East India Film Company

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The East India Film Company was an Indian film production company, based in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India. [1] It was the first Indian film company to screen a movie at an international film festival. Started in 1932 in Calcutta, by R. L. Khemka, it went on to be a pioneer in producing films across the several regional film industries, including Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Telugu, and Tamil, [1] in the decade after its founding; till then, production companies were restricted regionally. [2] [3] [1]

Contents

History

The company was formed in 1932 by R. L. Khemka, a local Marwari businessman in Bengal, [1] after acquiring the RCA Photophone studio, its location recording equipment, and its Mitchell Cameras. In 1933, East India Film Company's first Bengali film production, Jamuna Puline, was released, with Priyanath Ganguli as the director after he left the Madan Theatre. Riding on its success, the company became the first Bengali studio to venture into not just Hindi films, but also various films in South Indian languages. East India Film Company was soon producing a dozen movie releases per year, including several hits like Savithri (Telugu) and Ramayan (Tamil). [1]

The East India Film Company's Seeta , made by Debaki Bose, was the first talkie shown in an international film festival when it was shown in 1934 at the Venice Film Festival, where it won an honorary diploma. [4] Subsequently, Bose also made his noted film, Sonar Sansar (Hindi: Sunhera Sansar) in 1936 under the East India Film Company banner. [5]

Shot in Calcutta on a lavish budget of Rs.75,000, East India Film Company's Sati Savithri in Telugu was a huge hit. Based on a popular stage play by Mylavaram Bala Bharathi Samajam, the film was directed by debutant C. Pullaiah and starred stage stalwarts Vemuri Gaggaiah and Dasari Ramathilakam as Yama and Savithri, respectively. [6] Like Seeta, this film was also shown in Venice Film Festival, where it too won an honorary diploma. [4]

Filmography

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Gul Hamid or Gul Hamid Khan (1905-1936) was an Indian film actor. He started his acting career in silent films and later played leading roles in talkies. He had many honors to his credit. He acted in Heer Ranjha, the first film produced in Punjabi and in Seeta, a talkie that won an honorary diploma in the 1934 Venice Film Festival and that was also the first Indian film shown at an International film festival. Hamid also wrote the script, acted in, and directed the film Khyber Pass (1936). Hamid died of Hodgkin's Disease in 1936.

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Nitin Bose

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<i>Savitri</i> (1933 film) 1933 Indian film

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C. Pullaiah

Chittajallu Pullayya, also known as C. Pullayya, was an Indian film director, known for his works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He is regarded as the father of Telugu theatre movement. In 1933, he made his film directorial debut with East India Film Company's first Indian film Sati Savitri which has received honorary diploma at Venice Film Festival. He then directed Sati Anasuya, the first children's film and Lava Kusa (1934).

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Seeta (1934 film)

Seeta was a 1933 Indian talkie Bengali film, directed by Debaki Bose and produced by the East India Film Company. It won an honorary diploma in the 2nd Venice International Film Festival in 1934, becoming the first Indian talkie to be shown at an international film festival. The film starred Gul Hamid, Prithviraj Kapoor as Rama, and Durga Khote as Sita.

Sabita Devi

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Sharmistha Gooptu (2010). Bengali Cinema: An Other Nation. Taylor & Francis. p. 69. ISBN   978-0-415-57006-0.
  2. Erik Barnouw; S. Krishnaswamy (1980). Indian film. Oxford University Press. p. 113. ISBN   0-19-502682-9.
  3. Asha Kasbekar (2006). Pop culture India!: media, arts, and lifestyle. ABC-CLIO. p. 216. ISBN   1-85109-636-1.
  4. 1 2 Bhagwan Das Garg (1996). So many cinemas: the motion picture in India. Eminence Designs. p. 86. ISBN   81-900602-1-X.
  5. T. M. Ramachandran (1985). 70 years of Indian cinema, 1913-1983. CINEMA India-International. p. 79. ISBN   0-86132-090-5.
  6. Narasimham, M. L. (7 November 2010). "SATI SAVITHRI (1933)". The Hindu . Retrieved 8 July 2011.