1570-5}}.
== External links == * {{IMDb name|0040899}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20111006163347/http://www.manase.org/en/maharashtra.php?mid=68&smid=23&pmid=8&id=782 Prahlad Keshav Atre] *
{{Authority control}}
{{Marathi Theatre}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atre, Prahlad}} Category:1898 births Category:1969 deaths Category:Marathi-language poets Category:Marathi film directors Category:Businesspeople from Pune Category:Maharashtra MLAs 1962–1967 Category:Marathi film producers Category:Indian male novelists Category:Indian autobiographers Category:Indian newspaper editors Category:Indian magazine editors Category:Indian magazine founders Category:Presidents of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan Category:20th-century Indian poets Category:20th-century Indian novelists Category:20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights Category:Indian male screenwriters Category:Marathi politicians Category:Writers from Pune Category:Politicians from Pune Category:Screenwriters from Maharashtra Category:Novelists from Maharashtra Category:Poets from Maharashtra Category:20th-century Indian male writers Category:Producers who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award Category:Directors who won the Best Feature Film National Film Award Category:Independent politicians in India Category:20th-century Indian screenwriters