LIBRARY THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART Received: Scanned from the collection of The Museum of Modern Art Library Coordinated by the Media History Digital Library www.mediahistoryproject.org Funded by a donation from John McElwee Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/filmindia194814unse pe. r FL 313 2. tcki P0OH4W4H WT REliD No 8 5517 INLAND Rs 2 FOREIGN Sh .4/6 MUGHAL E AZAM A SHIR A 2 PRODUCTION VEENA. NARCIS fc CHANDRAMOHAN 7)*ecfeJb K.ASIF. With. The 7tafcance Of) Romance On The U/inp Of Music * COMES THIS TALE OF LOVE KAHAN ART PRODUCTIONS' TRIBUTE TO CUPID Co-133 SUPPLEMENT— FILMINDIA January 1946. Photo artitt ' B. .V. Paiil SUSHI LA RANI — A picture a year — seems to be her plan. She will be seen once again in ' Gvalan " a social story of our village life, produced and directed by Mr. Baburao Patel for Amar Pictures. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: The annual subscription, far 12 issues of "f;lmindn", from any month i>: INLAND FOREIGN: Rs. 24 ■ Shllllnii SO • Subscription Is accepted only for a collective period of 12 months and not for a small period. Subscription money should be remitted only by Money Order or by Postal Order but not by cheques. V.P.P.s will not be sent. filmindia FILMINDIA PUBLICATIONS LTD. 55. SIR PHIROZE5HAH MEHTA ROAD, FORT. BOMBAY Telephone i 26752 Editor: BABURAO PATEL Vol. XII. JANUARY 1946 No. I. ADVERTISEMENT RATES: The advertisement rata are at follows: Per Insertion full Pa«e Inside Rs. 400 Half Pate Inside Rs 210 t Pace Inside Rs. 120 h Pate Inside Rs. 150 2nd & 3rd Cover Rs 500 4th Cover Rs 600 1st Cover Rs. 1.000 The cost of the advertisement should be submitted In advance with th* order. The advertise- ment will be subject to the terms and conditions of our usual contract. Producer Kishore Sahu has made news — not so much by producing "Veer Kunal" but by persuading Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Strong Man of India, to inaugurate the picture in Bombay and incidentally by provoking him to give the official verdict on the future industrial policy of the Indian National Congress in Free India. While thanking Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for gracing the occasion, Kishore Sahu made a splendid use of his opportunity in the presence of the Congress Strong Man by reciting the numerous handicaps through which the Indian film industry has been struggling for the last thirty years of its precarious existence. Producer Kishore Sahu referred to the growing foreign competition that is fast making headway in the country in a'l the sections of the film industry — produc- tion, distribution and exhibition — at the expense of the Indian film industry. He accused the Government of criminal apathy towards the Indian film industry and charged them of being agents of some foreign film in- terests who are trying to acquire a stake in the Indian film trade. Producer Sahu appealed to Sardar Patel and other national leaders to take serious notice of these alien activities and sought their support and protection for the Indian film industry. Rep'ying, Sardar Patel, as is charae'eristic of him, did not mince matters. Said the Sardar: "Political bondage of India is not only affecting the film industry but all the industries of the country. As fish cannot live without water, no industry can survive without political freedom. It is not surprising to see that after thir'y years of its existence, the Indian film jndustry is still in its present pi'iable state. Only the freedom of our country can cure this circumstance. "We are nearing the end of our great struggle. The National Congress has already warned the present alien Government that Free India will not endorse or consider herself bound bv any commitment the present alien Gov- ernment may choose to make with any foreign interests. The National Government of India would see to it that all Indian indus'ry shall be completely national in all res- pects. With India free, it is only a matter of an hour to remove all the obstacles in the way cf the progress of our industries. But till then I appeal to my countrymen to see only Indian films whether good or bad and encourage an industry which provides a living to thousands of our poor people." In those significant words of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, there is a warning which all would-be foreign ex- ploiters of India must heed in their own interest. These are not the words of a soap-box orator in Hyde Park nor the pseudo-religious mutterings of a Salvation Army mis- sionary round a street corner. Those are the words of India's Strong Man No. I backed by a nation of 400 million souls. Behind these words is the spiritual stature of Mahatma Gandhi, the fiery spirit of Jawaharlal Nehru and the indisputable authority of the Indian National Congress. These are words of a man who has rudely shaken tne very foundations of the British Empire many a time in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel arrives at the Novelty to inaugurate "Veer Kunal" 3 PILMlNDlA January, t^t, the last twenty years. Sardar Patel's voice is the Nation's Voice and those foreigners who are at present hatching plans to invade the Indian film industry may well stop, look and listen in their own interest. Foreigners have no place in Free India as competitors and exploiters. Sardar Patel's warning seems to have come in good time seeing that only recently when the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association pointing out to the Govern- ment the competitive activities of some British and Rus- sian producers in dubbing their productions in Hindustani prayed for protection, the Government, by their letter dared the 9th November, replied as follows: "The Gov- ernment have given careful consideration to the matter but regret that in the existing circumstances they are unable to interfere in the matter." On the other hand, the Bureau of Public Information in the Department of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India has been acting as a publicity exchange for British fi'm interests, seeing that all news- papers and periodicals in the country are regularly posted with weekly publicity dope about British films with a well- worded request to print this stuff. Very soon we shall be rid of this nuisance, for, poor Indians won't have enough postage money to circulate Bri- tish films. All the money we have we shall need to feed our 400 millions who have been wanting a good meal for the last 200 years. Let us all pray and fight for FREE INDIA, just as the British people did for their little island. Sushila Rani and Baburao Patel usually do not attend premieres, but they could not escape "Veer Kunal" premiere with Sardar Vallabhbhai inaugurating the picture. 4 RAJ RANI Jluclcy ^fdm5 ' THREE MEMORABLE SENSATIONAL THRILLERS NISHAN A 19 WITH NAVIN CHANDRA ft SADIQ ft MANNAN & RAZI KHOON I WITH NAVIN CHANDRA ft NAWAZ ft MANNAN SABTAN & ARVIND KUMAR PRODUCED & DIRECTED BY:— K. L. KAHAN Rights : BOMBAY — C. P. C. I. — SOUTH & OVERSEAS with ANUROOP PICTURES PILE LODGE, SHUNKERSETH ROAD. BOMBAY 7. For NORTH & BENGAL :— LUCKY FSLMS P H A N S I a brilliant ORAMA packed with thousand THRILLS. STARRING :— SADIQ ft NAWAZ ft AHM«=D ft GULZAR MAQ3UL ft SABTAN & ARVIND KUMAR PRODUCED BY: RAJ RANI STORY: VIR * MUSIC: NISAR BAZMI LUCKY FILMS 103, Chimbai Road, Bandra, Bombay. DIRECTED BY: S. M. IBRAHIM SONGS : SHEVAN RAZVI & TAJJALI Wiihmit Comment. NATIONAL FILM BOARD CANADA GOVERNMENT Ottawa, October 12, 194$. FILM COMMISSIONER Mr. Barburao Patel, Filmindia Publications, 55 Sir Phirozeshah Mehta Road, Fort, Bombay, India. Dear Mr. Patel: I was dining the other night with Mr. T. A. Raman in Washington and chanced to say that I thought Filmindia the most exciting film paper in the world, after Variety in New York. Mr. Raman said it was shameful of me to say this to him, without saying it to you. I hope it may be of some satisfaction to you to know that over the years, many of us in other countries have looked on' your paper with delight and particularly because of the intimate manner of its approach, both to films and to film audiences. Above all, I congratulate you on a degree of frankness and gaiety in your journalism which I envy, and which I assure you conveys to readers of your journal in other countries, a warm sense of contact with your film world, your film problems, and your film people. John Grierson — served R.N.V.R. 7945, Film Officer, Empire Marketing Board 1 928-3 j. Associated in the formation of Empire Marketing Board Film Unit, Empire Film Library, G. P. O. Film Unit, Film Centre, British Documentary Film movement, Imperial Relations Trust, Films of Scotland Committee; Member of Cinematograph Films Council. At present Government Film Commissioner, National Film Board of Canada. Producer of several docu- mentaries including " Drifters", "Industrial Britain", ''Song of Ceylon" and " B. B. C." Yours sincerely, Johr Grierson. wmmmm. /Vus ssction is the monopoly of "JUDAS" and he writes what he likes and ab^ut things which he likes. The views expressed here are not necessarily ours, but tliey carry weight because they are written by a man who knows his job KICK THEM OUT Believe it or not, even the film industry which is essentially a trade of giving entertainment to the masses, is now being poisoned by the communalists. Sometime back we had written about the malicious manner in which Producer Mehboob's "Humayun" was being advertised in .Bombay. Our remarks in these columns seemed to have had a salutary effect seeing that Mehboob immediately topped his offensive propaganda. Now Nalini Kumar, a reader from Agra, sends us a utting from the "Dawn" of the 28th November advertis- ing the pisture "Bisvi Sadi", produced by Mohan Bhav- nani who cannot be suspected of being a communalist b\ the widest stretch of imagination. We reproduce the ad vertisement below: HELPLESS PREGNANT WOMAN EXPELLED BY A HINDU SHE IS RESCUED BY A MUSALMAN SEE THE HEIGHT OF MUSLIM CHARACTER m The picture has been running at the "Minerva" in iDelhi and this precious advertisement is evidently the work either of the local distributor or of the exhibitor or of both. Whoever is responsible for.rh.is offensive piece of propaganda, he has done a dirty job looking at the problem both from the industrial and the national viewpoints. The advertisement is a crude and obvious attempt to run down the Hindus and put up the Muslims. Character is a human virtue and both the Hindus and the Muslims have equal access to it, for that matter all the human races lean claim the privilege of possessing some character, be ithey English. German. Japanese or Americans. And yet this dirty advertisement tells us that the Muslim charae'er stands supreme because a Mussalman rescues a pregnant woman thrown out by a Hindu. Can political perversion go further ? Motion picture stories are written round several as- pects of human life and behaviour. The writers rarely think in terms o£ comrnunalism. They usually struggle to portray the human story. It is quite likely that "Bisvi Sadi" has an unfortunate incident as described in the above advertisement. But Producer Mohan Bhavnani did not put the incident in the story to provide the Muslim communalists with an opportunity to do some dirty poli- tical propaganda. Such incidents are often seen in motion pictures. If motion pictures are intended to portray real life, one can not avoid the Hindus and the Muslims clashing or co- operating in several stories. The general pattern of life in India is mainly made up of the Hindus and the Mus- lims and screen writers cannot avoid one without missing the other. In "Zcenat", a social story of Muslim life, produced by Shiraz All Hakim, a Muslim producer and directed by Shaukat Hussein, a Muslim director, the pregnant Muslim Sir Homi Modv, Chairman of R. W. I. Turf Club, is evi- dently discussing form with Baburao Pate] and Sushila Rani in the paddock at the Bombay Races. For Over 25 Years R.C.A. has closely associated itself with the development of the world's Film Industry, and has led it from year to year to the production and exhibition of technically perfect films. India too has recognised R.C.A. 's fine Service to its Film Industry by having a majority of its Studios and Theatres equipped with RCA-Photophone Sound Systems. RCA-Photophone is always your guarantee for your future audiences and Box-Office Success. PH0T0PH0NE EQUIPMENTS LIMITED r " — Free India will not consider herself bound by any com- mitments the present alien government may choose to make with any foreign interests" — roared Sardar Vallabh- hhai widow is chased out of the house by the husband's bro- ther, another Muslim. But this incident, which looks both natural and dra- matic in the story, cannot be used as an argument to say that the Muslim character is at a low level of degeneration. If such simple incidents arc going to be used for some dirtv political propaganda on communalistic lines, it is go- ing to be difficult to produce motion pictures in India. The Indian film industry has a watchful Association which shouts and screams when the future of the industry is threatened. Well, this is a case which should receive the most serious attention of the Association. Once this poison starts spreading unchecked, it won't be long before the entire film trade is ruined. / • The persons responsible for such dirty and malicious advertisements must lie made to apologise or in the alter native ostracised from the trade. That is the least thev deserve for their dirty work. January, 194t> STILL AT IT "Expert" K. S. Hirlekar who insists on calling him- self the secretary of the Film "Delegation", though dis- owned by the official bodies in India, has recently doled out some more nonsense for local consumption in London. Says Hirlekar, "The United States has during the past few years, helped to establish the film industry in Mexico and about 85,000,000 dollars capital has been in- volved. I am told that every attempt would be made to assist the Indian film industry by providing facilities for training Indian students and technicians." This is just an idiotic talk. This fellow, who doesn t seem to know half the time what he is talking about, doesn't seem to realise that those six zeroes after 85 repre sent American gold dollars spent for establishing the American film industry in Mexico. They signify the zero hour of the indigenous film industry of Mexico if she has any at all now. The over-generous Yankees are always prepared to invest double the number of zeroes in India to sell entertainment to one-fifth of the world's population. In fact you can always look up to the Americans to estab lish any industry for any country if the profits are guar- anteed to go home by the first boat. Americans never re- fuse business. And why should they when there are per- sons like Hirlekar in every country to mislead people by their idiotic talk? We suppose Hirlekar has already invited half-a-dozen American producers to take the first ship to India loaded with dollars to establish the Indian film industry which has been struggling for the last thirty years to get some foothold. Yakub, our versatile artiste has another interesting role to plav in "Nek Parvin" of D. R. D. Productions. Prices (pom Rs. r6,SOO/» Prices from R$. 22,500/- Thirty managers gathered at Westrex Headquarters in New York from all parts of the world on October I for a preview of the newest recording and reproducing equipments and other electronic products handled by Western Electric Export Corporation in the world market. Through these latest designs of sound equipment, which embody advancements learned by Western Electric as one of the largest wartime producers of communications and electronic equipment, exhibitors will be able to provide new standards of excellence. In addition to sound equipment, the managers viewed and discussed during the two weeks convention the other products of 18 Manufacturing Companies to be distributed abroad by Western Electric Export Corporation. These include a full line of theatre accessories, Projection Room Equipment, the new Model 63 hearing aid, the Fastax Camera, acoustic instruments, and other products of research in related fields. Western Electric Cttnpany of India INCORPORATED IN U.S.A. Branch Offices- CALCUTTA . MADRAS . DELHI . JUBBULPORE . LAHORE . KARACHI . COLOMBO OJK 5010 January, 1946 F'LM INDIA As regards the yarn about "providing facilities far training Indian students and technicians" in Hollywood studios, the Americans are just waiting to embrace the first batch of students sent by Hirlekar's unfortunate country. When will this fellow stop talking nonsense? Isn't it enough that we are slaves without being called idiots in addition : This man. Hirlekar, is giving our people a bad iiooo FEET LONG INJUSTICE! On the 15th of December, the licensing muddle, which controlled film production in the country, came to an end. And owing to the better supply position of raw films, the Government have further removed the restric- tion on the production and the exhibition of trailors not exceeding 300 feet. Which means that for the Indian film industry the war is at last coming to an end. What, however, sur- prises us is Government's obstinacy in still maintaining the iiooo foot restriction. We would like to know what the Government have to do directly with our film indus- try. During the war when the raw film supply position became precarious, the Government stepped in with the obvious intention of helping the Indian film industry. This altruistic intention was soon debauched by the exe- cutives who turned their opportunity into an occasion for mismanagement and muddling with the net result that the Indian film industry is today worse off than ever be- fore. The raw film control was so rudely exercised thai every one in the industry felt like running out rather than remaining in the industry. The raw film stocks were so generously misappropriated by the several illegitimate pro- duction units of the government that little or nothing was left to meet the legitimate aspirations of the indigenous film industry. Add to this muddle the killing imposition of the war propaganda films which producers, whether they liked it or not, had to turn out regularly like so many sausages. Government's control and supervision of the subjects of such films will go down as a standing insult to the intelligence of those producers who were stricken with the legal necessity ot producing propaganda pictures. All these official antics have bled the industry white and today our producers are hardly prepared to meet the foreign competition that is in the offing. The cancellation of the licensing system, therefore, is a well-deserved mercy to an industry which has been harassed beyond tolerance. But why are the government still so much interested in maintaining the uooo-feet restriction seeing that the supply position of the raw films is now easier than ever before? The obvious reasons seem to be: a) The Information Films of India have to maintain a huge stable of stowaways at the taxpayer's expense. And unless I. F. I. films are shown, through compulsion of course, there won't be even any transparent justification for maintaining this money-squandering racket. And these I. F. I. products need space in the showman's pro- gramme, which space has to be cut out of the trade pro- duct of the Indian film industry. Featuring .— NASEEM KAMAL DAMAYANTI BALRAJ RAJKUMARI AGHA JAN David and K. C DE. .«,7,„.j,.._B!PRODAS TAGORE. Dialogues:— SAJjAN. Photography :— BIDYAPATI GHOSE. Music Direction :— K. C. DE. Produced Directed By:— PHANI MAJUMDAR. for Terr/for/a/ fifyAf/ :— KIRTI PICTURE! 17° Podar Building/, /andhur/t rd BOMBRV 4 FOR ftCM STUVIOS You can now realise your plans for your Film Studio by making it a streamlined affair, where technically you can make perfect pictures- with the aid of the latest film equipment from the famous British, American and French manu- facturers : Some of the Studios to whom supplies have recently been made :- - 1. Filmistan Ltd., Bombay. 2. Bharat Productions, Bombay. 3 Kardar Productions, Bombay. 4 New Huns Pictures, Ltd., Bombay. 5. Mr. Meiyyappa Chettiyar, Madras. 6. Mohan Pictures, Bombay. 7. Radha Films Ltd., Calcutta. 8. Information Films of India. Bombay. 9. Pancholi Art Pictures, Lahore. 10. Kali Films Ltd., Calcutta. 1 1 - Talwar Productions. Lahore. 12. Khan Bahadur Ardeshir M. Irani, Bombay. 13. Sri Jayachamarajendra Occupa- tional Institute, Bangalore. 14. Famous Cine Laboratory Bombay. 15. Saraswati Cinetone, Poona. Consult us before you place your order 1. Cameras for Studio and News- reel work. 2. Printing Machines. 3. Editing Machines and Editing Room Accessories, etc. 4. Studio Lights: 5000,200°. and 500 watts Solarspot Lamps. 5. Fully Automatic Developing Ma- chines for 35mm. and 16mm. negative, positive and sound film development. 6. Back projection Equipment and several more accessories. 7. j. M. Sound Control Materials - the latest in Accoustical cor- rection products. FAZALBHOY LIMITED MOTION PICTURE SOUlIU ENGINEERS 16, New Queen's Road, BOMBAY 4. FILMINDIA Mehtab looks better as a boy than, as a girl as this photo- graph from "Bairam Khan" shows. January, 1946 b) Realizing the universally accepted fact that mass audiences like long features, as long as boredom can per- mit, this aspect of popularity seems to have been assigned to the foreign pictures so that they can compete successfully against the Indian product in local languages. The nooo- feet restriction on Indian films contributes to the insidious efforts of the government to pitch foreign pictures in direct opposition to the Indian ones. Otherwise, why would the Government take so much pains and spend Indian money to propagate British pictures through their official departments? c) When the Indian film industry approached the government recently for some protection against foreigner^ dubbing, their product in local languages, the Government categorically refused to interfere. What does all this show? It is clear that the Govern ment do not wish to lift even their little finger to help Indian films. Otherwise how can the anomaly of this footage restriction be explained during times which arc fast returning to normal ? If the Government have some decency left, it is high time that the nooo-fect restriction is removed forthwith. The Indian film industry would not be so scared of tlv foreign competition if the Government kept their dirty fingers out and let the trade fight out and settle its own problems in its own way. SHAME TO BE MYSORE AN! Like all new converts, even slaves sometimes show more fanaticism than their rulers. News comes to us that the Mysore State authorities have banned the film of the proceedings of the recent ses- sion of the All-India Congress Committee held at Bombay Veena is asking for blessings in "Pehli Nazar", a Mazhar picture. That is why people want to buy "Pchli Nazar" paying a fancy price. saying that, "The film is not fit for exhibition in the State as the same has not been passed by the Members of the Board." And we have always looked upon Mysore as a very progressive State. (Progressive? My foot!) If we call this ban stupid we shall be giving only a very poor descrip- tion of the utter imbecility of intelligence displayed by the State authorities in banning a film which, because of the national leaders and their immortal words contained in it, is a nation's future heritage. If the Mysore State authorities think that by banning this film they are stemming the surging tide of nationa- lism, they are living in a fool's paradise. The film is but a minor symptom of the epidemic of freedom prevalent in the country. If the Mysore authorities think that by banning the film they have served their masters loyally, there again they are very much on the wrong track. The masters themselves will be soon sailing on the high seas homeward bound, leaving their loyal slaves to the tender mercies of those very leaders whose faces are banned today. Political censorship is a disgusting ulcer in these de- mocratic times and the least we can say about the action of the Mysore State authorities is: "Forgive them, Oh Lord, for they know not what they do." Mysore is the State, Free India must mark down for special treatment. It is a shame to be a Mysorean. FILM GODOWNS OF THE FUTURE! Stung by our writings the Bombay Municipal au'ho rities have at last moved in the urgent matter of prescrib ing correct godowns for storing our films. L3 I — I A Great Star j fo% A Great And Gorgeous Picture! 