Suraiya Jamal Sheikh, mononymously known as Suraiya, was an Indian actress and playback singer who worked in Hindi films. In a career spanning from 1936 to 1964, Suraiya acted in over 70 films and sang 338 songs. Regarded among the finest and greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, she was known for her strong on-screen portrayals in a variety of genres. Suraiya was the most celebrated actress between the mid- to late 1940s and early 1950s and was paid more than her male counterparts.
Dard (Pain) is a 1947 Bollywood drama film directed by Abdul Rashid Kardar. The film was produced by Kardar Productions. It was a surprise "musical hit" at the box office as it had an ordinary star cast. Suraiya played the second lead, with Munawwar Sultana as the main heroine. The film was Suraiya's first "big hit", becoming a popular singing star following the success of the film. The hero of the film was Kardar's brother Nusrat (Kardar), who shifted to Pakistan following Partition in 1947, where he acted in a few films.
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.
Phir Bhi Apna Hai is a 1946 Indian Hindi-language film. It was released in 1946. The film was directed by Raja Nene for Venus Pictures under the Charolia Productions banner and was produced by A. V. Charolia. Music was composed by Ramchandra Pal with lyrics by Mukhram Sharma Ashant. The cast included Nalini Jaywant, Karan Dewan, Jagdish Sethi, Saroj Borkar, Kusum Deshpande and Vasant Thengdi.
Vidyapati is a 1937 Bengali biopic film directed by Debaki Bose for New Theatres. It starred Pahari Sanyal as Vidyapati. His costars in the film were Kanan Devi, Prithviraj Kapoor, Chhaya Devi, Leela Desai, K. C. Dey and Kidar Sharma. The music was by R. C. Boral and lyrics by Kidar Sharma. Debaki Bose and Qazi Nazrul Islam wrote the story, screenplay and dialogues. The story is about the Maithili poet and Vaishnava saint Vidyapati. The songs of the film became popular and the lyrics though encapsulating Vidyapati's poetry were considered bold for its time. This however ensured the film garnered crowds at the theatres making it a big success of 1937.
Rambaan is a 1948 Indian Hindi-language mythological drama film directed and produced by Vijay Bhatt and written by Mohanlal Dave, with dialogue by Pandit Girish. The film starred Prem Adib as Rama and Shobhana Samarth as Sita, with Chandra Mohan, Umakant, Amirbai Karnataki and Raj Adib in other principal characters. The film's music was composed by Shankar Rao Vyas.
Sajan (Boyfriend) is a 1947 Hindi romantic film directed by Kishore Sahu. The film was produced by Filmistan and had music by C. Ramchandra. The story and screenplay were by Kishore Sahu. The film had Rehana in the female lead, and following the success of this film, as well as Shehnai (1947), she became an "overnight star". The cast included Ashok Kumar, Rehana, Ramesh Gupta, Anant Prabhu and Leela Mishra.
Shanta Apte (1916–1964) was an Indian actress-singer who worked in Marathi and Hindi cinema. Renowned for her roles in films like Duniya Na Mane/Kunku (1937) and Amar Jyoti (1936) under the Prabhat Films banner, she was active in Indian cinema from 1932 to 1958. Apte's impact on Marathi cinema "paralleled" that of Kanan Devi in Bengali cinema. Along with Kanan Devi, Apte is cited as one of the "great singing stars" from before the playback singing era. Apte began her career in films playing the role of a young Radha in the Marathi film Shyamsunder (1932). She joined Prabhat Films acting in her first Hindi language film Amrit Manthan in (1934).
Nartaki (Dancer) is a 1940 film directed by Debaki Bose for New Theatres Ltd, Calcutta. A bilingual made in Hindi and in Bengali, it had story and screenplay written by Bose, with cinematography by Yusuf Mulji. Music was composed by Pankaj Mullick. The cast had actress Leela Desai playing the title role of Nartaki. Najam also called Najam-Ul-Hasain or Najmul Hussain had left Bombay Talkies following his affair and elopement with Devika Rani, had now joined New Theatres Ltd, where he was cast in films like Anath Ashram (1937), Dushman (1939), Kapal Kundala (1939), and Nartaki. The rest of the main cast included Jagdish Sethi, Wasti and Pankaj Mullick in the Hindi version.
