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Motilal Rajvansh was an Indian actor and the winner of Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award for Devdas (1955) and Parakh (1960). He is credited with being among Hindi cinema's first natural actors.
Hum Tum Aur Woh is a 1938 Hindi/Urdu social drama film. The film was directed by Mehboob Khan for Sagar Movietone. The music was composed by Anil Biswas with lyrics by Wajahat Mirza and Zia Sarhadi. The cinematographer was Faredoon Irani. The film starred Motilal, Maya Banerjee, Rose, Yakub and Sankatha Prasad. The film was a romantic triangle involving Moti (Motilal), Bina the girl he's engaged to and Leela (Rose) who is obsessed with him.
Manmohan is a 1936 Indian Urdu/Hindi-language romantic tragedy film directed by Mehboob Khan. This was Khan's third film for Sagar Movietone after Al Hilal (1935) and Deccan Queen (1936). The cinematographer was Faredoon Irani who, starting from Mehboob Khan's Al Hilal (1935), went on to establish a long working relationship with him lasting till Khan's last film Son of India (1962). The music was composed by Ashok Ghosh assisted by Anil Biswas. The story writer was Zia Sarhadi who also wrote the lyrics, screenplay and dialogue in addition to acting in the film. Though he had started his writing career on Khan's backing for Deccan Queen (1936), it was with Manmohan that he achieved success. The film was inspired by Devdas, (1935), which was a big hit at the box office. Surendra was chosen as the singing star to rival K. L. Saigal from New Theatres Calcutta, whose songs from Devdas had mesmerised the nation. Though Manmohan was referred to as the "poor man's Devdas" the film went on to do well and the songs became very popular. The film starred Bibbo, Surendra, Yakub, Kayam Ali, Bhudo Advani and Mehdi Raza.
Deccan Queen is a 1936 Hindustani action-adventure film directed by Mehboob Khan. It was the first "stunt" film from Sagar Movietone and the first film for actor Surendra, who was credited as "Surendra Nath B.A., L.L.B.". The film helped launch him as a singing star. This was the only action film directed by Mehboob Khan as he later shifted to films with social and political slant. This was Mehboob Khan's second directorial venture after Al Hilal (1935). He asked Zia Sarhadi then an unknown small-time actor, to write the screenplay, dialogue and songs for Deccan Queen. The music direction was by Pransukh Nayak along with Ashok Ghosh. The cinematographer was Faredoon Irani. The film starred Surendra, Aruna Devi, Ramchandra Pal and Kayam Ali.
Jagirdar (Landlord) is a 1937 Hindi romantic melodrama film directed by Mehboob Khan, and starring Bibbo, Motilal, Surendra, Yakub, Pande, Sankatha Prasad, Pesi Patel and Maya Banerjee.
Sarvottam Badami (1910–2005) was an Indian film director of Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil films. He started his career as a sound recordist for the first talkie in India, Alam Ara (1931). In 1948 he helped set up the Films Division for news-reel and documentaries, where he worked as the chief producer in the newsreel department and also made documentaries. His active years were from 1932 to 1952 when he retired from the Films Division and from making feature films to settle in Bangalore.
Vengeance is Mine also called Vair Ka Badla is a 1935 social Hindi film directed by Sarvottam Badami based on K. M. Munshi's story. After directing three regional language films for Sagar Movietone, Badami was now directing films exclusively in Hindi. After the first Hindi film he directed Chandrahasa (1933), he shifted his focus to socially relevant topics and made two films based on Munshi's stories, Vengeance is Mine (1935) and Dr. Madhurika (1935). Vengeance is Mine was made on a story Munshi had written in Gujarati language as "Ver Ni Vasulat" in 1913 under the nom de plume "Ghanshyam". The cast included Kumar, Sabita Devi, Yakub, Sitara Devi, Padma Devi and Mehboob Khan.