3 I PrJucer LAKHMIDAS AMAMD Pteudtly Pre im 1 5 Tke Scintillating Song-Bird of Bengal v KAMAM [ALA Tke Host Spectacular and Sumptuous Picture o PLY ear ! 1krisbna=%eela Producer LAKHMIDAS ANAND promises a picture U will set a million hearts trembling with emotion — A Feast op Devotional Nusic set to tune by the incomparable KANALDAS GUPTA. t^Ltected by : -f)zt tPitection : DEBAKI BOSE CWAPU BOY • Oot 'Huiinti.i. Contact- SWASTIK HOUSE - LAMINGTON ROAD BOMBAY. C P C. I RIGHTS ALREADY WITH POPULAR FILMS LTD.. BHUSAWAL. LAKHMIDAS ANAND PRODUCTIONS j I January, 1943 frlLM INDIA Taking the regulations enforced in the United States as their starting point, the Municipal authorities have made some changes to suit local conditions and have circu- lated a number of draft regulations for the storage and handling of all films in the city of Bombay. These proposed regulations are very elaborate and good enough to prevent future fires, as all the possible pre- ventive measures are embodied in the said regulations. The only thing that is now left is to enforce these regulations verv strictly after brushing aside all the object ions of the people concerned. While hearing these object- ions, it will be proper for the authorities to remember the number of human lives lost as a result of their oast negligence. Another aspect of this problem, very important to all. is that all regulations are good onlv if they are put into execution. MAGISTRATE RUNS AMUCK. "The cinema is one of the curses of this age", obser ved Mr. S. M. Hasan, Chief Presidency Magistrate, at the Egmore Court. Madras, in the course ot an order sentencing L. Ananta Iyer, Editor of "Hindu N'esan" to pay a fine of Rs. 400!- on charges of having published in the issues of his paper matter of obscene nature in regard to certain cinema stars. In the course of his judgment the learned Magistrate observed "Apart from the age of the accused and the fact that the obscene portions occur only in stray cases, I also take into consideration the fact that the role of the accu- sed in disseminating obscenity is only a minor one when compared to the institution of cinema itself. The cinema is one of the curses of this age. It has turned thousands of girls of respectable families into dancing girls and boys into buffoons and robbed both of the virtue of modesty and dignity. Whatever little educative or moral value is claimed on behalf of it, is a cloak to conceal its hideous nature. The film producers are not concerned primarilv with social and moral reform. Their chief objective is to earn money and this accused has tried to pick up some erumbs from their table." It is strange that within a few months of the sweep ing remarks made by Mr. Oscar Brown, the Chief Presi- dency Magistrate of Bombay, another Chief Presidencv Magistrate should be induced to condemn the cinema as an evil.. The only relieving feature of this condemnation is that judicial officers who were considered rather exclusive till now have started taking a lively interest in the film and its influence on the people. It is a bit amusing to find that a judicial officer who spends the major part of his life in administering law and order should suddenly pass a sweeping judgment on a subject of which he knows precious little. Let us inform the learned Magistrate that we do not have in the film industry, "thousands of girls of respecta- ble families" who have turned into dancing girls nor as many boys who have become buffoons. Not even Hollywood has got thousands of girls. It is clear therefore that the exaggeration by the learned Magistrate is an outcome of Ins prejudiced mind due probably to his orthodox approach to modern life. We would like to take the learned Magistrate round and introduce him to a number of respectable girls who are working in the industry at present, who are being labelled as dancing girls "robbed both of the virtue of modesty and dignity." If Magistrate Hasan chooses to meet these people and talk to them for an hour he will quickly realise how far from the truth his condemnation has been. These Magistrates who usually stick to their court rooms and see very little of the world outside are hardly justified in making such sweeping remarks about a sub- ject which is utterly foreign to them. As regards the point whether the film is "one of the curses of this age", let us quote what His Excellency Sir Arthur Hope the Governor of Madras said on the very same day as the learned Magistrate, while declaring open the Sixth Madras Salon of Photography: Commending the art of photography His Excellency said: "that photography was still in its preliminary stages but it has been growing. Colour photographs and colour cinemas have added a great deal to human happiness". His Excellency wished both the arts of photography and cine- matography a very happy future because these arts are intended to give "great joy and pleasure to a very large number of people." It does sound funny that the Head of the province differs 50 diametricaliv with the Magistrate of his princi pal city. \o More. Urea Hair. JVOW Grey Hjir is a handi- cap in all walks of your life-Why should it mar your persona- lity when there is a sure remedy to out Grey-Ex has been proved one and the only treatment to end Grey hair suc- cessfully. definitely Grey-Ex restores black coli a month. tains no harsh ingre- dients, and is. there- fore harmless to the scalp. Grey-Ex has a cool- ing effect on the brain and aids in affording of GREY-EX from your Chtn bcttle s. 7/8- STOCKISTS WANTED. VinkallyP.O.BoxNo.F. 592. Bombay I. 15 A SAGA OF CONFLICT BETWEEN VICE & VIRTUE Where the conflict between vice and virtue rages in full fury the virtuous are suppressed, but they get strength out of their sheer helplessness. There is a revolution in their inner self, where virtue overthrows vice. Inqualab is a colourful story of medieval India poignant with human passions and tense situations. N ATI O N A STUDIO g L, T January, 194(i FILMINDIA His MEMORY- IS CHERISHED— From Generation to Generation— HE RE-ENACTS HIS LIFE FOR BETTERMENT OF PEOPLE IN MURLI MOVIETONE'S "SHRAVANKUMAR" CHANDRAMOHAN MUMTAZ SHANTI PAHARI SANYAL K. C. DEY MENAKA - GULAB - TARABAI RAJ RANI - MAJJID MORE — YESHWANT DAVE • nd GOPE. Direction : RAM DARYANI Scenario 1 K. S. DARYANI Music : BHULO C. RANEY Songs : WALLI SAHEB MURLI MOVIETONE Dadar - BOMBAY One wonders why these Magistrates can't stick to their own jobs and do them well instead of nosing round for dirty fish in other quarters. YOU'LL HARDLY BELIEVE That Prabhat's "Lakharani" which was advertised as a world-beater beat a hasty retreat from the Central Talkies in Bombay and not even Baburao Pai's shares in the Western India Theatres could help to add more weeks to its "glorious" run of just 8 anaemic weeks. That Baburao Pai will now try another hand with his new trump, "Hum Ek Hain" with Kamla Kotnis after getting V. Shantaram to edit the picture on the quiet for sake of old times and to keep the Prabhat trumpet sounding. That Shantaram will willingly edit "Hum Ek Hain" (H. E. H.) if Baburao Pai promises to induce K. M. Modi to finance Rajkamal's future productions. It is the only way to prove the spirit of "H. E. H." That on Christmas Eve, people found Shantaram, Baburao Pai and Syed Fatehlal at the Taj, singing Hum Ek Hain. A friend smelt Shantaram and wondered but no sooner Fatehlal came nearer he understood. That "gentle" Jamsu Wadia did not contribute to the Congress and I. N. A. Fund merely to prove that he has tons of moral courage. Someone said that "Bodana" needed a fund all for himself. That must have been Beion Bharucha. He speaks the truth always — whether any one likes it or not. That Y. Shantaram of Rajkamal and Jayashree still cannot make up his mind to complete "The Story of Dr. Kotnis" and now "Master" K. Winayak of Praful'a and Menaka, our Bengali starlet, has a good role to play in "Shravan Kumar" of Murli Movietone. flLMINDI A January, IMS All ready, with the light kept burning, Kamla is waiting for him 10 return in "Dhanna Bhagat", a Ranjit picture. Khandekar is reported to have been called in as a help. K. Winayak would, however, be lost in Anna's 4-lakh feet celluloid. And the Government o£ India say that you can produce a picture in 40,000 feet. That the Indian film industry is anxiously waiting for "Expert" Hirlekar to return home to give the other "Ex- perts" a grand reception for having flown back safe with the "secrets" of Hollywood in their trouser pockets. Per- haps that is why K-idar Sharma is seen with both his hands in his trouscr-pockets. Guarding the Hollywood "secrets", eh? That Sardar Chandulal Shah is now working hard at his studios reorganising his production plans with Chatur- bhuj Doshi, Kidar Sharma and others— people who gave "Vish Kanya", "Mumtaz Mahal", "Bharatruhari", "Shan kar Parvati" etc. That one more director in Taimur, the Great, will be added to the precious list to complete the icorganization. Not for nothing has the Sardar been called intellectual. No other human being can come out safe from these environments. That the film market seems to have shrunk a bit the way we rind I^ala Jagat Narain falling constantly ill in Delhi and not visiting Bombay these days. That compels Seth Chunibhai Desai to .\in up to Delhi oftener than be fore to inquire after Lalaji's delicate health. That the Indian producers have sketched their Jolly wood (Chembur) on paper already and are waiting for the Yankees to hand over to Fazalbhoy's a consignment of rebuilt machinery. We arc going to have over 30 new stages in and around Bombay -all competing with Holly- 18 wood with the help of the "secrets" in Kidar Sharma's trouser pockets. That the only producer who refuses to build his own studio is Baburao Patel. With his usual arrogant air he says, "New or old, they are all my studios and the pro- ducers are also mine." And they say, he is a teetotaller and a vegetarian to boot. That, "the most magnificent picture ever produced in India by a genius", is "Veer Kunal". It seems to be having magnificence that frightens people. That Chandramohan and Motilal are writing a book, "How to win at the races." Sardar Chandulal proposes to buy the first copy and read it word by word a hundred times to "Chakori", the filly, who failed to pocket the Idar Gold Cup. That Film-actor David (Abraham) had once upon a time thought of becoming a dancer to compete with Uday Shanker. Instead he became a lawyer and finding his clients hostile, David is now a "filim" actor. That proba- bly explains why David so often goes "Ajanta" on the sets. That Pandit Indra is back in Bombay, having spent Rs. 2o,ooo|- on his daughter's wedding in Marwar. Let us pray for Sardar Chandulal Shah of Ranjit. That theatre-owners in Bombay are still demanding prohibitive hires for picture releases and demanding pay- ment in half-white-half-black manner. And they say our picture industry is rushing to a ruin. That Devvan Sharar has already packed his trunks to start for the States. Some one has told him that rye is cheap there. Make it A Happy New Year SHOW TWO Biggest Money Making Stars- VASUNDARA DEVI & Y V RAO BWAKTA MEERA (TAMIL) World Rights Controlled By SI VAN AN DA FILMS GANDHINAGAR * BANGALORE CITY 6/ ta mum— This starlet attracted some attention in " Panna ". She will be seen once again in " Sassi Punnu ", a love yarn directed by J. P. Advani for Vaswani Art Productions THE MEW Symbol of Ounhi ; FOR THE FIRST TIME IN INDIA, A REAL POST.WAR DESIGN IN MOTION PICTURE EQUIPMENTS. Forget the old type of Silent film projectors - Forget the separate soundheads - Forget the intermediate gearing necessary because of the old type of projectors made to fit on the old type soundheads - And forget the over-hanging drive-motors - All these were just fitted to each other in a haphazard manner. NOW see the NEW Streamlined aces of the projection booth - Pro- jector and Soundhead built - in one Unit - same way as the picture and sound go together on the film. The Motor aho forms part of pro- jector housing. TELEPHONE : 20892. TELE : "SOUNDH INTERNATIONAL TALKIE EQUIPMENT CO. LTD, 17, New Queen's Road, BOMBAY 4. LONDON: NEW YORK: MADRAS: 18, Albert Street, 20, Pine Street, 18, Mount Roadl London, N.W. L New York 5, N.Y. Madras. ■4 THE PAIR THAT CAN'T BE TOPPED! lamlined Aces of I Projection Booth. — FOR TOP-FLIGHT PERFORMANCE— You have to see them to appreciate their modern design - their rugged construction - their beautiful finish . . . You have to see them in action - to realise their rock-steady, flicker-free screening - the high-fidelity of their perfectly Synchronised Sound - from the softest whisper to the warmest tone, the weirdest shriek ! No flutter ... No hum ... No WOW ! Talk with Exhibitors who've enjoyed year-in, year-out trouble-free DeVRY performance in practically every corner of the Globe . . . Designed and built to specifications far in excess of generally accepted standards - priced so reasonable that ANY theatre can NOW afford to buy them NEW DeVRY " projectors of TODAY are indeed a great pair to draw to - for Exhibitors' gratification, audience satisfaction ! DeVRY has the world's most complete peace-time line of Motion Picture Sound Equipment. Also modern High Intensity Arclamps, HI-Fidelity Theatre Amplifiers and Large Theatre model Multi-Cellular Horn Speakers Systems. By the time von see this, DeVRYs will be already on view in our Show-rooms. X 5 0LDIER5 DF FORTUNE ON AN ADVENTURE SPREE FIGHTING DESPERATELY FDR THE WOMEN THEY LOVE 6 DYING BRAVELY WITH A 50NG IN THEIR HEARTS ... Tlu £pU#jdouA ofi /tuJbia. emu* to town tu JAORITI PICTURES SONG" DESERT MASTS/9 V/THAL KHURSHID (Jnr.) BHAGrWAN NOW CREATING &OX-OffiC£ HISTORY at KAMAL (In this'jection, the editor himself replies to queries from the readers. As thousands of tetters are received every month — some anxious and several frivolous— it is neither possible nor convenient to attend to all. Selected letters are usually treated in an informative and humorous strain and no offence is meant to anyone. ) V. PRAKASH SHARMA (Machhian) Which is the noblest profession of the world in your opinion ? That of being a saint, as it is harmless to the one who practises and to all around. Even pretend- ing at this game, one cannot do harm to another. What does the world owe you ? AH the good things of the world and a generous wink at my blunders. I want to see your photo in a simple- dress with a 'dhoti' and a 'kurta' ? I shiver at the thought of the first, more so when I remember Friend Chandulal Shah's dhoti flying like a peace ensign at the race course. The 'dhoti' is a very frivolous garment in the midst of a gale and I often expect to see it flying like a kite in the heavens leaving its previous stumps bare in their natural glory. If you don't mind, this is something I can't risk. MISS NIRMAL (Mercara) How are our 400 orphans getting along with their new father and old mother5 Papa Roerich has taken Mama Devika to the Himalayas and the 'Orphanage' is now being run by a 'Moghul'. How is it that film stars never ask you questions ? How can they ? They carry all the replies to all the questions you can possibly ask. Can't you earn your bread with the motto, "Speak good of others or be silent." ? I tried this joke for a year and lost 20 pounds in weight and also forfeited the respect of the people in the industry. Remember, a dog is feared be- cause of the bite in its teeth, not because of the bark in its throat A. NAJMUNNISA BEGUM (Melvisharam) If "God is Love" and "Love is Blind", what is Satan? "Love With Sight." BALKRISHAN (New Delhi) I have a Sikh friend who sings well and is handsome in addition. When I asked him to join the films, he said, "I belong to a martial race and it would be derogatory to my race to join such a degraded profession." What do you think of this ? There is nothing to think. Your friend is a Sikh and as such stands excused. TRILOK CHAND (Calcutta) Do you think that the Allied Victory has advanced the cause of Asiatic Freedom P "Asiatic Freedom" is a slogan useful for throw- ing dust into the burning eyes of those who run after the mirage of freedom. The White men did not fight such a long war to give the coloured ones a chance. Who, in your opinion, can do better acting: a plain- looking or a good-looking girl ? A good-looking one has a better chance every time but acting needs brains which have nothing to do with looks. MISS SHARAD BHATT (Rajkot) What is better: an unhappy married life or a happy unmarried life ? Happiness is the main aim of life and it is imma- terial how you attain it. Originally marriages were intended to make people happy in simple companionship. But that was in times when people lived simple lives and the world believed in good neighbourly relations. Life today is a complicated design of hopes and fears and it is Shanta Apte and Yakub team together in "Subhadra" a picture of Profulla Pictures. 23 Ummottal Social Pkotoplaij oft Mudim JUifie . DUGAL PICTURES Pcesent "HRQDDR" Sianuu,:. HARISH ft NAJMA # H. PRAKASH ft ANITA SHARMA ft BABY ROSHAN ft AMIRBAI KARNATAKI ft SAYANI ATISH ft KALYANI ft MANNAN ft P. D. LAL ft RAZIA BANOO 6- AZAD Produced By r- P. D. S DUGAL Direction :- RAFIQ RAZVI Associated Director S. BHATIA. Associate Producers :- GULAMALI CURRIMBHAI. RAFIQ RAZVI. Dialogues:- C. M. HUNAR Songs:- C. M. HUNAR TARE^H SHEVAN RAZVI RAZIA BANOO M. QURESHI Story; Costume Designs: Audiography:- INDRAVADAN DESAI SOHRAB B. IRANI Continuity:- MAH1NDRA DUTTA. Edited By:- S. PRABHAKANT. ft Our Agents'.' NORTH 6- SINDH:- Di rector of Photography:- E. M. GILANI Cameramen:- ABDULLAH SULEMAN Songs Recorded By:- ARORA SHARMA MINU KATRAK Production in charge:- P- S.^MANI. Music By:- MOHAMEDSHAFI Stills By: DOOMARAI & Co ft SURJIT FILM DISTRIBUTORS, LAHORE & RAWALPINDI. BENGAL:- CENTRAL FILM CIRCUIT, CALCUTTA. For Territorial Rights apply.' DUGHIi PICTURES, BOMBAY 4, LAHORE & RAWALPINDI. January. 1946 FILMINDIA Ashok Kumar becomes 'Kisan' in "Shikari", a sensational picture of Filmistan Ltd. rather difficult to achieve happiness dragging along the fetters of conventional life. Seeing that you like ladies, men miss the chance to work as your secretary ? Why do you bother about men ? I have half-a- dozen girls working in my office. I don't mind one more provided you are serious about work. KISHIN G. MEHTA (Karachi) What do you prefer: old oriental civilization or modern one ? Civilization is a fallacious term. Since its birth, man has never been civilized. Since the begin- ning of Time, he has always been killing one thing or other to establish his own dominance. What vou glorify as o'd oriental civilization was also built on slaughter and bloodshed. As we look back today for rel:ef from the carnage around us, people of o'd must have similarly looked back to times earlier than their own. The Bhagvad Gita mentions the disgust of Arjun at the pros- pective slaughter of bis kinsmen. The civiliza- tion of the Mahabharatan period led to an all- destructive war, just as effectively as our present civi'ization is gradually leading us to a complete annihilation of the human race. There is too much of the brute in man to be completely civi- lised and with the brain given to him he becomes more dangerous than the beasts of the forest- Remember, civilization is a word glamourised by the sinful ambitions of men through different ages. : / M. S. SRINIYASA MURTI (Bangalore) At what age should the students begin to smoke ? There is no objection to smoking on moral grounds seeing that we do so many immoral things nowadays. But smoking is a bad habit physically and even in case of a strong man it helps only to give a hollow cough. I know it became I smoke fifty cigarettes a day. Students have no right to smoke, seeing that their fathers are paying for the packet of cigarettes. When they start earning on their own and they want to proc'aim their manhood with the smoke-signal coming out of the nose, especially with a belle within 100 yards, they may buy their first packet and perservere to secure that hollow cough in the end. No one objects to people burning their own money. OM PARKASH WHIG (Sialkot) If a journalist asked for advice on journalism, what would you tell him ? To take up the profession of pick-pocketing which needs more skill and is better rewarded. Besides it is a more honest business, seeing that you rob Paro dances gracefully in Filmistan's new picture, "Shikari" now at the Roxy Talkies. 25 The SONS of the SOIL of MATA HIND 11 LIU. Their JOYS o & WOES mirroieci L-ftanaZa TlZZ r^ZOCAU.CZlOn.5 in ^aaa. of) T^&ttiotLm 7 U NIRMALA ARUN YAKUB ^bizscttd £>j Shanta Rin * Aga * Gope NASABHA I BHATT Culab & Ali. For Particulars apply: - JAMNADAS CHANDU & CO.. Kison Mahal, Tribhuvan Road, Bombay. January, 1946 FILM1NDIA something of someone else and don't pinch your own conscience. SLRRINDER SINGH SARNA (Rawalpindi) Would you please dissect a woman's soul for me? Willingly. Bring one along if you can find. In what respect is the woman superior to man ? She is glazed while he is rugged. B. MEGHESWARA DEV (Vizianagram) A critic should dwell upon the good points rather than emphasize the defects of a picture ? That won't be criticism. It will be an advertise- ment of the picture which our producers write without the help of the critics. Criticism is an evaluation of both and in an industry which has more imperfections than good points, the critic cannot help but leave behind an impression that the defects have been enlarged and elaborat- ed upon in a critique. In our film industry good points have to be located with the help of the microscope. M E. DINKAR RAO (Madras) What is the contribution of our film industry to the War Fund ? The film industry has given more than its blood to the recent war. It constantly contributes 40% of all its earnings to the different taxes of the Government and has lost nearly a crore of mpees in producing stupid propaganda pictures. What is Yakub doing in this strange dress ? But there he is at one of the mythological heroes in "Subhadra" direct- ed by K. Winayak. Shobha — one of the many new ones in Filmistan — brings to the screen a new face in "Safar", a social story. RAM DAYAL KHANNA (Benares) What is your opinion about the aim: "Eat, drink and be merry ?" That is the universal aim towards which huma- nity is struggling through labour, flattery, hatred and bloodshed. It is not an easy goal to reach. R. G. DAMANI (Bikaner) Who is the better music-director between Naushad and Anil Biswas ? With their recent work in mind, I am inclined to like Naushad. K. R. RANG I AH (Secunderabad) .. Did you ever visit hell in your dreams ? A dream is an opportunity for the glimpse of heaven. It is an escape from the hell which life ordinarily is. Why should I take hell to my dreamland ? PANNA LAL GUPTA (Sidhpura) Is variety as much the spice of wife among Indian actors as among the Hollywood ones ? Indian actors haven't even that much versatile talent to find a new expression in their domestic life. R. R. AGARWAL (Moradabad) Can a widow be called a 'Miss'? Why not, seeing that she misses something and is still young enough to become a 'Mrs.' once again ? Produced by,. RASHID ANWAR Directed by... CHE TAN AN AND January, 1946 FILM1XDIA jfete (2ome5 the -/fit ofj the IJeat (?oming-A/eptune '4-&ominj THRILLERS SILVER QUEEN fttoJtuced & T?Ltecte<£ by : RAJA YAG N I K MADHURI. NAVINCHANDRA, AGHA. BHIM, BIBI. DALPAT, SHOBHA, DEVESKER & Others Coming Magic Costume TlbRSmi HEERfl (TILASMI TALWAR) ZPu>JucU ly: RAJA YAG NIK <£l-ucuA % A. M. KHAN With YESHWANT DAVE. SHOBHA. DALPAT. KURBANJAO. DEVESKER AMINA & SULTAN ALAM. For Territorial rights apply:- NEPTUNE FILMS NAIGAUM CROSS ROAD. DADAR MRS. S. K. VASISHTA (Nowshera) Do the actresses never have babies, though they marry so often ? A baby is the easiest production in this country and actresses can't escape being mothers. You can see their babies in their eyes on the screen. B. S. KATHPALIA (Karachi) A friend of mine scorns marriage with these words: "When one can get fresh milk daily, where is the neces- sity of keeping a cow ? I think you would be in agreement with this ? Far from it. I don't look at women with the cow-and-milk angle. I respect women and my approach to them is more emotionaL I dislike a conventional arranged marriage on emotional grounds because it is not a union of joint con- sent If natural love between two persons has to go through conventional ceremony for a life part- nership, there is nothing wrong with it, though the conventional ceremony is not an inevitable condition. Your friend is a vulgar fellow, who has brought down the sanctity of human rela- tions to the low standard of liaison between the animals. G. V. GULRAJANI (Hyderabad, Sind) I find some young men these days using powder, lip- stick and other make-up in public. What do you think of this new craze ? I think it is downright contemptible, not to men- tion unmanly. I have noticed several college boys dressing their face in this manner and adding 'surma' and perfume to their make-up. This type of manhood which competes with women is not the one our future nation should look forward to. These boys have missed their sex. Beauty creams and complexion powders are not intend- ed to decorate a man's face. A man's face should be tanned by the burning heat of the sun and washed in the sweat of his labour. That is the face which good women of the world love to see in a man. K. H. NARASIMHA MURTHY (Bangalore) What is 'artistic' nonsense ? "Amrapali" directed by Nandlal Jaswandal. SHYAM SUNDER (New Delhi) If a Hindu girl becomes a widow in her young age, what should she do? Marry again. Is it such a difficult problem to solve? What is the future of a woman who cannot give birth to one ? Her future is exclusively her own without any- one sharing it or interfering with it. The mother is very much a dependent woman. T. K. PATTABHraAM (Matunga) What is the advantage or disadvantage of the "film- india" editorship? 