Devika Rani Choudhuri, usually known as Devika Rani, was an Indian actress who was active in Hindi films during the 1930s and 1940s. Widely acknowledged as the first lady of Indian cinema, Devika Rani had a successful film career that spanned 10 years.
Kumudlal Ganguly, better known by his stage name Ashok Kumar and also by Dadamoni, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema and who was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family.
Himanshu Rai, one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, 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).
Sashadhar Mukherjee was an Indian filmmaker in Hindi cinema. He started his career with Bombay Talkies in the 1930s, and later established Filmistan Studio with Rai Bahadur Chunilal, Ashok Kumar and Gyan Mukherjee in 1943. In the 1950s, he went on to start his independent studio, Filmalaya. He is noted for films like Dil Deke Dekho (1959), Love in Simla (1960), Ek Musafir Ek Hasina (1962) and Leader (1964). He is part of the distinguished Mukherjee clan of Bollywood.
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.
Achhut Kannya is a 1936 Indian Hindi film. Among the early super-hits in the Bombay film industry, the film deals with the social position of Dalit girls and is considered a reformist period-piece.
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.
Jhoola (transl. Swing) is a 1941 Indian Hindi-language film directed by Gyan Mukherjee. It was produced by Sashadhar Mukherjee under the banner of Bombay Talkies. The film starred Leela Chitnis, Ashok Kumar, Shah Nawaz, V.H.Desai, Mumtaz Ali, Karuna Devi, Shahzadi, Rajkumari Shukla, Minoo Cooper, M.A.Aziz, and Master Laxman. The music was composed by Saraswati Devi with lyrics by Kavi Pradeep. The film was remade in Telugu as Uyyala Jampala (1965).
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.
Sarvottam Badami (1910–2005) was an Indian film director of Hindi, Tamil and Telugu 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.
Jeevan Prabhat is a 1937 Hindi film social drama, produced by Bombay Talkies and directed by Franz Osten. The music director was Saraswati Devi with lyrics and dialogues by J. S. Casshyap. The screenplay was by Niranjan Pal. The film's "star value" was Devika Rani, with Kishore Sahu making his debut as an actor in the film. The cast included another debutant, Renuka Devi, with Mumtaz Ali, Maya Devi and M. Nazir.
Izzat (transl. Honour) is a 1937 Hindi film social drama, directed by Franz Osten. The film was produced by Himanshu Rai for Bombay Talkies. The credit roll of Izzat attributes the story to Dr. G. Nundy, adapted for screen by J. Nundy. The screenplay was by Niranjan Pal, who handled the story section of Bombay Talkies. J. S. Casshyap wrote the songs and dialogues and was assisted in dialogue direction by S. I. Hassan. The music was composed by Saraswati Devi, with actor Mumtaz Ali doubling as the choreographer. The film starred Ashok Kumar with Devika Rani in the lead, while the rest of the cast included Mumtaz Ali, Madhurika, Kamtaprasad, Chandraprabha, and P. F. Pithawala.
Bhabhi (Sister-in-Law) is a 1938 social family drama Hindi film directed by Franz Osten. The film was based on a Bengali novel written by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay called "Bisher Dhoan". Bandyopadhyay was a famous Bengali novelist and short story writer also known for the fictional detective he created, Byomkesh Bakshi. The cinematographers were Wirsching and Pareenja. Dialogues and lyrics by J. S. Casshyap. V. H. Desai, the comedian, got his "big break" in Bhabhi when he joined Bombay Talkies. He became popular as the nervous father of the heroine Renuka Devi. S. N. Tripathi started his acting with a small role in the film. The film had the new found Renuka Devi in the lead.
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.
Hansa Wadkar (1923–1971) was a Marathi and Hindi film and stage actress of Indian cinema. She started her acting career at the age of thirteen years, as a heroine in the bilingual film Vijaychi Lagne (1936). Wadkar went on to make a name for herself working in the reputable film companies like Bombay Talkies, Prabhat Film Company and National Studios. Her career defining role was in Vishnupant Damle's Sant Sakhu (1941) where she enacted the role of the female saint Sakhu. Her other memorable roles were in the Tamasha genre films like Lokshahir Ram Joshi (1947), termed as the "Classic Marathi Tamasha musical". Sangtye Aika (1959) was another of Marathi cinema's "best known Tamasha film" along with Ram Joshi. She thus acted in two of Marathi cinema's biggest hits Lokshahir Ramjoshi and Sangtye Aika. The title "Sangtye Aika" was used by Wadkar for her autobiography compiled in 1971. The autobiography was initially serialised in the Marathi magazine Manoos helped by journalist Arun Sadhu.
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 film was flop but Reena Roy was praised for her role as a sacrificial romantic women as she is often seen in her films.
Nirmala is a 1938 Indian Hindi-language social drama film directed by Franz Osten and produced by Bombay Talkies.
Azad is a 1940 social Hindi movie directed by N. R. Acharya and produced by Bombay Talkies.
Mazhar Khan (1905–1950) was an actor-producer-director in Indian Cinema. He was acknowledged for his strong yet natural performances, best exemplified by his role in V. Shantaram's classic Padosi (1941), wherein Mazhar, a Muslim, enacted the role of an upper-caste Hindu. He started his career as a police officer, which he left to study law for a short period. Abandoning his studies he came to Bombay and started his career in cinema with the silent film Fatal Garland opposite the top actress of the time, Ermeline. He became a popular actor, gaining success in several silent films. During his stint in silent films he worked with well-established directors like Bhagwati Mishra, Ezra Mir, Moti P. Bhagnani, R. S. Chowdhary, and M. D. Bhavnani. The magazines of those days, circa 1940s, compared Mazhar to Hollywood actors like Paul Muni, Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff.
