Mahipal was an Indian actor who worked in bollywood mostly in stunt films like Parasmani, Zabak, Cobra Girl, Jantar Mantar, Arabian nights themed movies such as Alibaba and 40 Thieves, Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag, Roop Lekha, Sunehari Nagin, Hindu mythological movies like Sampoorna Ramayan, Ganesh Mahima, Veer Bhimsen, Jai Santoshi Maa. He is known for playing the iconic role of Lord Vishnu, and his two avatars, Lord Rama and Lord Krishna in lot of various puranic, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Bhagavata Purana based movies, besides playing Tulsidas and Abhimanyu, and is also best known as the lead in V. Shantaram's Navrang (1959), and the songs "Tu Chhupi Hai Kahan Me Tadapta Yahan" and "baazigar me tu jaadugar". He acted in several well-known films of the 1950s and 1960s including V. Shantaram's Navrang (1959) and Babubhai Mistry's Parasmani (1963).
Vinayaka Chaviti is a 1957 Telugu-language Hindu mythological film written and directed by Samudrala Sr. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Jamuna and music composed by Ghantasala. It was produced by K. Gopala Rao under the Aswaraja Pictures banner. The story is of Syamantakopakhyanam, annually read during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival day celebrations of Lord Vinayaka. The film was dubbed into Tamil as Vinayaga Chathurthi and was released in 1959 and later into Hindi in 1973 as Ganesh Chaturti.
Sri Krishnavataram is a 1967 Telugu-language Hindu mythological film directed by Kamalakara Kameswara Rao. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Devika and Kanchana, with music composed by T. V. Raju. The film was produced by A. Pundarikakshayya under the Taraka Rama Pictures. The film is based on the Hindu epics Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana covering major life events of Lord Krishna.
Sri Krishna Satya is a 1971 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film directed by K. V. Reddy. It stars N. T. Rama Rao and Jayalalithaa, with music composed by Pendyala. The film was produced by N. Trivikrama Rao. It was the last film directed by the noted filmmaker K. V. Reddy.
Homi Wadia was an Indian film director and producer in Bollywood. He was the co-founder of Wadia Movietone productions, established in 1933 and later after the closure of Wadiatone, he founded Basant Pictures in 1942. In a career spanning five decades, he directed over 40 films, including Hunterwali (1935), Miss Frontier Mail (1936), Diamond Queen (1940), Shri Ram Bhakta Hanuman (1948) and fantasy film Hatim Tai (1956). He was also a founding member of the Film & Television Producers Guild of India, established in 1954. Homi Wadia was married to actress and stunt woman Fearless Nadia. Homi was the younger brother of JBH Wadia, who was himself a movie director.
Sampoorna Ramayana is a 1961 Indian Hindi-language Hindu mythological film directed by Babubhai Mistry, based on the Hindu epic Ramayana by Valmiki, starring Mahipal and Anita Guha as Rama and Sita respectively. The film was a box office hit, and became a milestone in the history of Hindu mythology. It was the second significant Hindi film based on Rama, after Vijay Bhatt's hugely popular Ram Rajya (1943). Babubhai, known for his special effects throughout his career, made extensive use of effects to enhance dramatics. The film also made lead actor Anita Guha, who played the role of Sita, a household name. Lata Mangeshkar sang two of the most top-class semi-classical songs in this movie, namely "San Sanan, Sanan, Sanana, Ja Re O Pawan" and "Badalon Barso Nayan Ki Or Se", which are still very popular.
Bachchon Ka Khel is a 1946 Indian film produced by Ramnik Productions and directed by Raja Nene. It was released at Novelty Bombay on 2 May. The film's music is by C. Ramchandara, lyrics by Magan, Pt Sharma and art direction by Shripatrao Mane. The film starred Meena Kumari, Aga Jan, Nimbalkar, Shanta Patel and Baby Shakuntala.
Bachpan is a 1945 Hindi drama film directed by Homi Wadia. It was produced by Homi Wadia's Basant Films and had music by S. N. Tripathi. The film starred Mazhar Khan, Chandraprabha, Shashi Kapoor Sr., Gulab, Dalpat, Baby Shakuntala, Dixit, Baby Madhuri.