29 Wet &ffit Ifou "Tlie /2e5t /2ox-Ofifiice Proposition for 194G-'47 CAREFULLY THIS IMPOSING LINE-UP IF YOU ARE AN EXHIBITOR - SCREEN THEM HEAD IF YOU ARE A DISTRIBUTOR - SNAP UP TERRITORIAL RIGHTS ! 3 BORIS KARLOFF SHOCKERS THE STAR OF "FRAN KEN TSTEI N", "MUMMY" & THE "MASK OF FU MANCHU" 1. DOOMED TO DIE 2. MR. WONG DETECTIVE 3. THE FATAL HOUR 6 SPINE-CHILLERS WITH BELA LUGOSI STAR OF "DRACULA" 1. THE APE MAN 2. RETURN OF THE APE MAN 3. GHOSTS ON THE LOOSE 4. INVISIBLE GHOST 5. BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT 6. THE CORPSE VANISHES 2 JACK LONDON'S FAMOUS ADVENTURE SPECIALS. 1. SIGN OF THE WOLF 2. WOLF CALL 1 COSTUME - ADVENTURE EPIC. ROSE OF THE RIOGRAND 2 MYSTERY THRILLERS 1. THE LIVING GHOST 2. THE LAST ALARM FOURTEEN OF THE BEST. JQeL&linq Tot ~Tke Ti&t 'Time In ^Jndia, /^utma. & (2eyton. A HAND-PICKED SELECTION OF FOURTEEN PICTURES - SUITED MOST ADMIRABLY TO EVERY CLASS OF AUDIENCE. EVEREST PICTURES, FIRST FLOOR, HORNBY BUILDING, HORNBY ROAD, BOMBAY. January, 1946 riLMINDIA The advantage is a good living. The disadvan- tage is a good round of abuse. SATISH CHANDRA VARMA (Amroha) What happens to these glamour boys and girls when they grow old ? Do they starve ? Good artistes need not starve at all. There is work for all at all ages in the film industry. Wc have on the screen artistes over the age of fifty earning a good living. AMAR SINGH (Amritsar) When is a wife a wife and when is she not? A wife is a wife when you are away from the hou?e. She is not much of a wife when you arc in the house. PRITHVI PAUL BINDRA (Lahore) If an innocent fellow falls in love with Durga Khotc after seeing "Veer Kunal", what kind of love would yon call that 5 Filial. K C MIRCHANDANI (Karachi) Can you tell me the difference between a male pro ducer and a female producer ? Sardar Chandulal Shah is a male producer, who produces a dozen pictures a year, with the help of some directors. Protima Das Gupta is a female producer, who, like a woman, produces only one picture a year. When Protima starts multiplying she will change the sex of her profession. May I know how will you vote in the forthcoming elections: Congress, Mahasabha or Muslim League ? I shall vote for Freedom. And though I am not a Congressman, the Congress gets my votes be cause it stands for Freedom. I don't like com munal bodies. V. K. BHATNAGAR (Delhi) Why are our pictures devoid of humour ; That is an unfounded charge. When I saw "Mumtaz Mahal" produced by Ranjit, I laughed to the point of tears. G. R S. YADHAV (Fategarh) Have the Paramount Pictures of America paid any thing to the families of those who lost their lives in the film fire 5 I don't think so and I find that this American firm hasn't got the common courtesy of replying to my two letters of enquiry about this matter. This firm must be marked for special treatment in Free India. MRS. MRUDULA PATEL (Jamnagar) What is the best preparation for tomorrow ? A good smiling time today. ZAFAR ALI SHAH (New Delhi) Can you please select a pet name for my wife ? If she is one-eyed, call her Zabak. That name fits any sex. Can you please tell me how one can find out the most beautiful woman in the world ? By looking into your own heart. That is where the most beautiful women of the world live. - B. V. K. NAIK (Bangalore) The word 'PateF means the man at the head of a village. Do you happen to be one ? I am, unfortunately, of a place called Boisar. As such my salary is Rs. ^oj- a year. I can arrest a man and put him in the lock-up for a night and catch hold of stray cattle and put them in a cattle-pond without their consent and all this under the benign authority of the British Gov- ernment. I don't know how my ancestors got into this racket but my family has been in it, goodness knows how many years. It must have been the price for the betrayal of some good cause in olden times by some treacherous ancestor of mine. R KRISHNAMURTI (Ahmedabad) "Every man over forty is a scoundrel", says Bernard Shaw. Do you agree with this ? I don't know whether G. B. S. ever said this, be- cause it is not an intelligent observation. Pro- bably he told this to you personally. To be a scoundrel, one has to be intelligent and you can't wait forty years to be discovered as intelligent. P. I KRUPA VARMA (Vizagapatam) T want vour photo in my album. Would you mind sending one ? I do mind because the only photo that is left with me now is the one that was taken when I was two years old sitting on my mother's lap. As a lot of me is seen in this photograph, it would not be in keeping with the present standards of morality to circulate the same. M K. SEN GUPTA (Lucknow) Who is really more happy: A man who marries a film actress, or a man whose wife becomes a film actress after marriage ? The man who marries a film actress inherits a crowd of rivals. While the man whose wife be- comes a film actress purchases new rivals. S. CHANDRA JAIN (New Delhi) How will you define 'friend'5 It is an old word out of fashion these days. Bri- tain and Russia are friends today. But what were they yesterday and what will they be to- morrow? 'Friend' is a wrong word to be used in the 20th century. At its best, it has only a sea- sonal meaning of sympathy and companionship. JOHN G. SOANS (Bangalore) Why do boys run after girls ? Because girls run away from them. If the girls stop in their place, the boys will be stuck in their own. Let the girls try this and report to me. V. N. KULKARNI (Deolali) Due to your caustic criticism, if some sensitive film actress commits suicide, will you be held responsible for That will be a crown on my criticism. But I am not so lucky. We don't have sensitive film 31 Diamond Pictukes Ltd., TO THE FOREFRONT ! LEADING again IN THE FIELD OF DISTRIBUTION!! With, pttJe and pleaiute tPiztnond dictated Jltd., announce, theil acauLiition of THE 'TEKPETUAL (M)KLP EIGHTS of all the follou/Lnj BOMBAY TALKIES' PICTURES JAWANI Kl HAVA 8. JEEVAN PRABHAT MIYA BIBI & MAMTA 9. NIRMALA JEEVAN NAIYA 10. VACHAN ACHHUT KANYA (for Ncrth India Only) JANMA BHUMI IZZAT PREM KAHANI 11. BHABI 12. NAV JEEVAN 13. DURGA 14. KANCAN and 22. KISMET 15. AZAD 16. BANOHAN 17. PUNAR MILAN 18. NAYA SANSAR 19. ANJAN 20. JHOOLA 21. BASANT Tat petpttual ptsvincia.1 and ttttitotial tlg/iti wtite to :- DIAMOND PICTURES LTD., 8EKSARIA BUILDING. SANDHURST ROAD. BOMBAY 4 81. YESHWANT NIWAS ROAD. TUKOG AN J. INDORE (C.I.) January. 1946 FILMIND1A actresses and they beat the cat in having more than nine lives. If my criticism could kill, wc would be having today an industry of blushing angels. 5. K BANSAL (Benares) A good wife, it is said, halves a man's problems. Do you subscribe to this view ? Don't go by such slogans. The reality of life does not permit such slogans to prove anything. 'An apple a day keeps the doctor away'. Aftei every apple that I ate, I had to call for the doctoi as it always sat on my chest The good wives of the world multiply the problems with their con tribution to the population of India. Why talk of halving the worry ? N S PABBI (Simla) Why is darkness chosen to commit most of our evil lets? The sun is a terrific disinfectant while darkness provides a good screen for shady deals. As man is fashioned after God, there is a natural spark of Divinity in him which flickers vigorously in day-light with the world watching. With the darkness of night, secure in the feeling that no body is watching, man lulls his conscience to sleep and rubs his hands for the crimin.il act. It is the inherent fear of being caught that gives darkness its record of crimes. The one place where sunlight can't reach is the mind of the evil man where crime is concocted round the clock. M1RZA All SAFDAR (Luc know) What is the difference between a politician's triumph and a film star's triumph ? , The world has two types of politicians — those top men of the Congress who sacrifice their all inspired by high-pitched morals and the usual professional politician, so much in fashion all over the world, who has turned the world into a melting pot of conflict and carnage. In comparison with the first type, the average film star is poor meat because the unselfish work of such politicians elevates the lives of millions. Film stars, however, don't cut such a sorry figure in comparison with the pro- fessional politicians. But both are incvrable de- votees of egoism. There is nothing much to choose between the triumphs of such types. MISS N. G MOHAMED (Akola) Don't you think it is better to be spectators than actors in the tragedy of life ? Life is an all-absorbing drama in which there are no spectators. Every human being, however small or big, however far or near, however willing or otherwise, is compelled to play his part in the ever-changing drama of life. Take a small in- stance. You see a man being murdered. In the subsequent sequel to this crime your evidence as a witness helps to hang the murderer. Tell me, have you been a mere spectator ? Azad Pictures " U A M A K " (SALT) ft DEPICTING HOW ft A Mere Pinch Of Salt Works - Replete with Wonders, ALTOGETHER A NOVEL THEME. Starring:- BHIM. DILAWAR, DULARI, HABIB etc. Story & Direction : BALVANT B. DAVE. Dialogues: Songs: Music: PANDIT ANUJ INDIWAR. SHYAMBABU. (Prakash FAME) Contact:- AZAD PICTURES, JYOTI STUDIO, BOMBAY 7. 33 YET ANOTHER NEW YEAR'S BOX OFFICE HIT JAYABHARAT PICTURES LIMITED presents RASILI A FULL LENGTH COMEDY WITH FUN AND HUMOUR AT EVERY STEP Starring: RADHA RANI & KAN HAIYALAL & Supported by Rani Bala, Dhulia, Anant Prabhu, & RAJ KUMAR & Produced by: C. L. MAHESHWARI & KARfiM CHAND Remember It's a Story & Direction : l^^wt&^f* \ Musical Score : KISHORE SHARMA ^ JU / \\ HANUMAN PRASAD presentation Watch For its Release At Your Favourite Theatre For Further Particulars : THE JAYABHARAT PICTURES LTD., Jan Mansion, Sir P. Mehta Road, Fort, Bombay. January, 1946 V ILM1NDIA It. D. MATHUR (New Delhi) How to taste the heart of an Indian actress : There are two ways: Either through the pressure of her fingers on your face or through the pressure of her lips on your lips. S. DARA (New Delhi) When is the right time to see a film actress in her true colours? At night, in the darkness of a theatre, when all shades of her talent are presented in a harmonious sequence. If you want to see the woman in her, you may as well see one of your own, any sweet time you like. J. N. BHARTIYA (Benares) Can you call Surraiya sweet : I should think so seeing that she is surrounded by our producing ants. This girl has some talent but hardly any screen face to be multiplied so man\ times in so many pictures. SREEDHARA MENON (Bombay) What is the exact age of Begum Para 5 Youth is a passing hue and as such it has ro age. Ask me after five years and I shall tell you what is Para's age. What is your opinion about Communists : Dogs in the manger. G. SYED ISMAIL (Bangalore) When a young married couple visited the cinema stealthily, the old folks at home kicked up a row and sent the girl to her father's place. Now the old ones have sworn to hang themselves if the two young ones meet. What is to be done ? Give the fossils a chance to hang themselves. MOHAN A S (Bombay) Who is the better actress between Mehtab and Vanmala ? Mehtab has more talent and more experience. Vanmala acts better than Atre. MISS BABY NAVGAONKAR (Sholapur) Since my college days I am in the habit of fooling young boys, just as you are in the habit of gambling- please do not misunderstand me. Fooling does not mean flirting. Is it a sin ? There is nothing like sin in this world. But I don't think much of the bovs seeing that you are still dangling that 'Miss' before your name. One of these days the joke will be on you. Be a good loser that day. For how many years can a woman flirt : A woman is a woman only when there is a man in the landscape. As long as there is a man, ready to respond, age and time are no bars to flirting. I have seen a woman of sixty giving the bedside look to a boy of twenty-five. The boy was after the old woman's young daughter. MISS KALPANA DE (Calcutta) How do you define "bad" girls as opposed to "good" ones ? LEELA MANDIR NORTHERN INDIA'S PREMIER STUDIO U/keXe independent Product u,it/ yet £lt Pound CO-OPERATION SPECIAL FEATURES:- £**f K'*ck ~ Conveyance IRECToa JIT/NBOSE INDIES GLAMOUB BOY m ASUOK KUMAR PRODUCTION N9 5" - AWAIT — "LOKMANYA TILAK" _THE LION OF MAHARASHTRA- The National Biography of A Great Patriot k THE ARROWS FILMISTAN LTD. m mm* of cmoTioiis JAMUNA fiisss to Hem Heights of glory in % HEMEN GUPTA NAWAB, MOLINA, IFTIKHAR and ARUNA SACCHINDAS (Motilal) Awaiting Keleanv For C. P. : JAMNADAS LTD. For SOUTH : SELECT PICTURES CIRCUIT. For BENGAL : MANSATA FILM DISTRIBUTORS. WITH A NEW THRILL IN HER VOICE KANAN -(-IccUimect ly&tk (xy the ftzeM & the ftuUic &4 — THE MOST MAGN TO COME OU "MASTER CREATIOI Written, Produced & Directed Ly KISHORE SAHU Asset. Directors RAMESh GUPTA • SUSHIL SAHU SATISh SAHU CinemalograpUp CHAfiDU Prod. Man, Edit, AM Ah T PRABHU K AMTILAL B. SHUKl Lyric, Music MILKAMTH TIWARI KhAh MASTAM AMBIKESh KUhTAL M A D li U R PRESS OPINIONS "Veer Kunal" must rank high among film productions for the beauty and splendour of its sets and costumes, its high histrionic standards, its vivid photography which introduces some novel angles and above all its dramatic value. The picture sets seal on Kishore Sahu's artistry. Sahu rises to lofty histrionic heights. — The Bombay Chronicle. "Veer Kunal" the greatest picture of the year. A Magnificent motion picture from the full-blooded genius of Kishore Sahu. —The Sunday Standard. "Veer Kunal" is an utterly great creation of Producer- director Kishore Sahu. — Bharat Jyoti. The extraordinary popularity of "Veer Kunal" is ex-i plained by its powerful drama, the uniformly high level of performances, and its production values, for which credit' goes to Kishore Sahu, who produced and directed the' picture with rare skill and artistry. — The Free Press Journal. Kishore Sahu's great historical "Veer Kunal" hasB proved a big box-office draw at the Novelty. Its strong emotional appeal and the superb direction of Sahu are the|i secrets of its tremendous success. Characterization in1; "Veer Kunal" is masterly work. — The Bombay Sentinal. :ICENT MOTION PICTURE OF INDIAN STUDIOS OF KISHORE SAHU'S GENIUS" Master-creation of Kishore Sahu's genius. "Veer Kunal" has proved one of the best hits of the year. — The Bombay Sentinel "Veer Kunal" goes into its run on a tide of acclama- tion. Powerfully dramatic, with no frills and trimming* ito divert attention the story grips attention from start Ito finish. Sets, costumes, photography, production values generally and acting are of the finest and combine admi- rably under Sahu's direction to make a fine picture. — The Times of India. "Veer Kunal" is a product of genius. — The Sporting Times. Kishore Sahu's "Veer Kunal" is, indeed, the most pleasant surprise of the year. He gives in "Veer Kunal" his contribution to the film industry in India of which he and his legion of fans and admirers have cause to feel proud ; for it is a picture whose thrill, melodrama, magni- ficient characterization and performance, and, above all, masterly direction stand unprecedented in the history of Indian motion picture. — R-UP Bam. "Veer Kunal" is the only heroic film truly based on Indian culture and Indian history produced up to this time in Indian film industry. Kishore Sahu is a genius. — Rasbhari (Delhi). "Veer Kunal" is a beautiful picture from the point of view of art, literature and nationalism. We are proud of this fact. Kishore Sahu deserves felicitations for present- ing us with such a fine and artistic picture. — Chitraprakash (Delhi). "Veer Kunal" is undoubtedly the best historical picture of the year 1945. — Chhaya (Bombay). Sahu is genuinely original and versatile artist who has the brilliance of genius in him. "Veer Kunal" will go down in the history of Hindustani pictures as a classic. — Avaz (Bombay). "Veer Kunal" is a historical picture in the true sense of the word. It is after a long time that we have seen a really fine picture. Tested on the touchstone and found sterling gold, we recommend this picture to all lovers of the cinema. — Taraka (Bombay). Every film critic must acclaim this classical historical as an outstanding picture, — Nizam (Bombay). Producer-director Kishore Sahu's "Veer Kunal" is a messenger of progressive ideals for the filmgoers. — Hashar (Bombay) 'HINDUSTAN CINE DISTRIBUTORS, BOMBAY MUTUAL BLD. , HORNBY ROAD, BOMBAY. RECKLESS ADVENTURE! TEMPESTUOUS ROMANCE !! BREATH-TAKIN6 THRILLS !!! VICTORY PICTURES' SECOND SENSATIONAL DRAMA BLACK it WSai^PE SIZZLES THE SCREEN WITH THKILLS - CEXCITEMENT and 7VDVENTURE Starring .—JOHN CAW AS * DILAWAR * KUMARI KUSUM * RANIBALA * NAZIRA MASTER BACHA * ARVIN KUMAR * ALI & A New Find ANITA. Directed By. S. M. RAZA. OUR NEXT- Music . FIGHTING GIRL K. NARAYAN RAO. Z~ParticuCax± ; VICTORY PICTURES Jyoti Studios, Kennedy Bridge. BOMBAY 7. TRUE TO HIS SALT -HE RUSHED TO SAVE HIS MASTER A GLORIOUS TALE OF MAN'S FIDELITY. EVEC WIN PICTURE** THE ACE OF STUNT KINGS DILAWAR In VAFADAR THE STORY THAT WILL THRILL MILLIONS THROUGH ALL THE AGES - TOLD WITH THE MOST SPECTACULAR STARS OP TO-DAY (Witk: — SUREKHA . RANIBALA * SAYANI * MAQBUL * RAZI & AMIR (Kardar fame ) — NEXT 1 2W«/%: FOR TERRITORIAL ATTRACTION. S. M. RAZA KHAN MASTANA RIGHTS EVER WIN PICTURES JYOTI STUDIOS KENNEDY BRIDGE. BOMBAY 7. "Oh, how beautiful her eyes are!" How often do we hear that when we see a charmer waltzing across the dance floors of our popular clubs! PINCHES OF LIFE Yes, mam, your eyes are a very im- portant matter of concern for you. They provide to the world an index of your inner self. They tell friends how sad you are and what is worrying you. Like the taxi-meter they record all your sleepless nights and in the lines below them people can count a million differ- ent worries from husband-feeding down to baby-nursing. It is really marvellous how human eyes give the show away and a woman is let down more often by her eyes than by her vagrant husband. You can spot in her eyes the fear of the grocer who knocks at the door Sunday mornings not knowing that hubby has lost the month's dough at the races the pre- vious Saturday. These little pinches of life take the sparkle out of the eyes gradually and long before the time the woman reaches thirties, she looks ten years older with worry drawing fami- liar designs in lines round these once- beautiful eyes, which caught the first fish only a few years before. Now don't go and commit suicide over this. This is something you can prevent for a long, long time to come. The greatest cure for the tired eyes is the human mind. Human body is Being inquisitive by nature, women look through too many key-holes These soulful eyes belong to a famous Indian film star. They have attracted millions all over the country and hypnotized thousands with their natural spell. But she didn't get them in a day. In her cradle they had the usual innocent glassy look. With years of education and understanding came the strange fascinating expression which distinguishes one woman from another. Unlike the man a woman has to look intelligent before she proceeds to prove it. For, with a woman intelligence is an important factor of her beauty. And without intelligent and expressive eyes no woman is going to be called beauti- ful. It is not so with men. Their faces often wear masks of mugs and their eyes look dull and woe-begone but behind such eyes we often find the busy workshop of a successful stock- exchange gambler. The talent of man is not measured with the yard-stick of beauty of the eyes. Woman, however, is placed differ- ently. To her eyes must remain a vital item of her beauty. Their function is not merely to see for themselves but be seen as well and found beautiful. You can spot in her eyes the fear of the grocer on Sunday mornings. the creature of the human mind. If you want the eyes to drop the cloud of worry, banish worry from your mind. It is easily said. Try it tonight and you'll find worry chasing you from room to room. We know it is a diffi- cult job to chase worry out of one's mind. But everything good is diffi- cult and therefore worth trying. You can do it by auto-suggestion, by optim- ism, by removing the causes of worry or by sharing it with your pal or part- ner. Do what you can but split this atom of worry till its minute particles cease to hurt you any more. Once the mind is overhauled and plugged to a new current of happy thoughts — a superhuman job for the worried woman — it is time to think of the physical needs of the eyes. MANY A STRAIN Women, being inquisitive creatures by nature, look through too many chinks and key-holes and naturally strain their eyes. In truth, they use their eyes too long and too often. On shopping expeditions they will look over any article a hundred times. If the price is high they refuse to believe what they see. The inevitable ques- tion, "Can this thing be worth so much?", puts more strain on the eyes and often unnecessarily. Then the house-hold bills are all evidence of guilt and fraud to the average house- wife. For minutes she will look at them and wonder at the impunity of people in overcharging. Mind you, all this while, the eyes are seeing all the 53 F ILMINDI A Can this thing be worth so much? figures in magnified form. The eyes bulge and get strained. Then there is the quiet, loyal wife with the gay husband who thinks that the time to return home is when the world sleeps. This woman waits, of course im- patiently though the world mistakes it for a patient vigil, and peers into the dark night every five minutes to spot the familiar figure of her lord and master. Sometimes she stares at the street lamp, expecting some human shadow to cut the light. All this is just so much strain to the woman's beauty bulbs. The bulbs are burning extra current of energy every second of these life's troubles and compromises. COURTESY TO THE EYE Seeing life what it is and as we can- not change the world merely to pre- vent eye-strain, the next best thing we can do is to soothe the strain to restore the energy burnt up. Eyes have been called the "windows of the soul". It was a good slogan fifty years back. The modern woman does not so much believe in the culti- vation of the soul. Don't worry about the soul — it will look after itself. Just nurse the sole of your foot and see that it isn't caught in a tight shoe. The pain in the sole al- ways affects the eye and a comfortable footwear is a good eye-treatment. Another way to avoid eye strain is to avoid glare — sun glare or light glare. For the first buy good shade glasses— not those cheap goggles which are no better than bits of coloured window panes — and wear them when the rays of the sun smart the eyes. But don't deprive the eyes of the life-giving sun- rays early morn and late evening/Like everything else, the eyes also require a bit of sunshine if they are to prove their metde in moonlight with the moonstruck dumb-bell holding your trembling hand. The light glare can be prevented by a little horse sense so rare in women. They have generally mule-sense, if that is any sense at all. Push the lamp be- hind you and let the light shine over your shoulder. This is the treatment to the lamp, assuming that the female is too lazy to push her chair a litde away and in front of the lamp. If the eyes burn, water or reveal line designs below and around, it is time to see some eye-specialist and ask him a hundred questions about the eyes and their care. Women who are good in asking their husbands a million ques- tions, become suddenly dumb when they go to the doctor. It is rather a strange phenomenon, perhaps as strange as the woman herself. Now if you don't feel happy about the eye-specialist, you can still do a bit for those poor eyes who let you see a lot of life with the least demand of attention, say, just as a courtesy to them, eh? January, 1946 Well, take a good soothing eye lotion or even rose water and wash these windows of your soul twice a day, morning and evening. If you do that your soul, hidden somewhere will also be cleaned automatically. Try it if you don't believe. Here is a reliable recipe for wash- ing your eyes daily. This lotion has both the qualities in it — curative and soothing. Sodii Salicylas 200 grains Distilled Water 20 ounces Use this twice a day — morning and evening — three minutes for each eye every time and eighty per cent of your eye worries should be over. It is an effective remedy for eye-strain. WINK AND BE WELL Very often eyes stick in the night — rather the lids and the lashes do — well try to fill the eye, before retiring, with a 10% Xeroform ointment. Wrinkles need a long time to be smoothed away. Take a nice cream and massage the wrinkled part very gently as if to open the wrinkles. Re- member, however, that you should never stretch the skin whilst massaging and the strokes should be semi-circular and directed outwards. Puffiness below the eyes needs elec- trical treatment. They do this in (Continued on page 65) College boys have eyes with X-rays that penetrate even the privacy of Ladies' cloak-rooms. 