V. Shantaram was at the peak of his form when he made Two Eyes, Twelve Hands. It was a series of superb films he made in his own independent studio Rajkamal Kalamandir, on the problems of independent India?dowry, national integration and, in this case, prison reform. In this film, he was lead actor, producer and director. Based on a real life story, V Shantaram himself plays Adinath, a jail warder who experiments with an open prison plan with six jailed murderers. Shantaram plays Adinath alternately playing up his saintly and macho personality. Even Champa a toy seller (played by Sandhya, Shantaram`s third real-life partner) has complex shades to her role. She is part-temptress, part-compassionate mother, part-saint and part toughie saviour of the men. There are melodramatic twists throughout the story. The music of this film remains popular in India to this day. The film won a slew of awards, including the National Award and the Golden Bear in Berlin (1958), as well as the Samuel Goldwyn International Film Award (Golden Globe) for Best Foreign Film.