Born to inter-faith couple Rajaram and Kamal, Shantaram grew up as one of five brothers in the erstwhile small-town of Kolhapur, Maharashtra. He moved from Kolhapur to Pune to Bombay as he built and expanded his film studios, and his family followed in support.

 

Shantaram was generally religious but didn't believe in superstition, often flying in the face of it to prove the world wrong. He was strictly vegetarian for most of his life like his Jain father. An avid reader who enjoyed athletic pursuits, he was disciplined and particular, and had liberal and feminist views that went beyond his films.

 

Over the course of his life, Shantaram married thrice; to Vimal in his early life with whom he had four children, to his leading lady Jayashree with whom he had three, and to his last muse actress Sandhya in his later life.

 

Subsequent generations of his family have gone on to make their own mark in entertainment and media. Amongst his children, his son Prabhatkumar turned director, while Kiran Shantaram established himself as director-producer, and is successfully running Rajkamal Studios. Daughter Madhura Pandit Jasraj is a writer-filmmaker, while beloved actress Rajashree was launched by Shantaram himself.

 

Among his grandchildren, Shaarangdev Pandit is a renowned music composer, and Durga Jasraj is a producer, singer and TV personality. Sushant Ray (Siddharth) began his career as a child actor in Shantaram’s films and went on to work in Hindi and Marathi cinema. Rahul Shantaram transitioned from child-actor to assistant director before taking on the baton as film producer with Rajkamal Enterttainment. Kadambari Desai is an actress and TV personality, while Chaitanya Shantaram is a Marathi film producer. Shantaram's fourth generation is also passionately pursuing careers in today's new-age media industry.