54 Reviewed In New York By: P. S. HARRISON {Editor: HARRISON'S REPORTS) "PILLOW TO POST" (Warner Bros., June 9; time, 92 min.) In spite of the fact that it lacks a substantial plot, this comedy-farce is, for the most part, fairly amusing, mainly because of the performance by the competent cast. Adapted from the stage play, "Pillar to Post," the story deals with the complications a pretty travelling sales- woman and a young army lieutenant get themselves into when she persuades the young man, a total stranger, to pose as her husband so that she could obtain sleeping quarters in a crowded town. The farcical situations that result are familiar but the events leading up to them arc laugh-provoking and, since the action is breezy all the way through, one's interest is held pretty well. Ida Lupino, as the heroine, shows a good flair for comedy. Learning that her father, owner of an oil well supply company, was short of salesmen, Ida persuades him to let her represent the firm on some important deals. She goes to a booming California town, near a large army base, only to find that living quarters were unavailable. Ruth Donnelly, manager of an auto court, mistakes her for an army bride and offers to rent her a bungalow. Desperate for a place to sleep, Ida indicates that she was married and sets out to pick up an officer so that she could register. She meets Lieut. William Prince, who reluctantly agrees to help her. Complications set in when the "newlyweds" run in'o Colonel Sydney Greenstreet, Prince's command- ing officer, who lived at the auto court with his wife (Barbara Brown). Prince, confused, is compelled to introduce Ida as his wife or face the consequences of a court martial for conduct unbecoming an officer. Green street, pleased with the "marriage", caters to the young couple and unwittingly compe's 'hern to spend the night together in the bungalow. Additional complications en- sue when Johnny Mitchell, manager of an oil company, from which Ida sought to obtain an order, insists that Ida accompany him on a date before signing the order; the other army wives at the auto court suspect her of being unfaithful to Prince. The young couple determine to get out of their predicament by stnging a quarrel and pretend- ing to get a "divorce," but Greenstreet interferes and vir- tually orders Prince to make up with his "wife". Mean- whi'e both had fallen in love. More complications ensue when Ida. invited to dinner at the Colonel's home, be- comes intoxicated and reveals the truth. Greenstreet, as- tounded, rhrea'ens to court martial Prince, but when he be- comes convinced that nothing wrong had happened, he gives the young couple his blessing as they drive off to make their marriage legal. Charles Hoffman wro'e the screen play, A'ex Gottlieb produced it, and Vincent Sherman directed it. The cast includes Stuart Erwin, Willie Best. Paul Harvey, Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra and others. Unobjectionable morally. "THE VALLEY OF DECISION" (MGM, no release date set; time, 118 min.) A very good drama, ideally suited to the talents of Greer Garson; it should go over very well, for the story, based on Marcia Davenport's best-selling novel, has all the ingredients that endow it with mass appeal. Laid in the Pittsburgh of 1880, the story covers a span of twelve years and it revolves around the unfulfilled love between an understanding Irish servant girl and the son of a wealthy steel baron. It is a beautiful but heart-rending romance, marred by a tragedy in which the young couple's fathers, long bitter enemies, lose their lives in a strike riot. Miss Garson and Gregory Peck, as the lovers, are outstanding, winning the spectator's respect because of their display ot fine traits. One sympathizes deeply with them because of the incidents that mar their happiness. One situation that will stir the emotions is where the steel baron, learn- ing that Miss Garson had given up his son, because of their difference in social positions, asks her to become his daughter-in-law. Changing events result in Peck's marry- ing another woman, but years later, in a powerfully dra- matic sequence, he denounces his nagging wife, and re- One of the best artistes Hollywood can be proud of, Bette Davis brings to the screen greater art in "The Corn Is Green", a Warner picture. 55 FILM INDIA January, 1946 t/ tk en - Liiuei tin inteieitiny TUSSLE between tke TWO BROTHERS - LORD KRISHNA and BALARAM ffictutijaiion of} tke Most Hilarious Incident from Mythology SUBHHDRR SHANTA APTE (Courtesy: S A. Concerns) ISHWARLAL - YAKUB - MEENAXI - USHA MANTRI - LATA SALVI - JOG - DAMUANNA and PREM ADIB PRODUCED & \A/ I N A Y A K DIRECTED BY: VV I IN rt I H N story: KH ANDEK AR For Rights Apply : INDIA FILM CIRCUIT LAMINGTON ROAD, BOMBAY. unites with Miss Carson. This ending should please most audiences. Lionel Barrymore, as Miss Garson's crippled, embittered father, has an unsympathetic part, but he plays it effectively. Greer becomes a servant in the home of Donald Crisp, despite the opposition of her father, who had been crippled in ah accident in Crisp's steel mill. She endears herself to Gladys Cooper, Crisp's wife, and to their four children, Gregory Peck, Marshall Thompson, Dan Duryea, and Marsha Hunt. Love comes to Greer and Peck, but she decides not to marry him because of her lowly posi- tion. But when Crisp learns of this, he brings the two together. Greer's joy, however, is saddened by a strike at the mill, encouraged by her father. When Crisp sends for strikebreakers, Greer, fearing bloodshed, arranges for a peace meeting between him and the strikers. But through a misunderstanding, the strikebreakers arrive in the midst of the meeting. Greer's father, enraged, incites the strikers and, in the ensuing battle, both he and Crisp are killed. Grief stricken, Greer withdraws from Peck's life. Then years later Peck, married to Jessica Tandy, a childhood sweetheart, leads an unhappy life because of .her constant nagging. When Peck's mother is stricken with a heart attack, she calls for Greer, much to the anno- yance of Jessica, who feared that Peck's love for her might flame anew. After their mother's death, Duryea, Thomp- son, and Marsha vote to sell the steel mill, despite Peck's plea that it remain in the family. Greer, to whom Peck's mother had left her share of the mill, sides with Peck and saves the mill by inducing Marsha to change her vote. Incensed by Greer's action, Jessica insults her. Peck, an gered, breaks with his wife, and indicating a divorce, re- unites with Greer. John Meehan and Sonya Levien wrote the screen play. Edwin H. Knopf produced it, and Tav Garnett directed it. The cast includes Pres'on Foster, Reginald Owen, John Warburton, Dean Stockwell and others. Unobjectionable morally. "KITTY" (Paramount, January 25; time, 103 min.) A fascinating period drama, one that will probably do big business, particularly in metropolitan centres, but it is certainly not entertainment for the family trade; for its story about a guttersnipe's rise from the London slums to a high position in court society, aided by the machina- tions of a disreputable young nobleman, is one of the most sordid ever presented on the screen. It is a curious mixture of trickery, thievery, murder, self-sacrifice, romance, and sex, in which none of the characters do anything commendable, vet it holds one's attention well, for it has been presented in a skillful manner and is aid- ed considerably by good performances. It will probably appeal chiefly to sophisticated audiences. The period de- picted is London in 1870, and the sets are extremely lavish: — Kitty (Paulette Goddard), an unkempt street waif, is employed by Sir Thomas Gainsborough ''Cecil Kellaway) to pose for a painting. Her portrait, titled "An Anony- mous Lady." is purchased by the elderly Duke of Mal- munster, who expresses a desire to meet its subiect. His remark is overheard by Sir Hugh Marcy (Ray Milland), an impoverished, unscrupulous nobleman, who had met Kitty in Gainsborough's studio. He promises the Duke January, 1946 F I L M 1 N D I \ that he will arrange a meeting, but conceals the fact that Kitty was a guttersnipe. Marcy takes Kitty into his home and together with his gin-loving aunt (Constance Collier), teaches her how to act like a "lady" in a scheme to marry her of! to the Duke, and thus recoup his fortune. In the course of her tutelage, Kitty falls in love with Marcy des- pite his shabby treatment. When Marcy is suddenly thrown into debtors' prison, Kitty inveigles a wealthy ironmonger into marrying her, and she steals his money to pay for Marcy 's release. The ironmonger attempts to beat Kitty for stealing, but a housemaid she had befriended kills him and then commits suicide herself. Shortly after the fune- ral, Marcy manoeuvres the now wealthy Kitty into a marriage with the elderly Duke. She bears a child that had been fathered by the ironmonger, but allows the Duke to believe that the child was his own. The excitement of the birth causes the Duke to die from a heart attack, making Kitty one of England's richest noblewomen. Having been deeply in love with Marcy all along, Kitty finally becomes angered at his indifference to her and, to spite him. she becomes engaged to Brett Harwood (Patric Knowles) his best friend. Marcy, his love for her awak- ened, tries to break up the engagement by revealing Kitty's past, but Harwood is unimpressed. Kitty, how- ever, assured that Marcy 's love for her was genuine, jilts Harwood and proclaims her love for Marcy. Darrel Ware and Karl Tunberg wrote the screen play from a novel by Rosamond Marshall, Mr. Tunberg pro- duced it, and Mitchell Leisen directed it. The cast in- cludes Eric Blore and others. Strictly adult fare. Veera makes the screen a career in "Shikari" a social theme of Filmistan Ltd. Khurshid Jnr. as the belle of Araby in "Song of Desert" a Jagriti picture. "THE SPIDER" (20th Century-Fox, no release date set; time, 61 min.) This murder mystery melodrama is only mild pro- gram fare, for the plot is ordinary, lacks suspense, and the action drags. Even though the murderer's identity is not divulged until the end, it fails to hold the spectator's at- tention, for the events leading up to his unveiling do not intrigue one. Moreover, the motive for the crimes are not clear to the spectator, for it is communicated to him through excessive, uninteresting dialogue. Stock tricks have been used to create a mysterious atmosphere, and to throw suspicion on the different characters, but they are not very effective. The comedy, little as there is of it, is hardly worth mentioning. Seeking to unravel the mysterious disappearance of her sister, Faye Marlowe retains Richard Conte, a private detective, and asks him to pick up an envelope from Ann Savage, his assistant. Conte, mystified, arranges for Ann to meet him at his apartment. There, before he can obtain the envelope, she is murdered by a mysterious intruder. Lest the police suspect him of the crime, Conte removes Ann's body and takes it to her apartment. The police find it under circumstances that lead them to sus- pect Conte. but they are unab'e to hold him because of lack of evidence. Conte, determined to solve Ann's mur- der, starts an investigation of his own. He trails Faye to a local theatre where he finds her working in a mind- reading act with Kurt Kreuger. Faye explains that Ann had communicated with her and had offered to give her proof of her sister's murderer in exchange for a diamond brooch. She explains also that Kreuger had been married to her sister but that they had been divorced several year* 57 FILM INDIA January, 1946 Jamuna graces the screen again in "Pahechan" a social story of New Talkies Ltd. previously. Convinced that Faye had nothing to do with Ann's murder, Conte visits Ann's apartment and, slipping by a police guard, finds the envelope, which contained newspaper clippings about an unsolved murder that had taken place in a small New Orleans hotel. Following up these clues, Conte discovers evidence leading him to be- lieve that Kreuger was guilty of the crime. He enlists Faye's aid and, together, they succeed in gaining conclu- sive proof of Kreuger's guilt. Trapped, Kreuger attempts to kill them, but both are saved by the timely arrival ot the police. Jo Eisinger and W. Scott Darling wrote the screen play, Ben Silvey produced it, and Robert Webb directed it. The cast includes Manton Morcland, Walter Sandc, Marton Kosleck and others. Unobjectionable morally. "THIS LOVE OF OURS" (Universal, Nov. 2; time, 90 min.) This is an effective drama, well acted and directed, the sort that will have a particular appeal for women, be- cause the theme is that ot mother love and sacrifice. Although the story will not stand up under close scrutiny, it has, nevertheless, been handled deftly, holding one's interest throughout. Merle Oberon, as the mother, who is mistakenly accused by her husband of unfaithfulness, and who in' later years finds that her young daughter, taken away from her as a baby, believes her to be dead, arouses much sympathy for herself. It has several highly dramatic situations, the most effective one taking place at the finish, where Miss Oberon, happily reconciled with her remorseful husband but miserable over her inability to win the affection of her daughter, who, unaware of their true relationship, treated her like a strange intruder, de- cides to leave him for the sake of the girl's happiness; it is then that the daughter becomes understanding and rushes into Miss Oberon's arms with the cry, "Mother!" Thi» scene will bring tears to the eyes ot most women: — Charles Korvin, a struggling young doctor in Paris, falls in love with Merle Oberon, an actress, and marries her. When their daughter reaches the age of two, they arrange a birthday party for her. Korvin, while purchas- ing a cake for the party, overhears two women gossip about a supposed affair Merle was having with another man. Korvin follows Merle and sees her enter the home of a strange man, unaware that she was teaching him to play the piano to earn money for the family bills. He accuses Merle of being unfaithful to him and, taking their daughter with him, leaves her. Years later, in the United States Korvin, now a prominent doctor, attends a medical convention in Chicago and, at a night-club, finds Merle playing the piano as an accompanist to Claude Rains, a rapid sketch artist. Emotionaly upset at having met him, Merle shoots herself in an attempted suicide. Gorvin, through a skilful operation saves her life and, when she recovers, he asks her to return home with him, pleading that their daughter was lonely. Although informed that the little girl (Sue England), now twelve years old, was under the impression that her mother had died, and that she was too young to be told the truth, Merle agrees to accompany Korvin home, despite her hatred for him. Upon their arrival, Korvin introduces Merle to his house- hold as his second wife. Sue, however, greets her with resentment. Merle and Korvin become reconciled when she learns that he had discovered her innocence years pre- viously, and had searched in vain for her. Yearning for Sue's love but unable to reveal herself, Merle, distraught because of the child's hatred towards her, decides to leave. But Rains, a guest at the house, by defdy sketching Sue's Prem Adib plays "Krishna" in "Subhadra" a mythological comedy produced and directed by K. Winayak. 58 January, 1946 M LM1 N D I A mc-nrn! picture of her mother, which he makes to resemble Merle, helps the child to grow more understanding and is instrumental in reuniting them. Bruce Manning, John Klorer and Leonard Lee wrote the screen play, Howard Bendict produced it, and Wil- liam Dieterle directed it. The cast includes Carl Esmond. Jess Barker, Harry Davenport, Helene Thimig, Frank Morgan and others. Unobjectionable morally. "THE CORN IS GREENH (Warner Bros., no release date set; time, 114 min.) An excellent dramatic entertainment, finely produced. It is a good combination of a human interest story and skilful characterizations, with intelligent and sensitive direction. Its appeal, however, will be mainly to high class audiences; as far as the masses are concerned, although there is human interest in the story, it is too wordy, and since there is little action, many patrons may become fid- getv. Moreover, the atmosphere is heavy and there is little comedv relief. Bette Davis does artistic work as the mid- dle-aged London school teacher, who comes to a poor Welsh mining town with a determination to bring the be- nefits of education to illiterate boys. She is at all times a sympathetic character, because of her self-sacrificing efforts to help the underprivileged. It is a drama of courage and faith, with many situations that will stir the emotions. Although its chief appeal will be to the classes, Bette Davis' popularity, and the fact that the story had been adapted from a famous stage play, should help to draw the rank and file: — Arriving in the mining town to take up residence in a house she had recently inherited, Miss Davis is appalled by the ignorance and poverty of the inhabitants, who sent their twelve year-old children to work in the mines. Sho launches an educational program to stamp out illiteracy, but her efforts are sabotaged by the local squire (Nigel Bruce), who feared that educated youngsters would be to his economic disadvantage. Undaunted, Miss Davis turns her home into a school and employs, at her own expense, two assistant teachers. When she discovers among her pupils John Dall, a gifted young miner, she deter- mines to make something of him in the hope that he will one day lead his people. In two years, Dall progresses so rapidly that Miss Davis prepares him for an Oxford scho- larship. But the boy, rebelling against her constant driv ■fig, gets drunk one evening and has an affair with Joan Lorring, disreputable daughter of Miss Davis' cockney housekeeper. Months later, when Miss Davis learns of Joan's pregnancy, she bribes the girl to keep the news from Dall lest it interfere with his examinations. Dall " ins the scholarship, but, when he learns that Joan had borne his illegitimate son, he insists upon marrying her and returning to the mines. Violently opposed to his giv- ing up his brilliant future to live with Joan, who neither loved Dall nor wanted the child. Miss Davis solves the problem bv adopting the babv. Grateful, Dall goes on to Oxford. Casey Robinson and Frank Cavett wrote the screen play, Jack Chertok produced it, and Iriving Rapper direct- ed it. The cast includes Rhys Williams, Rosalind Ivan, Mildred Dunnock and others. Adult entertainment. m^u&^-PEERLm PICTURES. 