Devika Rani Choudhuri, usually known as Devika Rani, was an Indian actress who was active in Hindi films during the 1930s and 1940s. She was the first recipient of the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. Widely acknowledged as the first lady of Indian cinema, Devika Rani had a successful film career that spanned 10 years.
Ashok Kumar, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He was a pioneering actor who introduced natural acting to Hindi cinema. He is considered the first superstar of Hindi cinema in the black-and-white era of the 40s and 50s as well as the first lead actor to play an anti-hero. He also became the first star to reinvent himself, enjoying a long and hugely successful career as a character actor. He was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family. He was honoured in 1988 with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest national award for cinema artists, by the Government of India. He also received the Padma Bhushan in 1999 for his contributions to Indian cinema.
Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation, Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay.
Himanshu Rai was an Indian actor and film director. Regarded as one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, he is best known as the founder of the studio in 1934, along with Devika Rani. He was associated with a number of movies, including Goddess (1922), The Light of Asia (1925), Shiraz (1928), A Throw of Dice (1929) and Karma (1933). He was married to actress Devika Rani Chaudhuri (1929–1940).
Jeevan Naiya is a 1936 Hindi film directed by Franz Osten, and produced by Himanshu Rai for his studio Bombay Talkies. It is famous for being the screen debut early superstar Ashok Kumar. The film is about the ostracism of dancing girls. The film was one of several successful Bombay Talkies collaborations between Franz Osten, Himashu Rai, screenwriters J. S. Kashyap and Niranjan Pal, and their leading lady of the time, Devika Rani.
Aashirwad is a 1968 Bollywood film, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee. The film main stars Ashok Kumar, Veena, Sumita Sanyal and Sanjeev Kumar. The film is notable for Ashok Kumar & Veena life time performances and its also inclusion of a rap-like song performed by Ashok Kumar, "Rail Gaadi" & "Nav Chali".
Mere Humsafar is a 1970 Hindi-language romance film, produced by Yusuf Teendarwajawala under the Labela Films banner and directed by Dulal Guha. It stars Jeetendra and Sharmila Tagore, with music composed by Kalyanji Anandji.
Nenjathai Killathe is a 1980 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Mahendran. The film stars Suhasini, Sarath Babu, Pratap and Mohan. It focuses on a girl who is torn between the man she loved, and the man she married.
Anjaan is a 1941 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Amiya Chakrabarty and produced by Bombay Talkies. It was Chakrabarty's first film direction. The film's story and screenplay were by Amiya Chakrabarty, with dialogues by J. S. Casshyap. The cinematography was by the debutant R. D. Mathur. Its music direction was by Pannalal Ghosh, with lyrics by Kavi Pradeep and P. L. Santoshi. The film starred Devika Rani, who had recently returned to films after a two-year absence, following the death of her husband Himanshu Rai in 1940. The cast included Ashok Kumar, David, V. H. Desai, Gulab, Suresh and Om Prakash.
Mumtaz Ali was an Indian dancer and character actor in Hindi cinema from the 1940s to 1970s. He was the father of Indian actor Mehmood. He also had his own dance troupe "Mumtaz Ali Nites" which performed all over India. His career slumped due to his excessive drinking and his family fell into hard times, leading to his son Mehmood to work as a child artist and daughter Minoo Mumtaz to work as dancer in his stage shows and later in movies.
Sharyat is a 2011 film directed by Viju Mane, which stars Sachin Pilgaonkar, Neena Kulkarni, Vidyadhar Joshi & Santosh Juvekar in lead roles. The film revolves around how two families fight for "Mahadevacha Pujacha Maan", which literally translated in English means "the privilege to hold the puja of Shiva", by taking part in the bullock cart race in their village.
Janmabhoomi is a 1936 Hindi film directed by German filmmaker Franz Osten, starring Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar in the lead roles. Music of the film was by Saraswati Devi, who had worked extensively with Bombay Talkies.
Manoos, also called Life's for Living, is a 1939 Indian Marathi social melodrama film directed by V. Shantaram. The movie was simultaneously made in Hindi as Aadmi. The film was based on a short story called "The Police Constable". The story was by A. Bhaskarrao, with screenplay and dialogue by Anant Kanekar. The cinematographer was V. Avadhoot and the music was composed by Master Krishna Rao, with lyrics by Kanekar. The cast included Shahu Modak, Shanta Hublikar, Sundara Bai, Ram Marathe, Narmada, Ganpatrao and Raja Paranjpe.
Savitri is a 1937 mythology legend Hindi film directed by Franz Osten. Adapted from a story in the Mahabharata the writers were Niranjan Pal with dialogues by J. S. Casshyap. The cinematographer was Joseph Wirsching. Saraswati Devi composed the music. According to Garga, Savitri was the "only mythological" produced by Himanshu Rai for Bombay Talkies, who were known for making "rurlist reform dramas". Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani played the lead roles supported by Maya Devi, Saroj Borkar, Mumtaz Ali, and Sunita Devi.
Vachan is a 1938 costume drama Hindi film directed by Franz Osten. The regular Bombay Talkies writer, Niranjan Pal, walked out of the Bombay Talkies production team after an altercation with Himanshu Rai in 1936. Saradindu Bandyopadhyay, a famous writer known also for creating Byomkesh Bakshi, replaced Pal in the story department, writing for films like Nirmala and Vachan in 1938 and Durga in 1939. The screenplay was by Agha Jani Kashmiri, with dialogues and lyrics by J. S. Kashyap. The music was composed by Saraswati Devi aided by J. S. Kashyap. The film starred Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar, a popular pair from Bombay Talkies who worked in seven films together. Devika Rani remained the bigger star with Kumar's name being "over-shadowed" in the credit rolls, as well as the publicity of the film.
Sobha is a 1958 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by Kamalakara Kameswara Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Anjali Devi. The film was produced by Ponnaluri Brothers under the Sri Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures banner. Music was composed by A. M. Rajah in his debut. Sobha was a remake of the Hindi film Dulari (1949). The film was recorded as a Hit at the box office.
Prem Tapasya is a 1983 Hindi-language romance film, produced by Akkineni Nageswara Rao under the Annapurna Studios banner and directed by Dasari Narayana Rao. It stars Jeetendra, Reena Roy, Rekha with music composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal. The film is a remake of the Telugu blockbuster movie Premabhishekam (1981), starring Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Sridevi, Jayasudha. Both the movies are made by the same banner and director. The Hindi film was a flop.
Nirmala is a 1938 Indian Hindi-language social drama film directed by Franz Osten and produced by Bombay Talkies.
Kasthuri is an Indian Tamil-language soap opera that aired on Sun TV from 21 August 2006 and later a show named 'Madhavi' replaced this serial on 19 April 2010. It shifted at 11.30AM. This serial was replaced by Kanmaneeya and again shifted on 13 December 2011, telecasted for 1532 episodes. The show starred Easwari Rao, Niya, Latha, Delhi Ganesh, Shyam, Neelima Rani, Aparna and Nithish among others. It was produced by Balaji Telefilms Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor, and had various directors. It also aired in Sri Lanka on the Tamil channel on Shakthi TV. It is an official remake of blockbuster Telugu series Kalyanee which aired on Gemini TV.
Sabash Ramudu is a 1959 Indian Telugu-language drama film directed by C. S. Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao and Devika, with music composed by Ghantasala. The film was produced by Sundarlal Nahata and T. Aswathanarayana under the Rajshree Productions banner. The film is a remake of the Hindi film Bada Bhai (1957). It was dubbed in Tamil language with the title Sabash Ramu.