Teen Sau Din Ke Baad is a 1938 Hindi social comedy film directed by Sarvottam Badami. This was Badami's first comedy film and it was a success at the box-office; he went on to direct two more comedies after this, Aap Ki Marzi (1939) and Ladies Only (1939), also successes. The film was produced by Sagar Movietone, with story written by Babubhai A. Mehta and dialogue by Wajahat Mirza and Waqif. The music was composed by Anil Biswas with lyrics by Zia Sarhadi. The director of photography was Faredoon Irani and the film starred Bibbo, Motilal, Sabita Devi, Yakub, Pesi Patel and Gulzar.
Grama Kanya is a 1936 Hindi melodrama film directed by Sarvottam Badami. The film produced by Sagar Movietone had cinematography by Faredoon Irani, story by Jayant Shyam and dialogue by Waqif. The music was composed by the renowned bhajan singer Shankarrao Khatu. The cast included Surendra, Sabita Devi, Yakub, Aruna, Kayam Ali, and Gulzar.
Jeevan Lata is a 1936 Hindi social drama film directed by Sarvottam Badami. The film was produced by Sagar Movietone and had music by Pransukh M. Nayak. Sabita Devi and Motilal paired in several films right from Motilal's first Shaher Ka Jadoo (1934), with Badami using the pair for many of the films he directed for Sagar Movietone. This was Motilal's fourth film. The film starred Sabita Devi, Motilal, Gulzar, Sankatha Prasad, Bhudo Advani and Mehdi Raza.
Kulvadhu (transl. Daughter-in-Law) is a 1937 Indian Hindi-language social family drama film directed by Sarvottam Badami. Made under the Sagar Movietone banner it had music by Pransukh M Nayak, and the film starred Motilal, Sabita Devi, Gulzar and Pesi Patel.
Kokila (transl. Nightingale) is a 1937 Hindi social family drama film directed by Sarvottam Badami. The music was composed by Anil Biswas with lyrics written by Siddiqui and Zia Sarhadi. The story was adapted from the well-known novel Kokila, written by Gujarati writer Ramanlal Vasantlal Desai. The film starred Motilal, Sabita Devi, Shobhna Samarth, Maya Bannerjee, Sitara Devi, Pesi Patel, Siddiqui and Kayam Ali.
Ladies Only is a 1939 Indian Hindi-language social comedy film directed by Sarvottam Badami. Produced by Sagar Movietone, it had music by Anupam Ghatak and starred Surendranath, Sabita Devi, Bibbo and Prabha. This was the last comedy film made by Sarvottam Badami before he left Sagar Movietone. He joined his mentor Ambalal Patel, at Sudama Pictures to start making "socially relevant" films.
Prarthana (transl. Prayer) is a 1943 Indian Hindi-language social film directed by Sarvottam Badami for Sohrab Modi's Minerva Movietone. The music director was Saraswati Devi and the lyricist was Safdar Aah Sitapuri. Having worked for Madan Theatres Ltd and Sagar Movietone in the 1930s, the famous singer and actress Jehanara Kajjan returned to work after a hiatus of four years working for studios like Minerva Movietone. Prarthana is cited as "probably" her last film before her death in 1944. The film starred Motilal, Jahanara Kajjan, Sabita Devi, Sajjan, Nimabalkar, K. N. Singh, Sadat Ali, Mehboob and Abu Bakar.
Do Diwane also known as Be Kharab Jan, is a 1936 Hindi/Gujarati comedy film directed by Chimanlal Luhar based on K. M. Munshi's famous play Be Kharab Jan. The film was produced by Sagar Movietone and had music composed by Pransukh Nayak with cinematography by Keki Mistry. The cast included Shobhana Samarth, Motilal, Yakub, Aruna Devi, Rama Devi, Kamalabai, Kayam Ali, Pande and Pesi Patel.
Pooja (Worship) is a 1940 Indian Hindi/Urdu-language psychological drama film directed by A. R. Kardar. The music director was Anil Biswas, with lyrics by Khan Shatir Ghaznavi. Produced by National Studios, the story, screenplay and dialogue writer was M. Sadiq and the cinematographer was P. G. Kukde. The film starred Sardar Akhtar, Zahur Raja, Sitara Devi, Jyoti, Sankatha Prasad, Sunalini Devi, Bhudo Advani and Baby Meena.