116. CHRRNI ROAD. BOMBflV Personality! It must be admitted that Producer- director Kishore Sahu is a man of rare guts. Unlike others he runs away from the usual rut of motion picture production and adopts new ideas and themes taking terrible trade risks in doing so. Looked at from this point of view. "Veer Kunal" is distinctive in many respects. In this country where music forms the main backbone of success for our pictures, Kishore has given only four songs in "Veer Kunal" and three of these are mood- and-theme songs without the pri- mary intention of entertaining. Kishore has used music as an extra medium to express the emotional background of his theme. Inciden- tally, this is the first time since Indian talkies came to be made that a producer has given so little of music and so much of it in harmony with the spirit of the situations. Another feature of the picture which stares one in the eye is the casting of Shobhana Samarth in the principal role of the vamp. No pro- ducer in the country could have dared this seeing that Shobhana has always been typed in the goody goody-roles of the traditional Hindu women, like Seeta, Damayanti and Taramati. When Kishore selectefl Shobhana to play Tishyarakshita, the heartless vamp of "Veer Kunal". many a knowing producer looked upon Sahu as a mad man heading for artistic suicide. "Veer Kunal" however, tells an altogether different story about this long-debated casting. Shobhana has given the best perfor- mance of her long screen career and has made the difficult role a great success. Shobhana's success in this picture proves that this artiste has had a lot of latent talent all along and all that she needed was a discerning director to bring out her histrionic art. Kishore has not only proved that a good artiste can play any role given good direction but has also shown that Shobhana is not such .1 mug as critics were inclined to be- lieve for years. Still another distinctive feature of "Veer Kunal" is die democratic Ra 60 VEER KUNAL Producer: Kishore Sahu Language: Hindi Story & screenplay: Kishore Sahu Lyrics: Nilkanth Tiwari, Ma- dhur and Kuntal. Music: Khan Mastana Costumes & Art: Kishore Sahu Cinematography: Chandu Audiography: Narasimh Ben- dodkar Cast: Kishore Sahu, Durga Khote, Shobhana Samarth, Nila Nagini, Mubarak, Mava Ban- nerjee etc. Released At: Novelty, Bombay. Date of Release: 1st December J945 Directed by: KISHORE SAHU vour given to an ordinary drama of human passions. Originally, the story was just a passion play of a young lascivious step-mother aiming to drag her virtuous step-son into her own bed of lust, being primarily fascinated by Kunal's magnetic eyes. In adapt- ing this legend for the screen Kishore lent it a higher purpose by weaving round it some political atmosphere and providing some strong argu- ments in favour of democracy. BEATS SHANTARAM Then again the use of the eyes of Kunal from the beginning to the end is undoubtedly a cleverly woven effort throughout the story. Know ing that Kunal had magnetic eyes which were blinded by a heartless vamp, Kishore first introduces Kunal in the story through the eyes, keeping the rest of his figure out and in the dark. This procedure brings home the tragedy with its requisite inten- sity when the time of putting those eyes out is reached in the closing stages oi the story. Fortunately, Kishore, whatever his other short- comings, has remarkably fascinating eyes and he has made very good use of them in the title role of "Veer Kunal." Recruit Shashikant of Gummidipundi, has had film experience already but he wants to stage a come-back in Hindustani pictures. Usually Indian film directors do not realise the thematic symbols of their stories and often these symbols are lost in the picturization because of lack of special emphasis. Of all people, Shantaram has made this mis- take in "P. P. A. Dera." This pic- ture was a story of eyes mainly and vet Shantaram lacked the imagination to emphasize this principal symbol of his theme. In this respect Kishore beats Shantaram hollow, for, Kishore has used his main symbol cleverly and with correct emphasis and imagi- nation throughout the picture. Coming to the story proper, its main flaw lies in the too serious ap- proach of the writer in his treatment of the theme. The entire sub- ject is developed in a classical strain, providing very little relief or relaxation. The picture, therefore, becomes rather a heavy entertainment and more so with Kishore's realism in direction often bordering on morbi- dity. The scene in which Kunal's eyes are put out is so realistically portrayed on the screen, that nervous women almost scream at the sight. It is great art in places, but is it plea- sant entertainment ? The director has used a lot of foot- age in the introductory stage of the storv providing several moments of drag before the interval. But after the interval the story gathers some overwhelming drama which travels at a terrific speed till Kunal delivers his beautiful oration in Ashok's court. At places breathless suspense is main- tained and one is almost swept off his feet in sympathy with Kunal who January, 1946 FILMIND1 A stoically goes through a number of inhuman tortures. A LEGEND OF HISTORY The legend of Kunal dies hard. There is nothing in history to prove that Ashok did have a son named Kunal'. Leading historians describe this story as a persistent belief while mentioning Tishyarakshita as the young wife of the old emperor Ashok. We are inclined to believe the subject to be an allegoric theme of human passions appearing in the myths of all lands and races at different times. The screen story in a nutshell is that Kunal was the favourite son of Ashok beloved by all, the father and the people. When the story opens Kunal is a motherless son loved by his step- mother, Kuruvaki. All is happiness and peace in the empire until Tishyarakshita comes as the young bride of the Emperor. This is the bad woman of the story who gets attracted by the fascinating eyes and the youthful charm of Kunal. Very soon her desires begin to take morbid shapes and she chases Kunal from place to place to console her lust. But Kunal, whose character was the sheet-anchor of the Mauryan dynasty, rebukes his step-mother in no uncertain language. Frustrated in her desires and stung to the quick by the rebuke, Tishyarakshita soon be- comes a dangerous woman with vin- dictive plans. She starts persecuting Kunal from day to day till the climax of putting out his eyes is reached. Too late does the Emperor come to know of the tragedy and the truth behind it but when he does know the vicious butterfly is soon consigned to the burning flames. KISHORE AND SHOBHANA TRIUMPH The production values of the pic- ture are not uniform. In keeping with his pioneering spirit of enter- prise, Kishore Sahu has taken a new man for camera work. This man has given good results in steady shots but has stumbled a bit in pan and trolley shots. Besides, Kishore's psy- chological requirements in the use of the camera seem to have put too much strain on the maiden enterprise of the cameraman. The sound record- ing is not quite happy in places. The sets look good without intruding either on the theme or on the audience. The best part of the picture is the direction which is very imaginative and slick in the latter half of the picture. In the earlier half the story moves a bit laboriously owing to a slow script. From the players, Kishore, Sho- bhana and Durga Khote give a good account of themselves. Kishore fits well the title role ol Kunal and does a lot of clever eye- work. In the final emotional sequen ces, Kishore speaks and acts with rare feeling and takes all the sympathy of the audience. Supporting Kishore is Shobhana Samarth who gives al most a classic portrayal as "Tishyarak- shita". Never before has this woman acted so well. She succeeds in creat- ing hatred for the character she plays and by her realistic villainy secures for the hero a large measure of sym- pathy. Shobhana has given her best performance which she seems to have kept as a family secret all these years during which she has been making faces at us through the masks cf Seeta and Taramati. Durga Khote does justice to her role of the good-hearted and loving (Continued on page 68) ■i-lete'i a. ~Tktillet with £onyi and ^.motion--- HILAL FILM CORPORATION'S MAIDEN OFFERING "HA I JANI" CHANDRIKA - BABURAO PAHELWAN - SAMSON - MANNAN - RAJA SALEEM PUTLI - MUNSHI KHANJAR - HABIB - AZIM - MANCHI TOOTHI - MAQBUL - RAZI AND MASTER BACHA. l£>ize.ctoi : CPxoducsxi : A. R. ZAMINDAR. JABIR HYDERABADI - YUSUF MERCHANT NISSAR BAZMI Our and N. M. AFRICAWALLA ^Production in chaxys. A. R. RIZVI and KAUSAF m /W A rpi^ 47 A X X SHANTA PATEL - ALTAF NEXT MATWAL1 HABIB -MASTER BACHA For Particulars : HILAL FILM CORPORATION, Kennedy Bridge, BOMBAY 7. Booking: EXCELSIOR FILM EXCHANGE, BOMBAY 4. 61 VEESA— This popular artiste of the Punjab will be seen once again in " Heer Ranjah", a love theme of the Punjab, produced in Punjabi and Urdu by K. Asif. RAMNIK PRODUCTIONS (Bom- bay) Producer-director Mazhar Khan is having a very busy time supervising "Naiyya", a social story featuring him- self with Munnawar Sultana, Anwar and Balakram. The picture is being directed by Aslam Noori. MAZHAR ART PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Defying all the shortages, whether in raw films or in studio floorspacc, Producer Mazhar Khan has already started a new picture called "Sona" (Gold). This picture will be directed by Mazhar Khan himself and its theme revolves round the story of the present-day people of the world and their greed for money. AMAR PICTURES (BDmbay) Producer-director Baburao Patel is now taking the final sequences of his social story "Gvalan" starring Sushila Rani and supported by Trilok Kapoor, Bipin Gupta and others. This picture is reported to be having lilting tunes mainly composed for popular appeal. MURLI MOVIETONE (Bombay) Director Ram Daryani is reported to have completed all his indoor shooting of his new mythological story "Shravan Kumar". In the first week of the next month he is expected to leave on an all India tour for taking out-door shots of the different shrines of the Hindus which were visited by the hero of the story. This picture features Chandra- mohan, Mumtaz Shanti, Pahari Sanyal and others. RANJIT MOVIETONE (Bombay) Director Kidar Sharma's "Mumta/ Mahal" went off the Royal Opera House more quickly than expected. It is said that the picture failed to attract in Bombay. Another picture of Kidar Sharma called "Dhanna Bhagat" ha* taken its place and is also reported to be having a rough passage. At the studio, they have a number of pictures in making. Principal among them are: "Prabhu-Ka-Ghar" directed by Vajahat Mirza and starring Khur- shid and Trilok Kapoor; "Chand Cha- kori" featuring Mumtaz Shanti and Surendra and directed by Kidar Sharma. "Dharti" featuring Mum- taz Shanti and Trilok Kapoor and directed by Manibhai Vyas; "Rajputani" directed by Aspi, star- ring Veena and Jairaj; "Phool- wari" starring khurshid and Motilal and directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi; and "Seeta Haran", a costume subject, with the old mythological story. The picture for which a lot is said and which is now ready for release is "Moorti", a social story, featuring Khurshid and Motilal and directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi. AZAD PICTURES (Bombay) Director Balwant B. Dave, once a cameraman, has jointly floated this concern with S. H. Tarani and has taken up "Namak" as the subject tor first production. This is evidently a story with a social theme showing the loyalty of workers for the salted bread they earn. The picture features Bhim, Dilawar and Dulari, and Balwant him- self will be directing the same. NATIONAL STUDIOS LTD (Bom bay) National Studios Limited, having rested on their oars for a long time, have now begun a new production call ed "Inqualab". It is a colourful story of mediaeval times giving an argument on behalf of democracy. The picture is already being shot in the indoors. JAYABHARAT PICTURES LTD. (Bombay) This is one more production com- pany which is going to be a feature ot the post-war reconstruction period in the Indian film industry. They have started a social picture called "Rasili" which, they tell us, is a musical coined) It seems to be a wedding with a gun with Sushila Rani as the bride and Trilok Kapur as the groom in "Gvalan", an Amar picture produced and directed by Baburao Patel. 63 FILMINDIA January, 1946 Bhudo Advani is in trouble in "Pehli Nazar" a costume story o£ Mazhar Khan. of a rare type. The picture is being directed by Kishore Sharma and the music is being given by Hanuman Prasad, whose work in "Draupadi" was so much extolled. The story fea- tures Radha Rani and Kanhaiyalal and is being supervised by Karan Chand. STANDARD PICTURES CORPO- RATION (Bombay) Final and finishing touches are be- ing given to "Bairamkhan", a histori- cal subject from the Moghul times. This picture which is directed by Gajanan Jagirdar has already gone through a terrific struggle through its different production stages and one almost sympathises with Producer Havewalla for the obstacles he had to surmount in his very first essay as a producer. The cast of the picturt includes Gajanan Jagirdar, Mehtab, David and many others, and it has a splendid background of historical settings built in the Minerva Studios of Bombay. NEPTUNE FILMS (Bombay) The latest from this production company is the news that "Silver Queen", a stunt thriller, has been completed by Raja Yagnik. The pic- ture features Navinchandra, Madhuri and many others. Another picture under production is called "Tilasmi Heera" which is directed by A. M. Khan. DUGAL PICTURES (Bombay) While these people are continuing with their shooting of "Haqdar", a social story of Muslim life, under the direction of Rafiq Razvi, they are consolidating plans for future pro- duction by purchasing photographic and recording equipment. "Haqdar" features Harish and Najma with Anita Sharma and H. Prakash in the supporting cast. PRAFULLA PICTURES (Bombay) Inspite of having two pictures on hand under his direction, Producer- director K. Winayak is now shooting the final sequences of "Subhadra" a mythological subject treated in a humorous manner. The picture fea- tures Shanta Apte and has Yakub and Ishwarlal in the supporting cast. VASWANIi ART PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Encouraged by the success of romantic stories, these producers have hegun the preliminary preparations of "Sassi Punnu" under the direction of J. P. Advani . They have selected Geeta Nizami as the lead in the picture. ADVANCE FILM EXCHANGE (Bombay) This influential firm of distributors who have secured the exploitation rights of "Ghar", are pretty happy about their acquisition, because this picture, which is produced by Sunrise Pictures of Bombay, has been giving a good account of itself at the Majes- tic. NEW TALKIES LIMITED (Cal- cutta) News comes to us from Calcutta Bipin Gupta makes screen history by his wonderful performance in "Gvalan'' a picture directed by Baburao Patel. Here he is. with the inimitable David and Madhuri, hot over a hot tea. M January, 1946 FILM INDIA that Director P. C. Barua has been able to complete the shooting of "Pahechan", and by the time this ap- pears in print the picture will have been censored. In the cast we find Barua, Jamuna and Maya Bannerjee with Ahindra Chaudhary in a prin- cipal role. CHANDRA ART PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) After providing a lot ot variety in village shots and other atmosphere, Director Nanubhai Bhatt has been able to complete his social story call- ed "40 Crores". The picture fea- tures Nirmala, Arun, Yakub and many others who are expected to gi\e a good account of themselves. HILAL FILM CORPORATION (Bombay) This is a new producing company which promises to be a feature of the vigorous film activities in the post-war Manorama piays a pathetic role in "Rehana" a picture of Girdhar Bahar Productions. reconstruction period. Their maiden picture will be called "Hai Jani" and will have Chandrika and many others in the cast. The picture is being directed by A. R. Zamindar. LUCKY FILMS (Bombay) Producer K. L. Kahan reports that he is now doing the final shooting of his two thrillers "Nishana" and "khooni." Both the pictures feature Rajrani and Navinchandra and are expected to provide a lot of thrills as these are stories with speed and action. The next picture planned by them is called "Phansi." FAMOUS FILMS (Bombay) Great preparations are afoot at the studios of the Bombay Talkies secur- ed by Producer Shiraz Ali Hakim for the production of "Mughal-E- Azam", a story of the times of Akbar. This picture which is being directed by Asif has Veena. Chandramohan and Nargis playing the main roles. INDIA FILM CIRCUIT (Bombay) One of the several pictures controll- ed by this firm of distributors is "Hamjoli" which is being produced for National Theatres by Messrs. Ismail Memon and Luqman. It is a social story featuring Nur Jehan and it will be soon ready under the per- sonal supervision of Producer K. Abdulla. JAGRITI PICTURES (Bombay) It is a strange coincidence that when "Desert Song", a picture pro- duced by Warner Brothers has been released in Bombay, another one pro- duced by an Indian company and called "Song Of The Desert" should be released at the Kamal Talkies in Bombay. We are told that this picture pre- sents some classically spectacular shots of desert life in the country. KAHAN ART PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Director K. L. Kahan has evidently started this company as his very own for production purposes. The maid- en production of this company will be a social storv called "Mahiya" which is being produced in Punjabi Ram Daryani's intellectual height is greater than his physical one. In the past he has directed some good pic- tures, but recently he has been found with a slight swelling in the head. That is the malady that stops further improvement. Ram has the stuff of a good director and we hope he uses some of it in "Shravan Kumar" (Continued from page 54) America. Don't try it in India. Fol- low the following natural method: Take a tumbler of cold, clean water and blink your eyes several times for three minutes, night and morning. This tones up the tiny muscles under the eyes and with perseverance you will miss to find the puffing in the mirror one morning. With women all beauty defects are found with the mirror. Like everything else, the eyes also need regular exercise to keep them fit. Try this one, twice daily — morning and evening: Open the eyes wide and role the blacks from side to side and up and down and around the white globes a dozen times. Stop and close the eyes completely for a minute. Do this six times and see how vou feel. Winking is also a good eye-exercise, but it is a risky affair in the open with our college boys about. Some of these lip-sticked fellows — this is the new col- lege vogue — have eyes with X-rays that penetrate even the privacy of ladies' cloak-rooms and it is always safe for women to wink in their own rooms with the blinds down. That is enough about milady's eyes. If she wants more of these hints she had better wink to me next time out. 65 FILMINDIA January, 1946 Alice Faye is reported to be reading the script of "Fallen Angel". It seems to be written on the bald plate of Director Otto Preminger of 20th Century Fox. and is expected to be ready in the month of March. In the cast we find Kundanlal, Rajrani and Nawaz. VICTORY PICTURES (Bombay) Though this company is not so well- known in the country, it must be mentioned that they have produced pretty good pictures in the thriller variety. Their next will be called "Black And White" under the direc- tion of S. M. Raza and featuring John Cawas, Dilawar, Surekha and others. Another picture they have in view is called "Fighting Girl." EVERWIN PICTURES (Bombay) It seems people are busy not only producing new pictures but also start- ing new production companies. This new company has a maiden picture in hand called "Vafadar" under the direction of S. M. Raza. Still another one which they hope to produce pretty quickly is called "Bevafa." BRIJ PRAKASH PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Taking the story of Munshi Khan jar, Director Nari Ghadiali is pro- ducing a thriller called "Pick Pocket". The picture is chaperoned by Brij- mala, a woman producer, and features Navin Yagnik and Rajrani. FILMISTAN LIMITED (Bombay) By the time this is in hand, the producers of "Chal Chal Re Nav Jawan" will have released in Bombay, at the Roxy, their new picture "Shikari." This picture stars Ashok Kumar supported by Veera and Paro, two new-comers to the screen. The former is a Parsi lady from Indore and was recently married to Mr. Mohsin Abdulla. Two other pictures in making are called "Safar" featuring Shobha and Kanu Roy and 'Mazdoor' featuring Indumati, Veera and Nasirkhan. Still another picture that is likely to go into production almost imme- diately is tentatively called Production No. 5 at present. The distinctive feature of this picture will be that it will be produced by Ashok Kumar, for the first time as a producer. R.R.B. STUDIO SPOTLIGHTS R.R.B. Studio Spotlights, made in England, and famous all over the world, are now available to the Indian Film Industry. These R.R.B with the exception of 1,000 Watts, consist of a one piece cast alumi- nium body with sheet linings, fitted with Bi post lampholder, Rhodium Plated metal reflector, heat resist- ing prismatic condenser and double pole switch. Each lamp is provided with 40 feet of cable. Focussing in every case is effected by control handle at the rear of the unit. Available at the following approxi- mate prices: 500 Watt light with stand complete Rs. 225 each 1000 Watt light with stand complete Rs. 400 .. 2000 Watt light with stand complete Rs. 47S ,. 5000 Watt light with stand complete Rs. 725 .. 1000-1500 Watt Rifle- flood with stand Rs 400 .. 2000 Watt adjustaspot Rs. 880 ,. Also available H.I. Arc lights in 60, 120 and 150 amps and Top, Side Lights, etc. Prices on application. Write for full details to:- CANAM RK , flOfMIT tt. MHMT 66 OUR REVIEW "Tadbir", in dayant-Daue Jumble! Mubarak Gives An Excellent Performance ! Last Days Of Saigal Long before anything else can hap- pen to you in this picture, the tragedy of Saigal comes home. Years ago when the New Theatres discovered Saigal, the Indian screen secured overnight its most emotional singer with the pro- verbial golden voice. Saigal soon be- came the ambition of every musician in the country- Every young man and woman in the country crooned Saigal's famous songs and within a year over a million throats sung Saigal's popular hits in every nook and corner of India. Saigal has never been a big musician. He had only the divine gift of a glori- ous voice the like of which has not yet been heard on the Indian screen. We doubt whether the ever genial Saigal ever had any enemies, but if he had some, even they could not have wished any ill to his unique voice. Saigal's voice was considered to be a nation's pride. And justly so. For years he thrilled millions and brought new music into a country that was just becoming unmusical. Saigal must have inspired thousands to learn music and no single person has con- tributed more to the popularity of Indian music than Saigal has done during the last 10 years. But the man whom Divinity had blessed with such a rare gift proved a Producers: TADBIR Jayant Desai Productions. Language: • Hindustani Story: Mohanlal Dave Songs: Swami Ramanand Dialogues: Munshi Sagar Hussein Photographv: Dronacharya Sound: M. C. Bhalchandra Music: Lai Mohamed Cast: Saigal. Suraiya, Salvi, Mubarak, etc. Released at: Krishna. Bombay. Date of Release: 16th November I94S Director: JAYANT DESAI bad artist with his own life. He does not seem to have realized yet that life's greatest art is life itself. Today he croaks like a sick frog when once his incomparable melody would fill the theatre with thrilling subdeties of hu- man emotions. Though Saigal still stumbles through a weary existence, he is really dead. No longer do we see in him that little spark of Divinity which had given this man a glorious oppor tunity to entertain a willing nation of millions. Saigal is dead. But his song In "Tadbir", a social story produced by Jayant Desai, Mubarak seems to have £ Oct. '45 issue — Social.— "presents sensible en- tertainment." (1*) 'Chand Tara* (Hindustani) (Asiatic) Dec. '45 issue — Social "a stupid time-killer without even a single moment of intelligent relief." (1») 'Dotana' (Bengali) (Eureka) June '45 issue- Social.— "just rotten and disgusting." (2»)'Dui Purush' (Bengali) (New Theatres) Nov. '45 issue— Social.— "rattles down N. T. Standard— (2*) 'Jwar Bhata' (Hindustani) (Bombay Talkies) Jan. '45 issue — Social. — "nothing outstanding— yet it is not a bad time-killer." K (1*) 'Kiran' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) July '45 issue- Social.— "just a rotten picture." (2*) 'Krishnarjun Yuddha' (Hindi) (Murari) Sept. '45 issue — Mythological. — "a boring story." n*i "Lakharani" (Hindustani) (Prabhat) Dec. '45 issue— costume fantasy— "a picture too rotten for words.' (2») 'Lalkar' (Hindustani) (Jayant Desai) Feb. '45 issue— social.— "not a bad time-killer if you are not looking for anything intellectual in it." (2*) 'Lai Haveli' (Hindustani) (Bombay Cinetone) Feb. '45 issue — Social.— "continues to entertain throughout its length." 'Lady Doctor' (Hindustani) (Venus) June '45 issue — Social. — "should be considered an all round flop." KILMIND1A January, lyifc (2*) 'Leila Majnu' (Urdu) (Hindi) June '45 issue- folklore.— "proves slightly boring." M (1*) 'Maha Maya' (Tamil) (Jupiter) March '45— issue— Mythological.— "moderate stuff without much entertainment." (2*) 'Miss Devi' (Hindustani) (Laxmi) Oct. '45 issue- Propaganda social.— "a pretty cheap production.^ (2*) 'My Sister' (Hindustani) (New Theatres) March '45 issue— Social.— "a common story clumsily done — expected to run well because of its or- thodox theme." (1*) "Mumtaz Mahal"— (Urdu) (Ranjit) Dec. '45 issue— Historical— "a disgusting distortion of history." (2*) 'Mun.ki-Jeet' (Hindustani) (Shalimar) Nov. '45 issue— Social.— "though travels a bit leisurely before interval, it gathers some tempo and drama after the interval." (1*) 'Maharathi Kama' (Hindustani) (Prabhakar) Nov. '45 issue— Mythological.— "a ludicrous por- trayal of Mahabharat." N C2*) 'Nala Damayanti' (Hindi) (Janak) July '45 issue —Mythological.— "a killing time-killer." (1») "Subah Sham" (Urdu) (Indrapuri Studio) Dec. '45 issue— Social— "a dead pictu'e. It has nei- ther life nor movement." (2*) 'Tahsildar' (Telugu) ( Jagadish Films) May '45 issue — Social "a good time-killer." (1*) 'Taramati' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) Nov. '45 issue —Mythological.— "fails to move— is one long se- quence of boredom." U d*).'Uspar' (Hindustani) (Sun Art) May '45 issue- social. — "becomes a spineless stuff." (3*) 'Vikramaditya' (Hindi) (Praka*h) Aug. '45 issue —Historical. — "becomes an entertaining picture." (1*) 'Vish Kanya' (Hindustani) (Ranjit) March '45 issue — Folklore. — "a motion picture poison one would not like to swallow." (2*) 'Village Girl' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) Nov. '45 issue — Social. — "a pleasant picture to see — story misses emotional target." 2*) 'Yateem' (Hindustani) (Central Studios) July '45 issue — Social. — "makes good impression." (1*) 'Pannadai' (Hindi) (Pradeep) May '45 issue- Historical.— "Proves a heart-rending flop." (3*) 'Panna' (Hindustani) (Navyug) Aug." '45 issue- Propaganda Social.— "a good time-killer." (1*) Path B2ndhey Dilo' (Bengali) (D3-Luxe) July '45 icsue — Social.