This Day In History – April 9

1893 – The Father of Hindi Travel literature, Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan was born. Born Kedarnath Pandey he was one of the most widely-traveled scholars of India. Well versed in several languages like Sanskrit, Kannada, Pali, Tibetan, Persian, Bhojpuri, Urdu, Arabic and many more, he also was an Indologist, a Marxist theoretician, and a creative writer. He was appointed the Professor of Indology by the University of Leningrad in view of his knowledge and command over the subject. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958 and the Government of India honoured him with Padmabhushan in 1963.

Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan

1946 – Vaman Raghunath Varde Valaulikar passed away. His death anniversary is celebrated as World Konkani Day.

Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan

1948 – Renowned yesteryears actress Jaya Bhaduri (Bachchan) was born. She is the wife of the Indian Megastar, Amitabh Bachchan. She made her debut in Satyajit Ray’s Mahanagar (1963) as a teenager. She bagged plenty of recognition from her first film as an adult, Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Guddi (1971). In a career spanning over decades she has delivered many hits like Uphaar (1971), Koshish (1972), Abhimaan (1973), Chupke Chupke (1975) and Sholay (1975). She has won several Filmfare awards for her acting in Abhimaan (1974), Kora Kagaz(1975), Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham (2002) and Kal Ho Na Ho(2004). In 1992, the Indian Government honoured her with the Padma Shri.

Shakti Samanta

2009 – Indian film director and producer, Shakti Samanta, passed away. Making his debut with Bahu in 1954, he started his own production company, Shakti Films, in 1957. After the huge success of Howrah Bridge(1958), first film under his banner,  he went on to give some superhits like: China Town (1962), Kashmir Ki Kali (1964), An Evening in Paris (1967), Aradhana (1969), Kati Patang (1970) and Amar Prem (1971). Samanta received several Filmfare Awards and  Lifetime Achievement awards for his work.

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