Bibbo was a music composer, singer and actress who worked in both Indian and Pakistani films. She acted in Indian cinema from 1931 to 1947 before moving to Pakistan, following Partition of India in 1947. She started her acting career with Ajanta Cinetone Ltd. in 1933, working with directors like M. D. Bhavnani and A. P. Kapoor. She was one of the top leading ladies of the 1930s along with actresses like Devika Rani, Durga Khote, Sulochana, Mehtab, Shanta Apte, Sabita Devi, Leela Desai and Naseem Banu. She was referred to as "one of the most important female stars of the 1930s and 1940s". Her fame had her featured in the lyrics of a popular song from the film Gharib Ke Lal (1939) sung by Mirza Musharraf and Kamla Karnataki, with music by Sagheer Asif and lyrics by Rafi Kashmiri. "Tujhe Bibbo Kahoon Ke Sulochana", where Sulochana referred to another popular actress of the time. This was the first time a song featuring famous actors was used in the lyrics of a film song.
Sabita Devi (1914–1965) was a Hindi film actress in Indian cinema. She is stated to be one of the "prominent" leading ladies of the "pioneering era" of Indian cinema along with Mehtab, Bibbo, Durga Khote, Gohar, Devika Rani and Seeta Devi. A Jewish by birth, she changed her name to find acceptability in Hindi cinema like the other Anglo-Indian and Jewish actresses of her time, Sulochana, Seeta Devi, Madhuri, and Manorama. After initially working with British Dominion Films Ltd., Calcutta, she shifted to Bombay and performed mainly in films produced by Sagar Movietone with her co-star in most films being Motilal. Some of the popular films with Motilal were Dr. Madhurika (1935) and Kulvadhu (1937) directed by Sarvottam Badami. Their first film together was Shaher Ka Jadoo (1934), which was also Motilal's debut film, and then Lagna Bandhan (1936) both directed by Kaliprasad Ghosh. She acted in Silver King (1935) with Motilal. It was an action film directed by C. M. Luhar, which became a "huge success".
Sagar Movietone also Sagar Films, Sagar Film Company and Sagar Productions was an Indian film production company involved in the making of films for Indian cinema. It was launched by Ardeshir Irani with Chimanlal Desai and Dr. Ambalal Patel in 1929 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India. Sagar was initially started as a branch company of Ardeshir's Imperial Film Company. Several key figures from Imperial, such as Mehboob Khan were shifted to Sagar. The studio was in operation from 1930 to 1939. In 1940, it combined with General Pictures to form National Studios. It made "Parsi theatre based films, mythologicals and stunt movies". Sagar fostered the career of many artists who rose to prominence. Early directors such as Prafulla Ghosh, Sarvottam Badami, Ezra Mir and Nanubhai Vakil were promoted by the company. Mehboob Khan got his first break as a director in Al Hilal in 1935. He was referred to as "the most important alumnus" from Sagar, who went on to become one of Indian cinema's "most influential film-makers".
Bhudo Advani was an Indian character actor and comedian. He started his acting career in theatre with the notion of spreading awareness on social issues. He came to Bombay on the advice of an Ajanta Cinetone representative and was offered a role in the film Afzal, also called Hoor-E-Haram in 1933, directed by Mohan Bhavnani. He later joined Sagar Movietone, becoming an important fixture in most films produced by them. He turned from character roles to comedy performing in Dr. Madhurika (1935), directed by Sarvottam Badami, Deccan Queen (1936) and Do Diwaane (1936), by C. Luhar.
References
- ↑ Ashish Rajadhyaksha; Paul Willemen (10 July 2014). Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Taylor & Francis. pp. 2–. ISBN 978-1-135-94325-7 . Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ↑ "Dr. Madhurika". Alan Goble. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ↑ RajadhyakshaWillemen2014, p. 262
- ↑ Khan, Saeed (2 March 2014). "Starry tale of 1st Gujarati film makers". No. Ahmedabad. Bennett, Coleman. Times of India. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ↑ Meheli Sen; Anustup Basu (21 October 2013). Figurations in Indian Film. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 140–. ISBN 978-1-137-34978-1 . Retrieved 30 September 2014.
- ↑ "Dr. Madhurika". Muvyz, Inc. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