— "a picture better avoided than seen." (3*) 'Phool' (Urdu) (Famous) June '45 issue— Social. —"a good picture if you do not mind a bit of morbid entertainment." (1*) "Paduka Pattabhishekam" (Tamil) (Gemini) & Rajarajeshwari) April '45 issue— Mythological. —"proves utterly disappointing." (1*) 'Piya Milan' (Hindustani) (Wadia Movietone) Nov. '45 isrue— Social.— "all round rotten and boring show." S (1«) 'Sawan' (Hindustani) (Sanjiwan Art) June '45 issue— Social.— "waste of celluloid." (1*) 'Seetha Rama Jananam' (Telugu) (Prathibha Pictures). July '45 issue— Mythological.— "all that it can do is to create some disgusting boredom. ' (5*) 'Shakuntala' (Stage) (Hindustani) (Prithvi Theatres) April '45 issue— Mythological.— "an excellent production." (1*) "Shirin Farhad' (Urdu) (Pancholi) June '45 issue —Folklore.— "intensely boring picture." (1*) 'Sri Valli' (Tamil) (Saraswati) July '45 issue- Mythological.— "a stupid and boring affair." Priutcd by Baburao Patel at New Jack Printing WorVs. for "filmindia" Publications Ltd.. from 55 ■fltttitei & l/ouihi with -fftttactin Tacei ate most )Q.eApectf)U.LLy Dnvited To secure the posts of actors, actresses, playback singers, dancers, story writers, lyric makers, cameramen, recordists, musi- cians, painters & other technical posts in FAMOUS FILM & DRAMATIC COMPANIES. Write to your one and only corporation established with DEMAND from well- known film Cos.. with eight anna stamps for details and form. THE ARTISTES ASSISTING CORPORATION P. O. Box No. 47. S U RAT. Ltd., 39. Sankli Street, Byculla, and Published by him Phirozshah Mehta Road. Fort. Bombay. V PRESENTS SONA on COLD MAZHAR KHAN R S CHOWDHARY RAJ RANI RAJRANI & GUL Witts I Chills!! Eorror!!! in the most SENSATIONAL HIT of the year with the screen's most Popular Stars JAY PICTURES presents RAJ RANI 66 in Pulse Pouncing Drama EXTRA GICL 99 ★ The Amaz- ing story of a lovely Girl who sacrificed everything for love. * With:- ANANT PRAB^U ft GULZAR & NAWAZ AHMED ft HAR1 MOHAN ft PREM KUMAR 6- ARVIND KUMAR 2W«* % .- K. L. KAHAN iAoau« J % •- B. A. JOSH I Fida Shahjehan Pari. • Nisar Bazmi, K. Narayan Rao Contact :- J4y PICTURES JYOll STUDIOS. KENNEDY BRIDGE BOMBAY 7. ★ A Screen Master- piece of Suspense my s t ery and thrills . ¥ THE PAIR THAT CAN'T BE TOPPED! Streamlined Aces of the Projection Booth — FOR TOP' FLIGHT PERFORM A J\ CE — You have to see -them to appreciate:. their modern design -their rugged construction - their beautiful -finish . . .You have to see them in action - to realise their rock-steady, flicker-free screening - the high-fidelity of vtheir perfectly Synchronised Sound - from the softest whisper to the warmest tone, the weirdest shriek ! No flutter ... No hum ... No WOW ! Talk with Exhibitors who've enjoyed year-in, year-out trouble-free DeVRY performance in practically every corner of the Globe . . . Designed and built to specifications far in excess of generally accepted standards - priced so reasonable that ANY theatre can NOW afford to buy them. "NEW DeVRY" projectors of TODAY :are indeed a great pair to draw to - for Exhibitors' gratification, audience satisfaction ! DeVRY has the world's most complete peace-time line of motion picture sound Equipment. Also modern High Intensity Arclamps, HI-Fidelity Theatre Amplifiers and large Theatre model Multi-Cellular Horn Speakers Systems. TELEPHONE : 20892. TELE : «« SOUNDHEAD " INTERNATIONAL TRbKIE EQUIPMENT CO. LTD., 17, New Queen's Road, BOMBAY 4. LONDON : 18, Albert Street, London, N.W. I- NEW YORK: 20, Pine Street, New York 5, N.Y. MADRAS: 18, Mount Road, Madras. SUBSCRIPTION RATES) The annual iubscrtptlon, for 12 issue* of "fllmlndla", from tny month It: INLAND FOREIGN: R». 24/. Shllllngi SO - Subscription It accepted only for a collective period of 12 montht and not for a • mall period. Subscription money theuld be remitted only by Money Order or by Postal Order but not by chequet. V.P.P.t will not be tent. filmindia PROPRIETORS FILMINDIA PUBLICATIONS LTD. 55. SIR PHIROZESHAH MEHTA ROAD, FORT, BOMBAY Telephone : 26752 Editor: BAB U RAO PAT EL Vol. XII. FEBRUARY 1946 No. 2. ADVERTISEMENT RATES, The advertisement rues ere Per Insertion Pull Pace Inside Rt. 400 Htlf Page Inside Rt. 210 i Page Inside Rt. 120 •> Page Inside Rt. ISO 2nd & 3rd Cover Rt. 500 4th Cover Rs. 600 1st Cover Rs. 1,000 The cost of the advertisement should be submitted In advance with the order. The advertise- ment will be sub|ect to the terms and conditions of our usual contract. Stop and J2i5ten With the end of the war unemployment is multiply- ing in the country. The uniforms are coming back home in thousands every month and within a very short time not even the weight of the medals on some of them will pay for the washing charges required to keep these uniforms well washed and pressed. Those who fought and toiled for the freedom of millions are now themselves free, quite free, to starve to their hearts' content in a world "free" of Fascists and Nazis. The "Wanted' columns of the different daily papers once again read like "Agony" lists with thousands in frantic search of some employment. Gone is the synthetic swag- ger of the khaki-clad war dignitary, from the Colonel down to the sapper, and in its place is seen a weak affable smile which anxiously inquires for some job round the corner. The Government have many a pet scheme of employ ment in their planning pocket but all these schemes will take years before a heavily indebted government can even touch the fringe of the severe post-war problems facing them. It is a dark vigil of years and already mass starva- tion is on the march. Industries which assumed balloon proportions during war have suddenly flattened on the postwar rough road of reconstruction. The period of transition from war to peace promises to be an age of agony to one and all. The rupee which was not worth the silver it contained during the war boom has suddenly started looking as big as a cart-wheel and has already begun to buy more food than a year before. The tragedy, however, is that millions in this country have neither food nor money to buy the I food. The war has left behind only greater appetites and more stomachs to fill. Small cottage industries which had cropped up like mushrooms to meet the numerous war-time wants have closed down suddenly throwing millions out of employ ment. The major industries which had fattened on the war inflation have been suddenly checked throwing the economic stability of the country out of gear and millions more on the road to starvation. Like other industries, the Indian film industry has already started on its backward journey of returning to normal times. And let us tell you that it is going to be a rough journey of jolts and jerks which will break manv a traveller on the way. Already the cinemas all over the country are showing over 40 per cent slump in their daily takings. At several important towns the extra comfort of advance bookings has been stopped. As there arc no queues any longer at the ticket-windows there is no need for any booking to be done in advance. Pictures which would have run a minimum oi 15 weeks in the boom days are now thrown out in six weeks, after allowing the last two weeks as sheer grace. In Bom- bay, the principal money-spinning city of release, picture after picture has failed to click at the box-offices. When people had pots of easy money they didn't mind what rot they saw but now with unemployment in the country and starvation round the corner, a rupee is carried in two hands with a reverence not so easy to be enlisted in favour of poor entertainment. The ball of depression started rolling down with the reception which "Humayun" got. The producer had spent on this picture several lakhs to make it as attractive Sushila Rani makes "Gvalan," a romantic picture. It produced and directed by Mr. Baburao Patel. It has been the lot of the Pel Service Engineer to do the hardest wartime jobs. It has been a round-the-clock affair to see that no theatre within the PEL SERVICE ZONE will ever be forced to close down through equipment failure or mishap. He has been always on the look-out for the slightest symptoms in the equip- ments of the theatres in his charge and ready with the spares and accessories to put new life and vigour into them when they show signs of slackness. To-day PEL SERVICE has become a name you can trust, and has been recognised by every theatre manager as the finest Service available in the country. PH0T0PH0NE EQUIPMENTS LTD. BOMBAY • CALCUTTA • LAHORE • DELHI • MADRAS • KARACHI ESEK1H3B February, 1946. FILMINDI A Veera makes a splendid addition to our screen talent in "Shikari", a social story of Filmistan. as he could with money and imagination. The distribu- tors who had purchased the provincial rights paying high ceiling prices had expected "Humayun" to run two hund red weeks in Bombay. The picture, however, despite its heavy newspaper boosting, failed to click at the box- offices— almost at every town in the country. 'Humayun' heralded the change of the tide. The crazy producers, intoxicated by their war profits and easy success during the last five years, had many more costume pictures to release still. All these were swept down with the current of depression and some stupend- ously expensive pictures like: "Lakha Rani", "Amrapalli". "Mumtaz Mahal", "Phool", "Shirin Farhad", "Bhartruhari", "Babar", "C.C.R, Nav Jawan", "Ratna- vali", Veer Kunal" etc. paid the penalty of failure at the box-offices— losing untold lakhs for their producers. Pic- tures which had been planned to become world-beaters beat a hasty retreat from every important cinema in every important town. The socials which usually commanded a larger pat- ronage went off the screen like useless platform tickets after the departure of the train. Only a couple of pictures clicked at the box-offices as sheer flukes and neither the producers nor the people knew why they did so. Whether we like the fact or not the slump has already arrived in the Indian film industry mainly because of the fast-changing economic conditions in the country. In- creasing unemployment, shortage of money, starvation and increasing quality consciousness are all contributing their bit to hit the indigenous film industry rather badly. What little money the people can spare for enter tainment these days in the midst of ever mounting ex penses is spent on American pictures which decidedly give a better value than any Indian picture. Fven the present day noisy patriotism of our people could not pre- vent M.G.M.'s "Bathing Beauty" from running n non- stop weeks at the Metro in Bombay and both the masses and the classes enjoyed this superb picture. And why shouldn't they, seeing that the people got a hundred-fold return for their admission money — something one can never dream of getting from an Indian picture. The Yanks are living on merit and their merit is sheer quality. You can hardly say that of the Indian pictures with all the patriotism in the world rushing through your veins. Leaders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel may well ask the people to see Indian pictures all the time, good or bad. Politicians in the van of our nation's struggle tor freedom cannot say anything else. Round the world, whatever clime or nation, all the patriots will repeat the very same slogan. But mere patriotism does not run an industry — certainly not the industry of entertaining millions, who demand novelty, entertainment, art and quality every time they spend their hard-earned money. The fi.m industry needs ever changing novelty in entertainment wedded to spectacle and quality. India has been trying to run a race with Hollywood for the last thirty years and today our industry instead of gaining even a day is, to be honest, at least iooo years behind Hollywood in technique and quality. With this shame ful record we can not possibly dream of competing with the Americans on their soil, as some Indian experts are threatening to do. On the other hand our producers had better look about their own field because the latest statistics reveal that American pictures have done record business in India in 1945 and hope to do better in 1946. And once again why shouldn't they, seeing that the Indian film people have neither the brains nor the enterprise to compete with them? Mehtab with the other sex sprinkling in "Bairam Khan," a picture of Standard Pictures. ( A new find ) with HEMARATI, HASAN, TALISH, RAMESH MAQBOOL and many others. 'iPxocluae.x . hanti would not sit in the same car with Trilok Kapur. jerhaps because he was a respectable married man with wo sens. That is certainly a bad record for a purdah voman to risk. That Sardar Chandulal Shah has to have Veena and vlumtaz to help him to recover his fortune. Watch 'Dharti*' and "Rajputani" and Mumtaz and Veena. That Vijoo Bhatt of "Ram Rajya" intends to fly to America with Ran;ana to get her eyes jiroperlv set before le gives her the role of Yashodhara in "Lord Buddha." \fter those eyes are set, Vijoo also will look different to her. That in Andheri, there is a producer called Chimanlal Trivedi who deals mainly in thousand-rupee notes. He eceives them if some one has got them handy: That Indian film artistes like Veena. Para, Nur Jehan. Charlie, Suvarnalata, Yakub, Arun and many others are -.owadays becoming curio-collectors the wav tbey examine ild thousand-rupee notes with care and affection. That we have a very unreliable Government in Delhi seeing the way the licenses were stopped suddenly. ITiat is stabbing P. K. Atre both in the back and the ront. And he is a ta king nationalist whose pictures ire produced by Chimanlal Trivedi. That Director Chowdhary is reported to have gone o the ancient Kingdom of Magadha to bring some real itmosphere for "Magadhraj". Ratilal Punetar of Raniit >nd H. M. V. Chaturbhuj are trying to bring him back .vithout knowing that it is like a journey to the Moon. That all the producers arc now looking out for Vfadhok to steal the secret of "Rattan's" success at the xw-ofrices. Madhok is reported to be safe in Chowri Razar. Delhi, forging new times. That Pandit [ndra and other lyric writers find a nillion mistakes in Madhok 's songs of "Rattan" but the nasses don't care a damn for the opinion of these great poets. That "Expert" K. S. Hirlckar has returned to India with Hollywood "secrets" but no producer in India is mxious to know them. Just like Indians. That "Expert" K. S. Hirlckar will now publish the ''secrets" in the "Times of India" with the help of his friend, B. H. Rao, the chief reporter. But our producers ion't read any English daily. That for Shantaram's benefit, the "Secrets" will have :o be translated into Kolhapuri Marathi and published in the "Lokmanya" daily. n That Harischandra Rao, who was promised the Golden Gate of San Francisco, is now looking out for his twenty -thousand which went flying to U.S.A. That after reading the review of "Tadbeer" Saisial has placed himself on rye-rations with his brother Mahindr.i, acting as the Controller. That Producer B. N. Sircar has already begun to repent for not having sold outright the rights of "Hamrahi" in the first few weeks. Now socialism has entered the game of buying and selling. That producers are a'ready taking picnic trips in sun and moonlight, of course with prospective artistes, to Jollywood (Chembur). That Jollywood promises to become the homeland of Omar Khayyam, the way we find grey-haired producers stranded on deserted streets with curly-tops for company. That at this rate the Anglo-Indians will soon find good employment in our studios and we shall soon have the old times back again with Saab-log-ka Hindustani. That the members of the Producers' Association solemnly resolved not to provide studio-floor space to out- siders and then one by one proceeded to turn bad outsiders into good insiders till the solemn resolution became a pious memory. That the very same members have now a dozen new New- Year resolutions on the anvil but for some reason or other they cannot collect enough people to hear of their good intentions. That now that the war is over and there is no licens- ing of productions nor any raw film shortage, members wonder why they should meet every week merely to af> point sub-committees and run an association. Many have already resigned while others are on way. In any case, the old stagers do not want any new members — they know now what the new ones can be like. Rehana gets the soothing touch from Biman Bannerjee in "Bridge" a story of Om Pictures. 19 Iii 1945 Re tjnvv you "PHOOL" anil now in 1946 PRODUCER K. ABDULLA presents a daringlij still more original screenplaij 66 RATIONAL TDEATRES' HAMJOLI STARRING : NURJEH AN (THE MELODY QUEEN ) P. JAIRAJ * AG HA JAN * GHULAM MOHD. MAJJID * MUKRI and introducing screen's latest sensation Z E E N AT DIRECTION: ISMAIL MEMON AND LUQMAN MUSIC: HAFEEZ KHAN (OF "ZE ENAT" FAME) 55 DIALOGUES: HAKIM HASHMI SONGS: ANJUM PILLIBHITI NATIONAL'S N ft NAWAB" ii KISAN" INDIA FILM CIRCUIT LAMINGTON ROAD, BOMBAY 4 {In this section, the editor himself replies to queries from the readers. As thousands of letters are received every month — some anxious and several frivolous — it is neither possible nor convenient to attend to all. Selected letters are usually treated in an informative and humorous strain and no offence is meant to anyone. ) H. A. PATEL (Poona) Do you think that like the Americans, the Indians vill ever care to respect their film actresses? In America, Film-actress Lauren Bacall can sit on the piano of President Truman and wink in his face, because the profession of acting has acquired a status in that free country. In India, Mahatma Gandhi, who has never seen a motion picture, calls motion pictures an evil and in doing so unconsciously induces millions of his country- men to look down upon the film industry. Oui film actresses have as much right to status and respect as their American sisters because the pro- fession needs talent, intelligence and hard work. Work requiring these qualities cannot be denied dignity and status, whatever saints and sinners may say. KISS NISHA AGARWAL (Cawnpore) Why are some girls so proud of themselves even hough they have nothing to be proud of? Maseem (Jnr). brings youth to the screen in Durga Pictures,' "Dur Chalen." Many women have mirrors that lie, which have not been taught in time to tell the truth. If wo- men have nothing else, they sdll have their sex which is sought after in this land of starvation. MISS V. LATA (Vizianagram) Being a lady student, the male students in our college are concentrating on me by showing coloured plates and kissing poses from "filmindia" whenever I go from class to class. Is the "filmindia" bought for this purpose? There is something wrong either with your mind or with your eyesight, because "filmindia" has never published a single kissing pose yet Are you by any chance doing some wishful thinking? If you had something to attract the boys, thev wouldn't waste their time on "filmindia." HOAT G. RIJLANI (Karachi) How many of our actresses are virgins? It is difficult to answer this question unless we take Dr. Tarachand J. Lalvani of your city on a tour of the actresses and hand their palms one after another into his itching palm to practise his palmistry. This khadi-clad palmist-journalist chemist seems to specialise in women's palms the way he grabs them to study the tell-tale lines. But I wonder whether virginity ever had a line on the palm for Tarachand to study. Tarachand's medical knowledge would be more useful in getting at this secret than his palmistry. I think that fi'm journalists believe in making money out of film journalism? Why shouldn't they? Take the instance, once again again of the man quoted above, Dr. Tarachand Lalvani. He makes money by putting together a lot of water with a bit of medicine as a doctor, by selling patent medicines as a chemist, by the daily doling of some Sindhi English in a kite-like news- paper and by running a printing press to provide work for his wife. After earning all the money in these activities, he has still time to wear khadi and be politically fashionable, and snatch and read palms in spare time. If Tarachand can get away with so many things, why shouldn't the poor film journalist struggle a bit to earn a liveli- hood? K MURALIDHAR (Mangalore) Is it true that you are more easily moved by a wo- man's smile than by her tears? Smiles and sighs are just shades of a woman's life. It is the woman behind these that can move a man of the world. Nowadays tears annoy me and smiles just amuse. 21 INDIA PICTURESy, resents * HAMID BUTT * BHATIA in PRODUCED BY DIRECTED BY PHOTOGRAPHY RASH I D ANWAR CHETAN AN AND ravi shankar bidyapati ghose February, 1946. F I L M I N D I A MOHOMEDALI EBRAHIM (Bandra) Are there any 'pin-up' girls in our film industry: We have several 'stuck-up' girls who don't even show their faces and sit looking at the walls. Besides most of our girls have no legs to pin-up. R P AGARWAL (Aligarh) Please arrange the following names in their order of merit keeping their artistic talent, beauty and voice in view assigning reasons for each: — Veena, Neena, Nargis, Ragini and Rarnola. For a'l-round talent Nargis stands first Ramola comes second in acting some typical roles. Ragini should rank third in her effort to express the roles she plays, while Veena and Neena arc al- most on level with their natural stiffness. KANAYLAL T. GURNANI (Sukkur) Is woman's heart made of wax or stone? Had it been made of either of these two we could be more sure of it. But seeing the hearts which women show to the world, the material used in their making looks more like rubber which expands and contracts according to circum- stances. Whom did God create first — man or woman? The scriptures say that God created man first and out of his rib gave him a mate in the woman. That puncture in the rib must have been a quick and repentant job seeing that man, fashioned after God, arrogated to himself divine powers within a short time. In giving a woman to man, God seems to have guaranteed His own Divinity by putting a permanent brake on the flying balloon of man's vanity. S. RAMAKRISHNA RAO ( Vizianagaram) Is "filmindia" for people's sake or for producers' sake? Just for my very own sake. Any objection? N. DANIEL JEYASEKHARAN (Madura) In these times, which type of a woman do you think wc should have: a saintly Mcera Bai or a heroic Captain Lakshmi? Our saintly Meera Bai was more heroic than Captain Lakshmi. As far as I know our at tractive 'Captain' went on a paid job for a foreign- er, became a prisoner of another foreigner and plunged into the struggle for freedom as a diver- sion. What is heroic about all this? Such Laksbmis are momentary meteors lifted to the limelight as political slogans by clever propagan dists like Tawaharlal Nehru. These modern 'Captains' will die before their death while Meer-i will sti'l live to inspire even saints like Mahatmj Gandhi for thousands of years to come. HOTU TIKAMDAS (Karachi) Is life so full of darkness as is shown in Jeet"? Is God so cruel? No, but producers are. D. SATHYA RAJ (Hubli) The other day I saw Snehaprabha Pradhan about, on Hubli platform, with a Yankee guy. wrong with her? What's wrong in that? If Devika can take a Russian, what's wrong with a good American? 