S. D. Phadnis

Shivram Dattatreya Phadnis (born 29 July 1925), known as S. D. Phadnis, is an Indian cartoonist and illustrator. He is known for his captionless and painted cartoons, which mainly featured on magazine covers. The illustrations created by Phadnis for Mohini magazine established a new tradition of Marathi magazine covers. They proved that cartoons can be as charming and visually pleasing as a painting without the support of words. With a career spanning more than 60 years, he has contributed to the Marathi publishing industry and cartooning community as a whole. , he lives and works in Pune.

Early life and education Phadnis was born on 29 July 1925 in the village of Bhoj, Belgaum district, Bombay Presidency (now in Karnataka). After spending a few years at his birth place, he moved to Kolhapur from where he passed his matriculation examination in 1944. Phadnis then joined Sir J. J. School of Art in Bombay and obtained a G. D. in Commercial Art in 1949.

Career While studying at Sir J. J. School of Art, Phadnis sent a cartoon to Manohar magazine in 1945, without any expectations. Motivated by seeing this artwork published, he occasionally sent comic strips to magazines that became popular. Among those magazines was Hans, which was run by Anant Antarkar. On Antarkar's instructions, Phadnis created a full-page coloured illustration that was published on the cover of the June 1951 issue of the magazine. This was the beginning of latter's work with humorous, multi-coloured covers.

Breakthrough with Mohini magazine B&W reproduction of the cartoon which was created by Phadnis for the cover of Mohini in 1952. In the early 1950s, Antarkar had founded another magazine called Mohini. This was the time when the covers of the Diwali magazines traditionally featured images of beautiful young ladies or popular film actresses. Phadnis designed a cartoon for the 1952 Diwali issue of this magazine. It showcased a man wearing a mouse print shirt and woman wearing a cat print sari who were standing side by side at a bus stop. Not only did this creation break the existing trend, but was also well received by the audience. This was the beginning of what was to develop as a trend in terms of Diwali issue covers.

While working in Mumbai, Phadnis felt that the climate and lifestyle of the city did not suit him, so he set up his studio in Kolhapur for a few years. Around the same time, Antarkar had decided to shift his residence from Mumbai and settle in Pune. With Antarkar’s inspiration and encouragement, Phadnis also shifted to Pune and settled there. Following this move, it was mutually decided that cartoons by Phadnis would be printed in every month's issue of Mohini. This partnership lasted for more than 50 years. Even though the monthly magazine of Mohini has been discontinued, the cover of its Diwali issue continues to feature the work of Phadnis, which is published annually. In addition to this, Phadnis has also created cartoons and illustrations for other clients during his career.

On July 29, 2025, Phadnis turned 100.