Saudamini (Durga Khote) is denied custody of her son by the Queen (Karuna Devi) and the tyrannical Minister of Justice Durjaya (Chandra Mohan) after she separates from her husband. Durjaya tells her that a woman is the slave of her husband and essentially has no rights. This enrages Saudamini and she vows vengeance and becomes a pirate. She and her pirates capture a ship which is supposed to be carrying the princess Nandini (Shanta Apte). However, she finds her old enemy Durjaya and takes him prisoner cutting off one of his legs. Nandini has been hiding in a chest, and when she comes out of it, the imprisoned Durjaya sees her. He falls in love with her and offers her his food. Nandini however falls in love with a young shepherd boy Sudhir (Nandrekar). When she meets Saudamini and her helper Rekha (Vasanti) she joins them as a pirate and tells Sudhir off. Durjaya escapes with the help of Sudhir and arrives to arrest Saudamini. Saudamini is captured, but the others, along with Nandini and Rekha, escape. It is finally revealed that Sudhir is Saudamini's long-lost son. Nandini and Sudhir marry and Rekha carries forward Saudamini's legacy.

• Durga Khote as Saudamini
• Chandra Mohan as Durjaya, Minister of Justice
• Shanta Apte as Princess Nandini
• Vasanti as Rekha
• Aruna Devi as the Queen
• Keshav Narayan Kale as Shekhar
• B. Nandrekar as Sudhir
• Vasant Desai

The film has been cited as a "great film",^[10] an "outstanding film",^[11] an "adventure classic" and the first Indian film screened at the Venice Film Festival.^[5]

The film became a big success at the box office with three main reasons cited for this achievement. The first was Durga Khote as the pirate Saudamini leaving an impact on the audiences, where she excelled in her role. The second reason for the success of the film is attributed to the special effects. The third was the music and the songs.^[12]

The film's music director was Krishnarao Phulambrikar, who is stated as setting up the "Maharashtra School of Hindi Film Music". The composer employed the one-hundred-year tradition of "Maharashtra Natak Sangeet" blending it with Hindustani music in the form of "duets, ghazal and marching songs".^[7] One of the noteworthy songs was "Suno Suno Ban Ke Praani", sung by Shanta Apte, where her voice was commended for its naturalness.^[13] The other was "Aaj Humen Ban Behad Bhata", a duet by Shanta Apte and Nandrekar, both of which still "remain favourites among old numbers". The title song is cited as Shantaram’s "classic number".^[12]

Song List