'Mun-ki gadding What;s 33 vlAYABHAHAT PKIUB LTD.'S Full of LOVE, LAUGHTER & MUSIC RASILI Starring : RADHARANI — KANHAIYALAL a Supported by Raj Kumar, Rani Bala, Meghmala, Dhulia, & Anant Prabhu Remember It's a BARODA THEATRES LTD.'S Pride Presentation Story & Direction: Musical Score: KISHORE SHARMA HANUMAN PRASAD For Further Particulars contact: THE JAYABHARAT PICTURES LTD, Jan Mansion, Sir P. Mehta Road, Fort, Bombay I. February, 1946 Snehaprabha is a dancer and is probably looking out for ragtime rhythm. CHANDRAKANT GUPTE (Bombay) I have heard that Suvarnalata and Nazir who played the main roles in "Laila Majnu," have also taken a fancy for each other as "Laila' and 'Majnu' in practical life? So what? A. V. BAKRE (Javali) What is the significance of showing love scenes in full moonlight? So that the Censor can see all the hits and the misses and declare the film suitable for public exhibition. MISS NELON PURMASIR (S. Africa) Which film company in India has the most efficient management? It is a case for microscopic research and I am not a scientist GOTAM B KARIA (Karachi) Why is the Eastern beauty called a cold' beauty though the climate is hot, whi'e the Western one is called "hot' though the climate is cold? A beauty is like a hot-water bottle — cold to look at from a distance but hot to hold on the abdo- men. The rubber has nothing to do with it — it is the heat of the water inside that matters. NARANDAS F. SHAH (Ahmedabad) What does a man need for the peace of his soul and for the satisfaction of his body? A live woman for his body and a dead one for his soul S. P. VERMA (Benares) What does love mean to an actress5 Just another dialogue for which the producer pays. SIMON S. AARON (Poona) What would happen to those so-called well-known stars, now so much in prominence if some of the ghost singers like Amir Bai, Zohra and Raj Kumari were to die? Ghosts don't die. On the other hand they take birth after death. We have numerous voices to replace our present ghost singers and we can rely upon our producers to turn crows into cuckoos overnight Cyclist Janki Dass says that film stars should slim by cycling. What do you think of it? Janki Dass talks a lot of rot during the year. Don't listen to him. If you find Nur Jehan cycling through Bhendy Bazaar, there will be a riot in an hour. Janki needs a puncture in his upper storey. K. K ADVANI (Karachi) Three girls have fallen in love with me and all the three want me to marry them. What should I do? If what you say is true, you have been cheating those poor girls all these days bv meeting each half-way without the knowledge of the other. If the girls are wise, they would be well-advised to kick you out. And still I don't believe you be- cause I have yet to meet a Sindhi who can attract three girls at a time. When you lie to me next 1 •— — tine use some imagination FILMINDI A JAYANTILAL R. BHATT (Kandivalee) When do women look more beautiful: when they smile, blush or have pearls in their eyes? Smiles, blushes and tears are armaments with a woman. A woman is most beautiful when she clings to a man with love in her heart K. PADMA (Madras) Can you tell me why some educated girls detest mar- riage? With marriage begins the second education of a woman. Our college girls get fed up with their first course and probably do not feel like a second one. . G. T BAKHRU (Lahore) Didn't Devika Rani get any worthy Indian to marry a Russian artist with a beard? A marriage like that is a consummation of love and the world round about has nothing to do with it Devika has not married the bearded Russian for photographic purposes or for world approval and no one has a right to ask any ques- tions. Do you call Sushila Rani beautiful? If I didn't people would call me blind. M. A KHUDDUS (Madhikerra) Why do our people hate and condemn the police knowing that the police have to do unpleasant work un- der orders? I am glad you have asked this question as a policeman. Unpleasant things, however, can be done politely. To cite an extreme instance, we are told that the Japs shot their victims after bein« extremely polite to them. Under the pre- She thinks it is a bit too early to be serious in "40 crores", a village story of Chandra Art Productions. 25 Producer -Director KISHORE SAHU "The maket off the moit magnificent 4/htotical »£**PFf> 1/ I 1 1 1 A VEER KUNAL NOW ANNOUNCES UNDER THE BANNER OF HINDUSTAN CHITRA SUPER-SOCIALS ( Simultaneously Under Production ) CHHOTE THAKUR SINDOOR ft FOR PARTICULARS: HINDUSTAN CHITRA Bombay Mutual Bldg.. FORT. BOMBAY. February, 1946 FILM INDIA sent bureaucracy, the average policeman in our country seems to have lost sight of the missionary aspect of his vocation. As a protector of law and order, his duty is to guide and protect the peop.'e and not to heck.'e and manhandle them. The average policeman behaves like a licensed goonda in uniform and thinks that the rest of the world is full of criminals. A policeman's profession is as great as that of a doctor or a nurse if he looks at it from a humanitarian angle. A policeman should be a friend of the people if he wishes to earn his livelihood honestly. ML HT. PAXCHALI (Bangalore) What have you to say about the Educational Films of India5 This institution produces very crude films at present. But it is on the right lines and may some day give us good stuff with some educa- tional value. At present, it helps only to edu- cate Ambalal Patel. its proprietor, who missed some education in his childhood. R G KRISHNASWAMY (Madras) In what language Devika and Rcerich converse with each other? Love doesn't need a tongue. A look is enough to get a dart back. Who is the father of film criticism in India5 Baburao PateL And he is the complete dynasty. VIDVADHAR P. XAGARKAR (Bombay) What is your opinion about girls? Fine. I think they are an interesting addition to our present design of life. Are the spirits visible or invisible? Have vou ever seen them? Oh yes. several times. In their visible form I have seen them in the bottle and in the glass and in their invisible form in people who had poured them into themselves. SALLM ULLAH KHAAX (Sau-or) What do you think of Nargis as a film artiste? We have very few girls who can act and Nargis is one of them The girl has talent which can blossom beautifully under a good director. SATYAXARAYAX X. S. (Bangalore) How does a candid film review help — to guide the film-goers, to help the producers or to improve the con- tents of our films? In this country a candid film review does not help anyone because the majority of our film- goers are congenital idiots; most of our prod cers are unpunished criminals and almost all oi our technicians are still-born pioneers. SADHU RAM SETHI (Ludhiana) Which is better: to spend Rs. i|2 for a film show or to drink milk worth the money? If you are b'essed with a frame like Pandit Indra's, that milk is your necessity. But if vou are carry- ing weight like me on the body and the mind, you need mental relaxation. THE FILM WORLD (INDIA) LTD. THE MOTION PICTURE EXPONENTS OF INDIAN LIFE. ART AND CULTURE. 1 PRODUCERS, DISTRIBUTORS & EXHIBITORS) An episode from the Rajput History Anxn MOHAN •* BOMBAY . D ELHI . LAHORE . LUCKNOW. CAWNPORE . YASHODHARA KA TJU — This popular artiste ploys an important role in " Sassi Punnu " Productions directed by J. P. Advani, a costume story of Vaswani BENGAL IS RAVING OVER ABT HLMS' ALLURING SOCUl HEMEN GUPTA Starring \ JAMUNA NAWAB, MOLINA, IFTIKHAR, ARUNA. DEVBALA, TULSI, INDU TANDON Etc. SACCHINDAS (Motilal) RUNNING TO CROWDED HOUSES AT Jyoti Talkies. Calcutta. For C P. : JAMNADAS LTD. For SOUTH :;. SELECT PICTURES CIRCUIT. For BENGAL : MANSATA FILM DISTRIBUTORS. THE STRANGEST STOR OF A GIRL WHO STAYED N % 'MflVYUG' PRESENTS m GEETA SHVAM, K.N.SINGH MROJ BORKflR . DflR KASHMIRI (Ml Direction : Screenplay : Songs : Musi VEDI. SHAHID LATIF. NAKHSHAB. F NEARING COMPLETION I CREATING RECORD AT LAHORE, DE & CALCUTTA. DIN RAA DIRECTION : SHOREY DAULTALVI. STARRING : SNEHPRA P. BANNERJI, SULOCI Marring . SHANTA A PTE (Courtesy: S. A. Concerns) ISHWARLAL - YAKUB - Meenaxi - Shanta Rin Lata - Salvi - Jog - Damuanna and PREM ADIB story : V. S. KHANDEKAR Under production at Rajkamal Kalamandir. For Particulars : INDIA FILM CIRCUIT LAMINGTON ROAD, BOMBAY 4. OM PICTURES PRESENTS REHANA The most loveable girl of the Silver Screen in BRIDGE (PUD with BIMAN BANERJI BALRAJ MEHTA E. BILLIMORIA VIKRAM KAPOOR MADAN PURI JAHANARA MONI CHATTERJI . PRITI MAJUMDAR NARMADASHANKAR * Music : Director : MINOO MAJUMDAR SUDHfR SEti r or Particulars : RAJ LAKSHIVH PICTURES. 125. GIRGAUM ROAD. BOMBAY bt HomE mid hbrohd CINECOLOR PROCESS Technicolor will meet its Waterloo very shortly if the new Cinecolor process, recently tested in Hollywood, becomes a vogue. Already M. G. M. have decided to use the Cinecolor in their new picture "Star Of Heaven-' and it is said that the new process is less expensive and requires light me- chanical equipment. If Cinecolor be- comes popular, the black-and-white picture will soon be an exception. LOVERS ON HIRE Film-star Paulette Goddard's .£40,000 diamond necklace, which she hires out to the studios, is made, she says, of all her engagement rings. Who is India's Paulette? FLYING JOURNALIST Mr. Baburao Patel accompanied by Sushila Rani and Pandit Indra paid a flying visit to Karachi during the week-end ending 13th January. Apart from the hundreds of currency notes autographed by Sushila Rani, per- haps to make them better negotiable instruments, Mr. Patel addressed journalists and film people; students and professors; and the Amil gents and ladies of the town. The people of Sind seem to have got earfuls to hear from the talkative editor and eye- fuls to see in Sushila Rani. The only stye was Pandit Indra. Mr. Patel's host, Khan Saheb Jehangir Mobed, had a hard time contro.ling film crowds and protecting his guests DAWN AT LAST! It is good news to report that the employees engaged in the different branches of the film industry met on Sunday, die 6th January, under the presidentship of Congressman S. K. Paril to form the Indian Motion Pic- ture Employees Union. This organi- zation will watch and protect the interests of the workers in the film studios and it has already got going by appointing a provincial committee to draft the constitution, "fi.mindia" will always support the workers against the exploiters. SAMUEL SANGUINE Sir Samuel Ranganadan, the High Commissioner for India, (but not for Indians) revealed during the month that an Information Service would soon be established which would give national and cultural Indian news to the British people through articles and films. As is expected, Sir Samuel is optimistic. We only hope, they don't portray India with the pens of gutter writers like Nichols and Mayo. JUDGING THE JUDGE Hurt by the sweeping remarks made by Presidency Magistrate S. M. Hassan of Madras, about films and Surekha is waiting for stardom in "Rupa'1 "Bulbul" Desai. under the direction or film people, Producer K. Subrama- niam, President of the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, is re- ported to be moving the High Court to expunge the remarks of the learn- ed Magistrate and delete them from his judgment. We wish him success. COLOURFUL WASTE Rightly or wrongly, the Information Films of India are forging ahead with their new plans. We are told that they will now shoot documentaries of vnlage life in color, which are expect- ed to be ready by the middle of 1946. They have already prepared their budget of the taxpayers' funeral, which includes geographical films, sociological documentaries and odds and ends about the daily life in India. THE LAST WORD At least some of the women in America are beginning to resent the slurs against their sex by the charac- ters George Sanders plays. , ♦ SHIVRAJ PRODUCTIONS 417. VITHALBHAI PATEL ROAD, BOMBAY 4 FOR PARTICULARS, GREAT SONS i INDIA OWES HER GREATNESS... See the REAL SON OF INDIA in CMurli CMovietone's Saga of filial Love "SHRAVANKUMAR" Songs & Dialogues : Walli Saheb Music : Bhulo C. Raney Dance : K. S. More Camera : Goverdhandhar Patel Sound : Chandrashekhar Trivedi Starring: CHANDRAMOHAN - MUMTAZ SKANTI Pahari Sanyal-K.C. Dey - Menaka(N.T.fame) Gulab - Tarabai - Raj Rani - Majjid - More Yeshwant Wave & Gope. Story, Scenario: K. S. DARYANI. Direction: RAM DARYANI. MURLI MOVIETONE, Dadar, Bombay. February, 1946. FILMINDI A "I'm sorry I had to say that." Sanders said. "I have since come to love dogs." SHOCKED OUT Dattu Ramchandra Bodhe, an elec- trician of the Rajkamal Kalamandir, received an electric shock whilst working in the studio and died on the spot during the month. It is a case for Workmen's Compensation. MONEY SPINNERS Louts B. Mayer, M. G. M. Chief, earned the highest income during 1943 by netting in 908,070 dollars against 59041 dollars earned by Charles E. Wilson, President of General Motors. From the film stars, Fred Mac Murray, Deanna Durbin, Abbot and Costel.o, Barbara Stanwyck, Bing Crosby and William Powell caught the eye in top earnings. In India the Income-tax can not catch the black marketing stars with- in six figures. ASK MAMA The "Tribune," a Lahore paper, reports a strange case about Mano- rama, the film actress of the Punjab. It is said that a notice was issued under Section 193 of the Indian Penal Code at the instance of Mr. Isac Daniel who claims to be Miss Mano- rama's father, alleging that in a libel suit filed by her against Syed Attaul- lah Shah, Miss Manorama had ack- nowledged the petitioner as her father, whereas in the present suit filed by her against the petitioner she refuses to recognise the petitioner as her father. Funny, isn't it ? FORTUNE IN MUSIC The Yankees won't let India have even one distinction of possessing the world's richest man in the Nizam of Hyderabad. Though we have a family of 400 million starving souls we don't grudge the Nizam his fabu- lous wealth. The Americans, how- ever, don't seem to like the idea. They say that their five feet-and odd crooner Bing Crosby is the richest man in the world and this inter- national secret was well kept to keep tax-col.ecting wolves from Bing's gold- en gates. We don't care whether Bing is rich or poor. Bing is a sweet crooner and has more rhythm in his voice than all the Broadway Bands put together. Bing makes three pictures a year and earns Rs. 4,00,000)- each. Then he earns Rs 25,000)- per week from broadcasting. Add to all this two annas as royalty per record on his gramophone records which sell in thousands and the profits of his Crosby Investment Corporation and it is not difficult to believe that Bing Crosby is a rich man. All luck to him. He has earned his money by hard work and struggle and not in- herited it like our princes by sheer accident of birth. GOOD-BYE, KAMLA! We regret to announce the sudden death of Film-actress Kamla Chatter jee (Mrs. Kidar Sharma) on Thursday the 10th January from heart-failure. Kamla had worked in many Ranjit pictures and had never given a bad performance. She was considered eminently suitable for light roles in which she sang and danced to entertain thousands all over the country. Sweet-natured and charming, Kamla will be missed by one and all in the industry. WELL DESERVED The Indian film industry was not forgotten in the distribution of honours for the New Year. Exhi- bitor Keki M. Modi of Western India Theatres Ltd. has been awarded the Order of the British Empire. Keki Modi's life has been one long strug- gle from poverty to riches and from obscurity to fame and though such honours do not fetch premiums in the present world, they still help to record the excellent services of sincere people like Keki Modi. We wish Keki greater distinction. Hard work deserves the crown every time. AND ONE MORE It did surprise many when Mr. D. K. Parker of "filmindia" and New Jack Printing Works Ltd., also be- came Rao Saheb in the New Year. "Filmindia" has now a Rao Saheb as a partner. FILM INDIA February, 1946 ONE MORE MENACE The world is going to be a very small place if the numerous plans of several foreign film magnates are going to materialise. The latest or- ganization in the news is the "'United World Pictures Company" owned by J. Arthur Rank, the British film magnate with two Americans, Leo Spitz and William Goetz. This company will distribute and control — or try to — all productions wherever found. Sounds rather ambitious. Doesn't it ? What about Ranjit pic- tures? DEATH OF AN INSTITUTION Bad news comes to us from Cal- cutta that Miss Jahanara Kajjan, the famous star of the early talkies, "Laila Majnu" and "Shirin Farhad", has breathed her last in Calcutta during December after a long illness. Her last picture was "Mumtaz Ma- hal", produced by the Ranjit Movie- tone. In her days Kajjan was con- sidered the most dynamic star of the times. BELLS AND BELLS "Filmistan" seems to have become a happy hunting ground for romance the way boys and girls are being paired off. Right in the wake of Mohsin Abdul'.a's marriage with Veera Anklesaria comes the news of Mr. Perreira, Rai Bahadur Chuni Lall's secretary, having picked up Miss Shroff as his partner of life. Who says that our film industry does not contribute to the communal unity in the country? DHAN-SAK DECISIONS Our film people seem to be serious these days about putting their house in order. The other day Producer Sohrab Modi, who, like the over- grown school-boy who went in short pants to get a concession ticket, still calls himself an artiste first and last and remains the president of the actors and the actresses, invited the Executive Committee Members of the Producers' Association, without the prying journalists, to dinner and over some 'dhan-sak' decided that the As- sociation of Artistes should co-operate with the Association of Producers in promoting better relations between the artistes and the producers, i.e. in cutting down the earnings of the artistes and increasing the profits of the producers. How can they kick on the stomach while putting the 'Dhan-sak' in? GLORIFYING CRIME Members of the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce are reported to have passed a "Mercy Resolution" to secure the release of Film actors N. S. Krishnan and M. K Thyagraja Bhagavathar who have been given a life sentence for being parties to the murder of a local journalist. It is perhaps feared that without these two the South Indian film industry will soon go to dogs. The South Indian producers seem to show some rare principles the way they back persons who go about murdering people? Perhaps, some of those outside the jail claim fellowship with those inside and they seem to miss the genial company of the musician and the comedian. NO MORE DIRECTION A cable from Hollywood says that Veera Zorina, the stage and screen ballet star, was granted a divorce during the month from her husband, George Balanchine, a ballet director of New York. They were married in 1938. Pretty long time that. DEATH OF A PHILANTHROPIST We regret to announce the death of a leading philanthropist of Gujerat, Mr. Nemchand Kacharabhai Mehta, father of Kapurchand, Kevalchand and Zaverchand our film magnates, at the ripe age of 85 in Jetpur, his home town. The late Mr. Nemchand Mehta was a very industrious and enterprising man who, rising from the lowest rung of the ladder, laid the early founda- tions of the now proverbial Kapur- chand fortune. In his three illustrious sons he has left behind rare industrial magnates who turn every thing which they touch into gold. May his soul rest in peace. Here is a semi-humorous situation f'om "Shravan Kumar" directed by Ram Daryani OUR SynTHETIC GliRmOUR GIRLS RRD THEIR RRT RRD ERRfllDGS By: BA8URAO PATEL "Imagine Durga Khotc possessing intoxicating youth " Every day, in addition to the usual questions for the "Editor's Mail", I receive several letters from my reader? asking me all sorts oi questions about their intimate per- sonal affairs, their silent hopes and fears, their soaring ambitions and what not. Thousands of my readers seem to labour under the impression that I was born to serve them at all hour- Nothing of the sort. I am writing "filmindia" because I have to do some work for a decent living. Tnciden tally, if I manage to entertain some and serve a few. it is no fault ol mine. Let it be perfectly understood that I never intend it to be so. Once in a while, however, I shed my natural rudeness as a concession to my environments and become po'ite enough to give some advice. This is one such occasion with a let- ter before me signed by 31 girls ot Karachi. I think quite a number ol the signatures put on this letter are bogus. Knowing human nature— and woman nature particularly — 1 don't expect 31 young women to be unanimous over the contents of the single letter sent to me. The letter is a long windy affair, stupid in parts and angry and abusive at p'aces. These women have cursed our pro ducers for lacking morals, for beinR stupid, for their lack of enterprise, for the disservice they do to the country by producing rotten pictures and finally for not providing oppor tunities and suitable environments to good girls from society who wish to join the screen. They have abused me calling mc names which don't sit e'egantly on tender lips and accused me of beinj: a "tiny capitalist" who looks to pro- fits at the sacrifice of art. They have spelt art with a capital "A" and underlined the word six times. Thev should have done it 31 times if all those signatures were to be accepted is genuine. Here is an extract from this amus ing letter: "We are all Amil girls— beautiful, educated and talented — as most Amil girls are. (For me a girl is a girt, Amil or Tamil. And if she is beautiful I don't mind her being even an Oriya. By the way, I don't know what "Oriya" means. I picked up the word from my correspondence as it is odd enough to sound amusing.) We would like to work on the screen, but when a couple of us tried to contact your dirty producers we were choked off. (Probably they didn't want to pass on the "dirt" on grounds ol public health) What do these producers think of themselves? (Do they ever think?) When someone beautiful, talented and decent comes along, your producets don't ha\e the imagination to secure her services. After all what do the film producers actually want if not beautiful, educat ed and talented girls? You should tell us the exact qualifications of a girl desiring to do screen work." Forgetting this female diatribe for a moment, that is a question worth replying.: "What do the film producers actu- ally want?" IMPOSSIBLE WOMEN Let us answer this question by examining what they actually give us today and how they expect us to ac- cept their "gift." Every glamorous heroine which j producer presents is, without excep- tion, described as having all the fol- lowing qualities: intoxicating youth, eloquent eyes, perfect features, stream- lined figure, exotic beauty, exciting sex-appeal, divine voice and what not. Now that is rather a tall order even for the most ambitious descendant oi Eve to meet. If such a perfect woman can be found then it will be worth- while withdrawing the Atom Bomb from circulation. That woman can complete the remaining destruction of the human race. As things are going on at present we must say that our film producers belong to a race of unblushing opti- mists. Even under a lethal dose of self-hypnosis it is difficult to imagine Durga Khote possessing intoxicating youth, Shobhana Samarth sporting a streamlined figure, Snehaprabhn Pradhan meeting the description '>( perfect features, Kanan radiating sex appeal. Suvarnalata being called an exotic beauty, Nur Jehan singing with a divine voice or Yashodhara Katiu having eloquent eyes. And yet from day to day these very descriptions, and even more phantastic ones, are used by the producers to describe their glamour products, all the time ex- pecting the people to accept all these adjectives as truthful descriptions ol their stars. Repetitions of these thundering adjectives in the producer's pub'icity campaigns oitcn brings the tragedy home when several worthy descen- dants of Eve actually begin to believe all that is said about them and st.irt "Imagine Snehaprabha having perfect features " 45 FILMI NDI A February, 1946 swanking and throwing their weight about completely forgetting the time- honoured trick of men to bend the women to their will under the lash of praise, both deserved and unde- served. Actually what we get on the screen has very little relation with the glow- ing descriptions we read in the papers. But because film-making is a business, and hardly an art, we must acquit the glamour merchants of the charge of exaggerating their products and de- ceiving the public. The motion pic- ture is technically a creation of an optical illusion. More reason, there- fore, that stars who contribute their talent to make a picture, should also be classified as synthetic products of mental illusion. And yet how much do the pro- ducers actually expect from their gla- mour goods, seeing that the ideal screen woman is yet to be born? As in other fields of life, man has also turned' the imperfections of the screen into a saleable art. What nature denied to our film stars as glamorous women, the film producer has provided with various technical aids such as good make-up, camera work, etc. and the rest by creating an atmosphere of self- hypnosis by gla- morous publicity. Millions of people who see our motion pictures every day of the year testify to the success of the deep-laid designs of the producer. It is difficult to say what a would- be film star should have to be to be- "Imagine Suvarnalata being called an Exotic beauty " 46 come a public craze. You can't assess woman's illusive charms with the help of mathematics. You can't mea- sure her thighs in inches, her nose in centimetres or her eye lashes in milli- metres. A woman is the essence cf a thousand little things and it is the over-all effect that decides whether a person is beautiful or otherwise. THE TWO RANIS To guide those 31 signatories (25 bogus ones), let me briefly analyse the glamour material we have in the industry today. This analysis is of course mv individual opinion based on the recent screen appearances and performances of the artistes mention- ed and is not intended to prejudice the fans. The star that strikes the eye with a vengeance is Devika Rani. For years she dominated the Indian screen and was voted the "First Lady of the Screen" with unanimous consent. Democracy or Bolshevism, the massr es still look up to people born in the aristocratic circles of life and Devika's credentials in this respect have been undisputed. She came, she was seen and she conquered. Within a day she became the favourite of millions. Even girls fell in love with her. An- alysing Devika's natural equipment does not contribute to her glamour. Devika has a forehead a shade too high— a nose a shade too puny, eyes a shade too tiny and a figure a shade too slight. But with her well-culti- vated dignity and poise she presents herself as a remarkably charming woman of a thousand little graces which lend her a beautiful persona- lity. Judged from the histrionic point of view, Devika is rather poor material. As a musician she has neither the voice nor the aptitude for Indian music. And yet Devika lent to the Indian screen a dignity which it never had before. For a long time Devika took a'l the glamour that was given to well- born, educated ladies of society, till, one day, the screen introduced Sushila Rani in that much-advertised picture "Draupadi". Sushi'a Rani's artistic equipment must be explained as merely a fortunate gift from nature. She is a remarkable combination of several qualities any motion picture producer in the world would like his star to have. "And Yashodhara Katju having Eloquent eyes " Sushila Rani has a photogenic face with eyes that strike the spectator with their sou'ful expression. In histrionics she possesses a wide range from a stoic martyr to the frivolous flirt. But a unique attribute, verv rarely found with beauty, is her melodious voice which within confines of musical notes creates haunting melodies very rarely heard on the screen. Sushila Rani is a musician of rare calibre and can easily be called one in a million con sidering the stuff we get on thr Indian screen. But a lucky, gifted woman like Sushila Rani can hardly be an exam- ple for the average aspirant. . Be- sides her association with the screen is more in the nature of a seasonal hobby. She is not on the screen for a career. Let us therefore turn to those career girls who keep appearing on thr screen month after month. THE CAREER GIRLS Forgetting the past and the pre sent Ranis of the screen who may occasional'y flash on the screen to give status and dignity to our film industry;, the best all-rounder that attracts attention is Khurshid. Here is a girl who has never given a bad performance. She is miles away from being the ideal screen star but Khurshid has a little of every- thing: a p'easant face, a good voice, and just the requisite amount of talent to put over a pretty good per- formance every time. No wonder she earns between eight to ten thousand a month. Nargis, a newcomer, is February. 