Sohrab Merwanji Modi was an Indian stage and film actor, director and producer. His films include Khoon Ka Khoon (1935), a version of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Sikandar, Pukar, Prithvi Vallabh, Jhansi ki Rani, Mirza Ghalib, Jailor and Nausherwan-E-Adil (1957). His films always carried a message of strong commitment to social and national issues.
Om Prakash Chibber was an Indian film actor. He was born in Jammu and was a well known character actor of Hindi Cinema. His most well-known movies are Gopi (1970), Hulchul (1971), Namak Halaal (1982), and Sharaabi (1984).
Shaheed is a 1948 Bollywood Indian romance film, written and directed by Ramesh Saigal. The film depicts India's struggle for independence. It starred Dilip Kumar, Kamini Kaushal, Chandra Mohan, and Leela Chitnis. It had music by Ghulam Haider. Shaheed was the second highest grossing Indian movie of 1948.
Ghulam Mustafa Durrani was an Indian radio drama artist, playback singer, actor and music director.
Prithvi Vallabh is a historical drama Bollywood film directed by Sohrab Modi. Made under the Minerva Movietone banner it was released in 1943. It had music by Rafiq Ghaznavi and Saraswati Devi with lyrics by Pandit Sudershan who also wrote the screenplay and dialogues. The film starred Sohrab Modi, Durga Khote, Sankatha Prasad, Kajjan, Meena Shorey, Sadiq Ali, K. N. Singh and Al Nasir.
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.
Khoon Ka Khoon also called Hamlet is the first Hindi/Urdu 1935 sound film adaptation of the Shakespearen play Hamlet. Directed by Sohrab Modi under his Stage Film Company banner, it is cited as one of the earliest talkie versions of this play. Credited as "the man who brought Shakespeare to the Indian screen", it was Modi's debut feature film as a director. The story and script were by Mehdi Hassan Ahsan from his Urdu adaptation of Shakespeare's "Hamlet". Starring Sohrab Modi, Khoon Ka Khoon was also the debut in films of Naseem Banu who played Ophelia. The other star cast included Shamshadbai, Ghulam Hussain, Obali Mai, Fazal Karim and Eruch Tarapore.
Said-e-Havas or (Greed) also known as King John is a 1936 Hindi/Urdu film adaptation of the Shakespeare play, King John, directed by Sohrab Modi. It was based on the Urdu play Said-e-Hawas by Agha Hashar Kashmiri, published in 1908.
Meetha Zahar is a 1938 Indian Hindi/Urdu-language social drama film directed by Sohrab Modi for his Minerva Movietone productions. The screenplay was by Gajanan Jagirdar with dialogue by Munshi Abdul Baqi and director of photography by Y. S. Sarpotdar The music was by B. S. Hoogan with lyrics by Irshad Ahmed. The cast included Naseem Banu, Sohrab Modi, Jagirdar, Sadiq Ali, Eruch Tarapore, Sadat Ali, Sheela and Fakir Mohammed.
Sheesh Mahal is a 1950 social Urdu/Hindi film produced and directed by Sohrab Modi for Minerva Movietone.
Bharosa (Trust) is a 1940 Hindi/Urdu social melodrama film produced and directed by Sohrab Modi. Made under the Minerva Movietone banner, the story and lyrics were by Lalchand Bismil, with cinematography by Y. D. Sarpotdar. The music was composed by G. P. Kapoor, and the cast included Chandra Mohan, Sardar Akhtar, Mazhar Khan, Sheela, Maya Devi and Eruch Tarapore.
Jhansi Ki Rani is a 1953 Indian Hindi-language historical drama film produced and directed by Sohrab Modi for his Minerva Movietone production banner. It is credited as the first Technicolor film made in India and starred Modi's wife, Mehtab in the title role, with Modi in the important role of her mentor, Rajguru. The film was dubbed in English as The Tiger and the Flame, which released in 1956 with the same star cast. The cast besides Mehtab and Sohrab Modi included Mubarak, Ulhas, Sapru, Ram Singh, Baby Shikha, Marconi and Shakila.
Mehtab (1913–1997) was an Indian actress of Hindi/Urdu films who worked from 1928 to 1969. She was born in Sachin, Gujarat, to a Muslim family and named Najma. Her father, Nawab Sidi Ibrahim Mohammad Yakut Khan III, was the Nawab of Sachin, near Surat in the state of Gujarat. Starting her career in the late 1920s with small roles in films like Second Wife (1928), Indira B. A. (1929) and Jayant (1929), she went on to do character roles before acting in the lead opposite Ashraf Khan in Veer Kunal (1932). After almost a decade of doing mainly action-oriented roles, she came into prominence with the Kidar Sharma-directed Chitralekha (1941).
Kundan is a 1955 Indian Hindi-language social drama film produced and directed by Sohrab Modi for Minerva Movietone. The film stars Sohrab Modi, Sunil Dutt, Nimmi, Pran, Om Prakash, Kumkum, Naaz, Murad, Ulhas,Manorama. The Screenplay was by Pandit Sudarshan, with dialogues by Munshi Abdul Baqui and Pandit Sudarshan. The music was composed by Ghulam Mohammed, with lyrics by Shakeel Badayuni. Nimmi's double role in the film as mother and daughter was acclaimed critically, while Ulhas won a nomination in the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor category.
Narasinha Avatar is a 1949 Hindi mythological film produced and directed by Sohrab Modi. Made under the Minerva Movietone banner, it had music composed by Vasant Desai with lyrics by Narendra Sharma. The story was written by S. A. Shukla, and the film starred Mahipal, Shobhana Samarth, Niranjan Sharma, Hari Shivdasani, Tiwari, S. N. Tripathi and Kamal.
Samay Bada Balwan is a 1969 Hindi social moral drama film produced and directed by Sohrab Modi. Modi had sold his studio a year earlier but tried to revive the Minerva Movietone banner by producing this film. The music director was Usha Khanna with lyrics written by D. N. Madhok. This was the only film in which Modi used Usha Khanna as a music composer. Mehtab acted together again with Modi in Samay Bada Balwan in a supporting role as Modi's wife. This was to be the last acting role of her career. The film starred Sohrab Modi, Mehtab, Aruna Irani, Sailesh Kumar, Shahida, David, and Helen.
Manjhdhar or is a 1947 Hindi/Urdu historical drama film produced and directed by Sohrab Modi for Minerva Movietone. The story was by Pandit Sudarshan, with art direction by Rusi K. Banker and sound recording by M. Eduljee. It had music composed by Ghulam Haider, Gyan Dutt and Anil Biswas, the lyricist was Shams Lucknowi. The film starred Sohrab Modi, Khursheed, Surendra, Eruch Tarapore and Rafiq Ghaznavi.
Sanyasi is a 1945 Hindi/Urdu social film directed by A. R. Kardar. Produced under the banner of Kardar Productions, its music director was Naushad with lyrics by Pandit Buddhi Chandra Aggarwal. The actor Ghulam Mohammed, who had acted in Sohrab Modi's Ek Din Ka Sultan the same year, played the title role of Sanyasi.
Rafiq Ghaznavi was a British Indian and later a Pakistani musician and actor in pre-partition Indian cinema and later Pakistani cinema.