Hanuman Patal Vijay is a 1951 Hindi mythological film directed by Homi Wadia for his Basant Pictures banner. Meena Kumari starred in this devotional film with S. N. Tripathi playing Hanuman. Following her career as a child actress, Meena Kumari did heroine roles in mythologies made by Basant Pictures and directed by Homi Wadia. She had an extremely successful career for some years playing goddesses before her big commercial break in Baiju Bawra (1951). S. N. Tripathi, besides acting in the film, also composed the music. His costars were Meena Kumari, Mahipal, Niranjan Sharma, Dalpat and Amarnath.
Hatim Tai is a 1956 Indian Hindustani language fantasy film directed by Homi Wadia for Basant Pictures. The story, script and scenario were by JBH Wadia, with dialogues by Hakim Latta and Chand Pandit. The film had several past favorites of Wadia Brothers credited in the film title role, such as Sardar Mansoor, Mithoo Miyan and Dalpat as actors and Boman Shroff as production manager. The cast included Shakila, P. Jairaj, Meenaxi, Naina, Krishna Kumari, S. N. Tripathi, B.M. Vyas and Sheikh.
Shri Ram Bhakta Hanuman is a 1948 Hindi religious film produced and directed by Homi Wadia for Basant Pictures. The story was adapted from Valmiki's Ramayana by Shivram Vashikar and the dialogues were written by P. C. Joshi. S. N. Tripathi not only provided music for the film but acted the main role of Hanuman. The film starred Trilok Kapoor, S. N. Tripathi, Sona Chatterjee, Niranjan Sharma and Prabhash Joshi.
Aladdin And The Wonderful Lamp is a 1952 Indian fantasy film produced and directed by Homi Wadia.
Zimbo is a 1958 Hindi action adventure film directed by Homi Wadia and produced by Basant Pictures. John Cawas, the earlier hero of most Wadia Movietone adventure films is credited in the title role of the film as associate director, with special effects by Babubhai Mistry. The screenplay was by JBH Wadia with dialogues by Chand Pandit. The music was composed by Chitragupta, with lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. The film starred Azad, Krishna Kumari, Chitra, Achala Sachdev, Sheikh and Dalpat.
Alibaba And 40 Thieves is a 1954 Hindi fantasy action film directed by Homi Wadia. The film was a Basant pictures presentation under the Wadia Brothers Production banner. The story, screenplay and additional dialogue were by J. B. H. Wadia, while the dialogues were written by Chand Pandit and Tahir Lucknavi. The art direction and special effects were by Babubhai Mistry. The music was composed by Chitragupta and S. N. Tripathi. Chitragupta had worked as an assistant to S. N. Tripathi in some of the mythology and fantasy films before branching out on his own. The lyricist was Raja Mehdi Ali Khan. It stars Mahipal, Shakila in the lead roles, with S. N. Tripathi, B. M. Vyas, Sharda, Lalita Kumari and Helen.
Zabak is a 1961 Hindi/Urdu action costume drama film produced and directed by Homi Wadia for his Basant Pictures under the Wadia Productions banner.
Shri Krishna Leela is a 1971 Hindi religious film directed by Homi Wadia. It was produced by his Basant Pictures banner. Written by B. M. Vyas, the story and dialogue were by S. N. Tripathi. The music was composed by S. N. Tripathi and had lyrics by B. M. Vyas. The film starred Sachin, Hina, Jayshree Gadkar, Sapru, Manhar Desai and Tabassum. The film was dubbed into Malayalam as Sree Krishnaleela.
Shri Nath Tripathi was an Indian composer, whose active years were from the 1930s to the 1980s.
Trilok Kapoor was an Indian actor and a member of the Kapoor family who worked in Bollywood films. He was the younger brother of actor Prithviraj Kapoor.
Ashish Kumar was a renowned film actor and director of Hindi and Bengali films. He is best remembered for his leading roles in Raja Harishchandra (1979), Jai Santoshi Maa (1975) and Jai Dwarkadheesh (1977) and has played the roles of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu in several mythological films.
Laxmi Narayan is a 1951 Hindu mythological film directed by Nanabhai Bhatt starring Meena Kumari and Mahipal in lead roles. Meena Kumari, after her career as a child artist, started doing adult roles as heroines in mythological and fantasy films before she made it in mainstream cinema with Baiju Bawra (1952).