Abhagin is a 1938 Hindi film directed by Prafulla Roy for New Theatres Ltd., Calcutta. A bilingual, it was made in Bengali language as Abhigyan. The film was based on a story by Upendranath Ganguly, with dialogue by A. H. Shore. R. C. Boral provided the music composition with lyrics for the Hindi version by Munshi Arzu, and by Ajoy Bhattacharya for the Bengali. The screenplay was by Phani Majumdar for whom it was his first independent film as a scriptwriter. Bimal Roy, who was to make a name for himself as a prominent Bengali and Hindi director, was the cinematographer for the film. The cast included Molina Devi, Prithviraj Kapoor, Vijay Kumar, Nemo and Bikram Kapoor.
Bibbo was a music composer, singer and actress who worked in both Indian and Pakistani films. She acted in Indian cinema from 1931 to 1947 before moving to Pakistan, following Partition of India in 1947. She started her acting career with Ajanta Cinetone Ltd. in 1933, working with directors like M. D. Bhavnani and A. P. Kapoor. She was one of the top leading ladies of the 1930s along with actresses like Devika Rani, Durga Khote, Sulochana, Mehtab, Shanta Apte, Sabita Devi, Leela Desai and Naseem Banu. She was referred to as "one of the most important female stars of the 1930s and 1940s". Her fame had her featured in the lyrics of a popular song from the film Gharib Ke Lal (1939) sung by Mirza Musharraf and Kamla Karnataki, with music by Sagheer Asif and lyrics by Rafi Kashmiri. "Tujhe Bibbo Kahoon Ke Sulochana", where Sulochana referred to another popular actress of the time. This was the first time a song featuring famous actors was used in the lyrics of a film song.
Karan Dewan was an Indian cinema actor in Hindi films. He worked in over seventy films from 1941 to 1979. He started as a journalist while still in college, editing a film-based magazine in Urdu. His brother was the film producer and director Jaimani Dewan.
Meena Shorey was a Pakistani film actress who worked first in Indian cinema and later Pakistani cinema. She appeared in Hindi/Urdu and Punjabi films. Credited in films by her mononym, Meena, her real name was Khurshid Jehan. She started her acting career playing a character role, as Ambhi, Raja of Taxila's sister in Sohrab Modi's Sikandar (1941). Married to her fourth husband, Roop K. Shorey, by the mid-1940s, she found fame when she acted in her husband's film Ek Thi Larki (1949), opposite actor Motilal. The story was written by I. S. Johar, who also starred in the film. The "foot-tapping" music composed by Vinod became a "huge hit", with Meena becoming an "icon" for the "new liberated" young women. Meena was acclaimed as the "Lara Lappa Girl", from the song of same title in the film. She was one of the first women to be recognised in Indian cinema as a "comedienne of calibre". She was also popularly known as The Droll Queen of Partition as she worked as a comedienne [Droll] in both in India and Pakistan [countries resulting from partition].
filmindia is an Indian monthly magazine covering Indian cinema and published in English language.
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".
Munawar Sultana was an Indian cinema actress, who acted in Hindi films. She is cited as one of the "popular" actresses of the late 1940s to early 1950s period, along with Noor Jehan, Swarnalata and Ragini. Her specialty was playing a selfless woman, enduring the rough treatment meted by her husband and family, but who eventually "brought her erring husband back home".
Singaar is a 1949 Indian Hindi-language romantic film directed by J. K. Nanda. Produced by R. B. Haldia under his production company, the film stars Suraiya, Madhubala and Jairaj, with Durga Khote and K. N. Singh appearing in supporting roles. The music of the film was composed by Khurshid Anwar.
