Pramathesh Chandra Barua was an Indian actor, director, and screenwriter of Indian films in the pre-independence era, born in Gauripur, Dhubri, Assam.
Devdas is a 1935 Bengali film directed by Pramathesh Barua and based on the Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyay novel, Devdas. It stars Barua as Devdas, Jamuna Barua as Parvati (Paro) and Chandrabati Devi as Chandramukhi. This was Barua's first of three language versions of the story, the second being in Hindi and the third in Assamese. The Bengali film was dubbed into Tamil and was released in 1936. K. L. Saigal sang two songs in Tamil for this film.(See Ext. links for a link.)
Devdas is a Bengali novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, first published in 1917 and adapted as a film many times.
Kanan Devi was an Indian actress and singer. She was among the early singing stars of Indian cinema, and is credited popularly as the first star of Bengali cinema. Her singing style, usually in rapid tempo, was used instrumentally in some of the biggest hits of New Theatres, Kolkata.
Leela Desai, aka Lila Desai, was an Indian actress in the 1930s and 1940s. She was the daughter of Umedram Lalbhai Desai and his second wife Satyabala Devi, a musician of the early 1900s.
Debaki Bose (1898–1971), also known as Debaki Kumar Bose, was an Indian director, writer, and actor who is recognized for his contribution in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. He was born on 25 November 1898 in Akalposh,, Burdwan, Bengal Presidency, British India. He died on 17 November 1971 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India. He is known for his innovative use of sound and music in Indian Cinema. He worked first under the banner of British Dominion Films of Dhiren Ganguly and later with Pramathesh Barua's Barua Pictures and finally he joined New Theatres banner in 1932. He started his own production company, Debaki Productions, in 1945.
Nitin Bose was an Indian film director, cinematographer and screenwriter of the nation's film industry. He was born in Calcutta and died in the same city. In the 1930s and early 40s, he worked with New Theatres, who made bilingual movies: in both Bengali and Hindi. Later, he moved to Bombay and directed under the banners of Bombay Talkies and Filmistan.
Premankur Atorthy (1890–1964) was an Indian novelist, journalist, and film director. He was involved in Hindi and Bengali cinema.
Birendranath Sircar was an Indian film producer and the founder of New Theatres Calcutta. He made Bengali-language films that were noted for introducing many film directors who later became famous. He was awarded the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1970 and the third highest civilian award in India, the Padma Bhushan, in 1972.
Phani Majumdar was a pioneering Indian film director, who worked in Hindi cinema, most known for his film Street Singer (1938) starring K.L. Saigal noted for its song, Babul Mora Naihar Chhooto Jaye, Meena Kumari classic Aarti (1962) and Oonche Log (1965). He also worked in Singapore, where he notably made Hang Tuah (1955) in Malay, which was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival.
Chandidas is a 1934 Hindi social drama film directed by Nitin Bose. The film was produced by New Theatres Calcutta and was their first big success. It was remake of the 1932 Bengali film of the same name directed by Debaki Bose. This 1934 Hindi version starred K. L. Saigal, Uma Sashi, Pahari Sanyal, Nawab and H. Siddiqui. The music direction was by R. C. Boral with the lyrics written by Agha Hashar Kashmiri. The credit roll of the film states that the film is "Based on the life problems of the poet Chandidas –A problem India has not been able to solve", which involved the caste schism in India. The story revolves around the 15th century poet-saint Chandidas who acts out against the deep-rooted bigotry against caste, untouchoubility and the hypocrisy of society, and a washer woman with whom he falls in love.
Chirakumar Sabha is a 1932 Indian Bengali drama film directed by Premankur Atorthy. The music of the film was composed by R. C. Boral who used Tagore's songs as lyrics. It was one of the first of Rabindranath Tagore's works to be made into a film. The film was remade in 1956 by Debaki Bose.
Punarjanma is a 1932 Indian Bengali film directed by Premankur Atorthy. The film was produced by New Theatres Ltd Calcutta, with music composed by R. C. Boral. The director of photography was Nitin Bose. The film starred Durgadas Bannerjee, Tulsi Chakraborty, Amar Mullick, Devbala, Krishna Halder, and Premankur Atorthey. The film saw the debut in films of one of Bengali cinema's most talented comic actors, Tulsi Chakraborty.
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".
