Ekta | |
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Directed by | Homi Wadia |
Written by | Agha Ghulam Nabi |
Produced by | Karim Bux Nizamani Homi Wadia Ram Panjwani |
Starring | Karim Bux Nizamani Kaushalya Gulshan Sufi Hari Shivdasani |
Music by | Gulshan Sufi |
Production company | |
Release date |
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Country | British India |
Language | Sindhi |
Ekta is a 1942 Sindhi film directed by Homi Wadia and produced by Karim Bux Nizamani in Bombay (now Mumbai) at Wadia Studios. [1] [2] This black and white film holds the distinction of being the first Sindhi film and was entirely financed by Karim Bux Nizamani. The movie starred Nizamani and Kaushalya in the lead roles, with a central theme revolving around Hindu-Muslim unity. [1]
Its premier at the Taj Mahal Cinema in Karachi was inaugurated by the then Premier of Sindh, Allah Bux Soomro, but the film ran in theatres for only two weeks due to trade restrictions incurring significant losses for Wadia. [1]
This film was directed by Homi Wadia and produced by Ram Panjwani. It was financed by Karim Bux Nizamani, who also played the lead role in the film. [3] [4] [5] Nizamani was not only a film actor but also a writer, social worker, and a landlord in Matli, Sindh. His autobiography "Kayee" is considered one of the best autobiographies in Sindhi literature. [6] The film's heroine,Kaushalya [7] [8] [9] hailed from Uttar Pradesh, India, and was a talented dancer, playback singer, and actress. Her father, Lachhu Maharaj, was a famous dancer himself and trained Kaushalya in Kathak dance. [7] [10] Her mother's name was Rama Devi.
In addition to Nizamani and Kaushalya, the film featured Hari Shivdasani, Chandu Shivdasani, Sikander, Gulshan Sufi, Chander Vaswani, Maya Devi, and others in their respective roles. [3] The story and dialogues were penned by the noted writer Agha Abdul Nabi Sufi, [11] while the famous poet Khialdas Fani composed the film's lyrics. The central theme of the movie was Hindu-Muslim harmony, as the title "Ekta" signifies unity. The film was released at Taj Mahal Cinema in Karachi. [1] Kaushalya and Gulshan Sufi lent their melodious voices as playback singers for this film.
Khairpur District is a district in the Pakistani province of Sindh in Sukkur Division. At the 2017 census, it was the fifth most populated district in the province after four districts of Karachi city, with 2.4 million inhabitants. The headquarters of the district is the city of Khairpur. The district is further divided into eight sub-districts: Khairpur Tehsil, Mirwah Tehsil, Kot Diji Tehsil, Kingri Tehsil, Sobho Dero Tehsil, Gambat Tehsil, Faiz Ganj Tehsil and Nara Tehsil.
Sindhi literature is the collection of oral and written literature in the Sindhi language in prose and poetry. The Sindhi language of the province of Sindh in Pakistan is considered one of the oldest languages of ancient India, and influenced the language of Indus Valley inhabitants. Sindhi literature has developed over a thousand years.
Sindhi cinema refers to the Sindhi language film industry in Sindh, Pakistan and among the Sindhi diaspora specially in India.
The Culture of Sindh has its roots in the Indus Valley civilization. Sindh has been shaped by the largely desert region, the natural resources it has available, and continuous foreign influence. The Indus or Sindhu River, which passes through the land, and the Arabian Sea also supported the seafaring traditions among the local people. The local climate also reflects why the Sindhis have a language, folklore, traditions, customs, and lifestyle that are so different from the neighbouring regions. The Sindhi culture is also practised by the Sindhi diaspora.
Manjari Chaturvedi is an Indian Kathak dancer. She belongs to the Lucknow Gharana.
The cultural history of Karachi goes back at least five thousand years to the emergence of the Indus Valley Civilization in the third millennium BC. The early culture is mostly Neolithic with widespread usage of small cart implements and semi-precious stones. The many megalithic Arab graves around Karachi gave evidence towards megalithic movements of the Arabian Peninsula.
Sorath Rai Diyach is a romantic folktale in Sindhi and Gujarati folklore. The story also appears in Shah Jo Risalo and forms part of seven popular tragic romances from Sindh. The other six tales are Umar Marvi, Sassui Punnhun, Sohni Mehar, Lilan Chanesar, Noori Jam Tamachi and Momal Rano commonly known as the Seven Queens of Sindh, or the Seven heroines of Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.
Jamshed Boman Homi Wadia, commonly referred to as J. B. H. Wadia, was a prominent Bollywood movie director, screenwriter, producer and founder of Wadia Movietone Studio. He was born in prominent Parsi family which hailed from Surat, Gujarat whose ancestral business was ship building. Their family name of Wadia stands for master shipbuilders. In a family of entrepreneurs Wadia is credited with creation of movies involving populist stunt roles including those by Fearless Nadia and bringing concept of stunt actresses in Indian cinema.
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Ghulam Ali Allana was a writer, critic and linguist. He was Vice-chancellor of Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad and chairman of the Sindhi Language Authority based in Hyderabad, Sindh.
Ishaq Samejo is Pakistani poet, writer and literary critic of Sindhi Language.
Naseem Thebo was a teacher and writer in the Sindhi language. She served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Sindh, Pakistan. She was a teacher, a short story writer, and a contributor to Sindhi literature. She was the wife of Sindhi politician Rasool Bux Palijo.
Rubina Qureshi, TI was a Pakistani Sindhi language folk singer. She was popularly known as Nightingale of Sindh as she performed most of her songs in Sindhi, Urdu, Punjabi and Saraiki languages.
Muhammad Yousuf was a folk and playback singer of Pakistan.
Khialdas Fani was an Indian writer, poet, stage artist, and singer renowned for his contributions to Sindhi literature. He held the position of vice-chairman at the Madhya Pradesh Sindhi Sahitya Academy.
Muhammad Siddique Musafir was an educationist, writer, poet, translator and journalist of Sindh, Pakistan. He served as an editor of Sindhi language magazine "Akhbar-e-Taleem" for 18 years. His poems were part of school curriculum for many years. He also served as the first Incharge of Khan Bahadur Mir Ghulam Muhammad High School Tando Bago.
Hotchand Molchand Gurbakhshani was an educationist and scholar, renowned for his annotated translation of the Sufi poetic compendium Shah Jo Risalo. He held the position of Principal at D.J. Sindh College Karachi and served as the first president of the Sindh Historical Society.
Noor Afroz Khuwaja is an educationist, writer and critic from Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan. She has served as Dean, Faculty of Arts at University of Sindh Jamshoro. She was editor of the International Journal of Arts and Humanity and the Literary Magazine Keenjhar and authored more than seven books in Sindhi language.
Jethmal Parsram Gulrajani was a journalist, publisher, and writer from Sindh, British India. He authored 60 books, launched several newspapers and literary magazines, and co-founded the Sindhi Sahtya Society.