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For the Welfare of the Film Industry

The V. Shantaram Motion Picture Scientific Research and Cultural Foundation was established by Dr V Shantaram on 18 November 1977 in order to "give back" to the Indian film industry which had nurtured him and under whose shadow he had flourished and garnered several national and international awards. The idea behind creating the Foundation was to render service not only to the existing technicians in the industry but also encourage the training and induction of more such technicians and film scholars.

Towards that end the Foundation took up an intensive publications programme under which several important books by noted film scholars were published: Cinemachi Bakhar by V.P.Sathe, Vastavwadi Cinema by Shreekant Bojewar, etc. The Foundation also published Dr V Shantaram's memoirs Shantarama in Marathi and Hindi. More recently the Foundation has published a Marathi Centenary Filmography from 1913 to 2013. Over the years the Foundation has also lent support to those who have been researching the life and times of the director. The Foundation also has an extensive multilingual film specific library.

The Foundation has also financed the making of a documentary on the pioneering filmmaker: The Portrait of a Pioneer, directed by Madhura Jasraj. The Foundation has also hosted several important events including the 100 Years of Cinema in India in 1998 as also several Film Researchers Conferences.

The Foundation also hosts two sets of awards: the V Shantaram Awards for an all-India Hindi and regional films and the Chitrapati Shantaram Awards for Marathi films. The Mumbai International Film Festival also awards a Lifetime Achievement Award to a deserving documentarian in the name of the great master. There is a V Shantaram Award given at the Maharashra State Film Awards.