Laxmikant Shetgaonkar

One of the successful filmmakers from Goa, Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, is multiple times National Award-winning director who is familiar for his works Paltadacho Munis and Baga Beach. Laxmikant Shetgaonkar was born and grew up in Cuncolim Village of Salcette district in Goa. His love for filmmaking made him pursue his graduation in Theatre Arts at Kala Academy in Goa. Then, for some time, he did theatre productions in Goa before moving to Delhi. In Delhi, Laxmikant Shetgaonkar served as the Actor-Teacher at the National School of Drama.

While he lived in Delhi, he got the opportunity to attend many film festivals. The world cinemas fascinated him, and he developed the desire to become a full-time filmmaker. So, with the dreams of becoming a director, Laxmikant Shetgaonkar moved to Mumbai and started his cinema career by assisting directors and working as a screenplay writer. Laxmikant Shetgaonkar returned to Goa after four years and began the work for his debut film. In 2004, he released his first short film in Marathi named Eka Sagar Kinaree, also known as A Seaside Story, which showed the reality of Goa.

The film swept many awards since its release, including National Film Award for Best First Non-Feature Film Director at the 52nd National Film Awards The National Film Awards gets presented every year >> Read More... , and it won the Golden Conch for Best Fiction Film at Mumbai International Film Festival. By receiving such top honors, Eka Sagar Kinaree became the first film to achieve the feat. Following the success of his debut film, Laxmikant Shetgaonkar suffered quite an issue to start his next movie. After many hurdles, his next film, Paltadacho Munis, a feature film, got released in 2009. Featuring Chittaranjan Giri and Veena Jamkar Veena Jamkar is an actor predominantly working in >> Read More... in lead roles, the story of the Konkani movies follows the story of a forest guard and a woman with a mental illness.

Wonderfully written and directed by Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, the movie won both the critics and audience love. The picture won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Konkani at the 57th National Film Awards. It also bagged the International Federation of Film Critics Award for Discovery at Toronto International Film Festival 2009. Laxmikant Shetgaonkar directed and wrote the Konkani movie Baga Beach in 2013. The film focused on showing the unshown side of the child sexual abuse and pedophilia that happens in Goa.

With a multi-national cast, the authorities said the movie to be the most expensive film of Konkani cinema. The picture won him his third National Award at the 61st National Film Awards by winning the Best Feature Film in the Konkani category. Laxmikant Shetgaonkar received applauses from the Goa Legislative Assembly for talking about the issue and making a film out of it.