Filmmaker V Shantaram gets Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis award

MUMBAI: The Dr Dwarkanath Kotnis Memorial Committee has decided to award legendary filmmaker V Shantaram posthumously for making the story of Dr Kotnis “immortal” through his 1946 film Dr Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani.
“The Committee has decided to confer this award on V Shantaram on Dr Kotnis’s death anniversary on December 9. It is Shantaram who for the first time captured the fascinating story of Dr Kotnis for posterity,“ said the Committee’s chairman Rajendra Jadhav. “I was too young to understand the film on Dr Kotnis when it was released, but later I saw and was amazed how beautifully the story of Dr Kotnis was told through cinema. I am glad they have decided to give this award to my father and we feel honoured,” said Kiran Shantaram, Shantaram’s son.
Dr Kotnis was part of the team of five doctors who had set sail to China on September 1, 1938 to help the Chinese army during the second Sino-Japanese War in the 1930s. While other four physicians returned, Dr Kotnis stayed back, fell in love with a Chinese nurse whom he married, but died young because of the inclement weather he had worked in. China considers him as a great “friend.”
Dr Kotnis is considered the symbol of India-China friendship for the last eight decades.This award is important in the light of the improved and new India-China relationship and will help strengthen this friendship.
Jadhav was specially invited for the 70th anniversary of the five principles (Panchsheel) on 28th June, 2024. He was given Panchsheel Award ten years ago by the President of China Xi Jinping.