1946. FIL MIND I A certainly a talented addition to our screen heroines. Nothing is yet known about Nargis' singing abilities but the work she has given in a couple of pictures brings her very near Khur- shid. Nargis earns over ten thousand a month and no wonder. Some people insist on calling Khurshid and Nargis beautiful. Sushi'a Rani who is a Khurshid Devika fan insists on describing both as "very beautiful women." I dis- agree with her though I don't trv to convert her to my view. Beautiful or not. Khurshid is cer- tainly attractive considering the lot of ugly stuff we have in our film industry. In a sex-starved country like India where beautiful women are usually buried in veils, even ugliness — so long as it has sex — gets a premium. On the Indian screen we have a large brigade of ugly, repulsive faces some of which, in the absence of a better supply, have become good money-spinners at the box-office Take them in a line: Snehaprabba Pradhan with her ugly nose and small height, Husna Banu with her nose longer than the face, Vanmala with a nose that would break the heart of any cameraman, Shobhana Samarth with a polly nose and a clumsy figure, Ramo'a a tiny woman with a snub nose, Kusum Deshpande with a thick nose on a very ordinary face, Yashodhara Katju, the funny- looking midget who seems to have changed her mind about growing at the early age of 12 and Mumtaz Shanti who looks more repulsive than pleasant on the screen. And yet several of these for one reason or o'her are drawing big salaries. Forgetting the natural ugli- ness Snehaprabha has fine acting talent, Ramola is good in tom-bov parts, Vanmala can ride, dance and swim, Mumtaz Shanti can dance gracefu'ly, Shobhana can fall back on her luck to act the traditional Hindu wife with little intelligence and no resistance, Kusum Deshpande can beat any professional flirt at the game, the "midget" can raise a laugh by her funny looks and Husna Banu can wa'k across the screen over the steps fixed by the director. Some of these girls are earning huge fortunes every year. Shobhana's income should be in the neighbour- hood of three lakhs every year. Ugliness is therefore not a stopper to a film career especially when there is sex, youth and a litde intelligence to back it up. Film producers need women to act women and when thev can't get beautiful women they accept less beautiful ones or even the ugly ones. Women can't be replaced by men. THE "BEAUTIES" Continuing the analysis of our act- ing ta!ent we do have some pleasant faces which many may label as beau- tiful. Take Naseem, Neena, Shamim and Nalini Jaywant. None of these artistes can act much but they have been able to get along very well on their looks which are over-assessed in the midst of poor competition. With a crowd of ugly ducklings all around some are bound to be called beautiful and no one can complain about such an assessment. It shou'd be evident by now that screen work pays people for one dis- tinctive feature or other. It is not always possible to get a versatile ar'iste like Protima Das Gupta who while looking womanly enough radia- KIDAR SHARMA OTFERS 47 FILMINDI A February, 1946 tes her natural sex-appeal in many a different role with superb artistry. There are girls like Para, Veena and Ragini whose only excuse to be on the screen is their youth with at- tractive contours. Youth seems to be such an attraction on the screen that Veena inspite of her stiff gait, poor acting talent and none-too-attractive face will earn over three lakhs of rupees this year and she took to the screen work only recently. Think of Kanan, the nightingale of Bengal. For a woman she has almost a man's face but when she opens her mouth music gushes out to charm a million admirers. But for her lilting music. Kanan would not have been the screen attraction that she is to- day, earning nearly a hundred thou- sand rupees for a single picture. The Mediocre Talent There are many other girls who have a bit of many qualities required for screen success. Nur Jehan should head this list with pretty good acting experience inspite of her baby talk and nursery music. The others like Jayashree, Lee'a Desai, Ratnamala, Surraiya, Renuka Devi and Shanta Apte keep earning regularly big an- nual incomes for one reason or other but principally due to the shortage of talent in the industry. None of them can act much, but some of them are lucky to have influential chaperons who are directly connected with the film industry. With almost everything against them in looks and age, Jamuna and Durga Khote continue to dominate in their field on sheer merit. These two are fine artistes who understand the spirit of their roles and deliver the goods from picture to picture wiih almost superb artistry. Both of them reach a six-figure income everv year. There are many others in the in- dustry too numerous to deserve men- tion here, who earn a comfortable living by playing second roles. In fact, no one starves in this film indus- try be she an extra woman or an im- pecunious producer. Several of our extra girls, spotted as members of the fair sex merely because of the saris they wear, still manage tq earn as much aj> Rs. 1500I- per month, for 48 the simple reason that men can't act women and a picture requires some more women in addition to the pro- fessional heroine and the vamp. New aspirants should therefore rea- lise that there is nothing so much of the "intoxicating youth, the eloquent eyes, the perfect features, the stream- lined figure, the exotic beauty, the exciting sex-appeal and the divine voice" about most of our career girls. They are in the game because they are women first and not men and because producers must have women to act the fair sex. Those 31 Amil girls (with 25 bogus ones) can well assess their pros- pects by studying the above analysis carefully. If they are all that they say: "beautiful, educated and talent- ed", they ought to get a place in the lap of the gods and not in our ram- shackle film studios. But I have yet to see a strikingly, beautiful Amil or Tamil dame. MASTERS VOICE THE, GRAMOPHONE CO., LTD. DUM DUM BOMBAY MADRAS DELHI LAHORE OUR REVIEW Ulrs. Bhaunani Writes H Silly Story Rnd mr. Bhaunani makes H more Silly Picture "Bisvi-Sadi" Presents Boredom In Celluloid It seems that Mrs. Bhavnani (Enakshi Ramarao) is still living in times thirty years behind time. Had it not been so she would not have given a story which has appear- ed on the Indian screen over a hun dred times in different forms and distortions. Apart from the theme of the story being over-familiar, Mrs. Bhavnani seems to have forgotten the patent prejudice of our people against the stage as a career for young men. A story on this theme usually amount-, to rowing against the current and cannot possibly be popular with the crowds. The subject of "Bisvi-sadi" is pretty simple and can be described in a few I lines. Narayan, the son of Sir Shan kerlal, a wealthy man, is inspired by his love of the stage to become a stage producer. In pursuance of this am- bition he wants to build a theatre in his town and finds his father a stumbling block in the way of I his ambitions. As usual the father "BISVI-SADr' Producers: Bhavnani Produc- tions. Language: Storv: Hindustani Enakshi Ramarao Screen Play & ) Pt. Norottam Dialogues: ' Vyas Music: Pannalal Ghosh Cast: Motilal, Mazharkhan, Nargis, Asha Lata, Gope Mazumdar etc. Released At: Swastik, Bombay. Date of Release: ist Dec. 1945 Directed By: MOHAN BHAVNANI looks down upon the stage and any- thing connected with it and has other plans for his son. This results in a quarrel in which Narayan leaves his parent's home and strikes out on his own. That is a flirting situation between Snehaprabha RaaC a Navyug picture. and Paresh 'Din Recruit S. N Wahidy of 422 Malcolm Tank, Poona 1, has a face for cha- racter acting and has stage experience in addition. As is usual with such plots the usual characters crop up. There is Laxmi, a well-to-do girl, already in love with Narayan and there is a crowd of well-to-do, helpful friends who all contribute their best to ful- fil Narayan's ambition. At a later stage the inevitable heroine enters the game. In this picture she is Veena, a poor girl, who steps into the office of the hero for a job and is found to be having remarkable talent in sing- ing and dancing. All the heroines are always born with a genius for arts and Veena is no exception. Very soon Veena and Narayan start spoon- ing and a'ong with their business of stage production, romance is shown as running a happy race. Ultimately, Veena and Narayan get married and it is here that the writer introduces pathos into the story. Sir Shankerlal, without knowing that his new daugh- ter-in-law is carrying a baby, induces Veena to leave the hero and go away with the usual sentimental talk about love and sacrifice. The heroine as usual goes away and goes through a lot of difficulties till she is given pro- tection by a Muslim villager, where she gives birth to her first child. In the city, the hero is heart-broken and passes through a severe i'lness. After the usual sequences the hero and the heroine meet and the stern father for- gives them and there is complete re- conciliation and happiness in the family. One wonders why they didn't do it long before the end of the story I 49 FILMINDIA February, 1946. * Recruit Suraj P. Adeeb of 89 Butler Hostel, 'Varsity, Lucknow, is a Kash- miri graduate just 5' tall. He speaks Hindustani fluently and has some stage experience. Well, the lad has a personality which some film people may like. We would have been saved the bore dom. Po.ir Production Values If "Bisvi-sadi" is to be accepted as an evidence of Mrs. Bhavnani s talent for story-writing, we should advise her to stop this work. She is no good at it and lacks imagination in the development of a screen play. In "Bisvi-sadi' she has given a very thin plot with the least intellectual resis- tance and the whole affair looks like a transparent yarn from the begin- ning to the end. Story-writing for the screen is evidently not Mrs. Bhav- nani's forte. The picture has failed in its basic story which is not at all suitable for the screen. The production as such is a very poor effort all round. The dialogues are insipid and many an emotional situation seems to have been wasted by the dialogue writer through sheer lack cf imagination. There were situations in the theme which could have been made very dramatic had the dia'ogues been suitably written. The music of the picture is ordinary and so are the song compositions. .Sound and photography are far from satisfactory. The direction of Mohan Bhavnani in this picture is still on par with his work in the first picture of his career. Bhavnani has not improved technically or emotionallv. 50 Nargis Satisfies From the players, Nargis stands out in her sincere portrayal of the hard hit heroine Veena. Though Nargis has not been properly directed, it lS obvious that the girl has some natural talent and understanding which she seems to have used with good effect in this picture. Nargis is definitely a good artiste and it i; a difficult job for even a bad director to kill a good artiste. From the others Mazharkhan has done pretty well in the role of Sir Shankerlal, though his dialogue diction is too hurried and confused. In playing "Sir Shankerlal" Mazhar re- vives the role of a old man which he played years before in "Sonera Sansar". Frcm the rest Mazumdar gives a pretty good portrayal as the e\il-minded Munshi of Sir Shanker- lal. Motilal seems to have taken the picture as a grand picnic, seeing his indifferent performance in the hero's role. In short, "Bisvi-sadi" provides com- plete boredom from the beginning to the end and it is too pooi a picture to waste a ticket on. OR REVIEW "Dhamki"-fl Transparent Detectiue Thriller A Stupid And Tiresome Picture With the success of "Panna," a Navayug thriller, we should not be surprised to see more thrillers com- ing to the Indian screen. Our pro- ducers are clumsy enough to copy things crudely and we shall now be getting a crowd of detective pictures till we get fed up with our life and begin cursing every motion picture anywhere within ten miles ot us. "Dhamki" is a detective story in which the hero is an amateur detec- tive and the heroine is the victim of a gangster. Actually, as we find the picture, there is nothing to detect in it from the beginning to the end be- cause the villain is known, his plot is known, his act is known and everything about everyone is known to everyone else except the heroine. The picture therefore has no suspense nor any ticklish problem to solve for the audience. Seeing "Dhamki", therefore, is more like crystal-gazing in which the past, the present and the future are all seen at will. Stupid Story We are introduced to two groups of people. One is a gang led by Ranbir who operates an insurance racket of insuring people and killing them afterwards. Ranbir is more- over a Romeo with an eye for tender flesh and constant variety. At the time of the story he had already poisoned his wife and is living with another girl who is in love with him. The other group consists of Bimla, an heiress, and Murari, her young bro- ther. To this group is added the hero, Ajit, an amateur detective, and a couple of other good people of the world, who constitute the law-abiding element of society. Ranbir is interested in Bimla and her fortune and seeks introduction with her by trapping Murari into gambling debts. Later on, Murari is framed up on a charge of murder and Bimla agrees to marry Ranbir, the man whom she hates very cordially. All this while Ajit keeps punctuating "DHAMKI" Producers: Pancholi Art Pictures Language: Urdu Story, Screen / Imtiaz Ali Play & Dialogues: ^ Taj , Lyrics: D. N. Madhok Music: Pt Amar Nath Cameraman: G. Singh Sound Engineer: Ishan Ghosh Editing: Dharam Vir Art Director: Ghulam Nabi Cast: Ragini, Al Nasir, Smriti, Kalavati, Ajmal & others. Released At: Minerva, Bombay. Date of Release: 21st Dec. 1945. Directed By: RAVINDRA R. DAVE Pleasant outdoors make "Shikari" a pleasant picture to see. Here we see Ashok and Veera asking the tiny horse to drag them to romance. the story with his heroics and amateur detection. Very soon a climax is reached in which Bimla is on the eve of marry- ing Ranbir, Murari has a suspicion of crime hanging on him, Ajit is locked up in a room far away from the town, Ranbir's sweetheart is cheated of her lover's loyalty and Ranbir him- self is getting the creeps of conscience. With this set-up the climax is dragged to its conclusion in which Ranbir dies of a shock, Bimla is handed over to the hero and Murari discovers that he never committed murder. There the detective story ends as tamely as it began in the first reel. A film story of crime and detection is not an easy affair if it is to be made thrilling from foot to foot. Mystery and suspense are the main features of such subjects and these have to be maintained by the creation ot nume- rous situations in the story. "Dhamki" fails to come up to these requirements because ot poor storv and poorer screen play. The best part of the picture is its excellent dialogue which is written in simp'e Urdu and in an idiomatic language. The lyrics of D. N. Madhok pre- sent the usual stupid stuff — ail words and no sense. And it is a pity that the work should be so spineless see- ing that Pandit Amar Nath, the music director, has given a couple of popular tunes. The other technical work such as photography and sound recording is quite good. The editing however cou'd have improved a lot if Dharam Vir had used his scissors a little more. Ravindra R. Dave's direction of the storv is poor. r~ .31 FILM INDIA February, 1946 Kalavati Shines From the players Kalavati in the ' role of the frustrated sweetheart gives the best performance. She acquits herse'.f in a sensible manner and seems to realise what she does every time. The next one to attract is Smriti, evi- dently a new-comer, who has face and mannerisms suitable for comic relief in pictures. This girl gives quite a lively performance and if suit- ably cast in future may prove a good addition to the screen. In the role of the heroine Ragini bores as usual, star- ing with her big eyes and blowing her nostrils all the while. Al Nasir, the hero, who plays the amateur detective, presents too fat a face to hold any expression. Though he has very well written dialogues to speak, he delivers them heartlessly and generally carries himself about in a manner which is hardly graceful or suitable. This boy fails as the hero of the picture. Ajmal, the villain, who plays the key-role of Ranbir does pretty well with his usual stagy grimaces and somehow keeps the home fires burning through out the picture. As a motion picture for entertain- ment "Dhamki" must be considered a flop. It has neither suspense nor any drama throughout its 11,000 feet which, at best, become extremely boring half way through the journey. Recruit D. G. Chawla of 51 Haroon Bldgs, Bunder Road, Karachi, is a college student standing nearly six feet. He acts, sings and does other tricks and feels that the film line will suit him. Recruit Narain S. Kamal cjo Suguo- mal Pamumal, old Market, Karachi, is an enthusiastic youngster of 20, who has already played several roles on the Hindustani stage- WelL what about him? 52 OUR REVIEW "Ratnavali"~A Waste Of Time and Money flmar Presents Poor Entertainment "RATNAVALI'" Producers: Amar Pictures Language: Hindustani Dialogues: K. Upadhyay Lyrics: Ram Murat, V. Gour and I. Kapoor. Photography: Adi Irani Audiography : Thakorbhai Patel Music: Gobindram Cast: Surendra, Ratnamala, Usha Mantri. K. N. Singh etc Released At: Lamington. Bom- bay. Date of Release: 16th Nov. 1945 Directed By: SURENDRA DESAJ Rowing against the current, by the usual process of self-hypnosis the Amar Pictures seem to have produced "Ratnavali"' believing all the while that they were giving to the film- goers a world-beater. Unfortunately "Ratnavali" failed so badly when it was released in Bombay that the pro- ducers now feel that at least for some, time no costume stories should be touched. "Ratnavali" is another hocus of those old kingdoms of Kaushal, and Kaushambi, etc. about which we have seen so many stories on the Indian screen before. It is the usual patented plot with which we are so familiar by now that we know how it is going to end in the very first reel of the picture. We are told that Ratnavali was a princess of Ceylon who was blessed with a boon that whoever married her would become a world-conqueror. That was enough temptation for all the scheming ministers of those days to secure the girl for their own kings. With this tempting bait, the ang- lers get busy but only one prime minister, that of Kaushambi. succeeds in securing a bite when he finds Rat- navali in the palace of his own king. To lend intrigue to the drama Rat- navali is given a different identity and when she goes into the presence of King Udyan, like a well prepaied stud bull the king falls in love with her, inspite of his having a queen all his own. A tug of romance is now introdu- ced between Queen Yasavadatta and the heroine Ratnavali with the moon struck king as the centre of attraction and the wise prime minister acting as the pimp-in-general. After a lot of useless sentimental talk and fire and what not, all the threads of romance are pulled together finally to hand over the princess to the waiting king. It all ends well as usual and nobody is thrilled about it either in the beginning or at the end. "Ratnavali" is perhaps the thinnest story ever presented on the screen as it lacks drama at every turn from the beginning to the end. A Poor Production The only thing that attracts atten tion in the picture is its architectural framing. We must admit that the sets are good. Bar this the entire picture is a very poor show in almost every respect. The screen play is an amateurish affair with no incidents and no scope for any drama. The dialogues are very poorly written and the lyrics are a crowd of usual words which make no sense. Photography is good in parts but surprisingly crude in the execution of pan and trolley shots. Most of the long shots remain poorly lighted. The sound recording is good. The music of Gobindram is far from being popular or suitable, while the direction of Surendra Desai lacks both intelli- gence and imagination. Amongst the players Ratnamala gets an unusual push in the role of Ratnavali. She doesn't deserve being given so much prominence at the cost of the story value. Wv are told that Ratnavali is a beautiful princess of Ceylon at an age where she should be a veritable man-killer. Actually Ratnamala is a direct contradiction of this expectation. This woman looks old and pulled down and in her light moments look frivolous with her age and appearance staring us in the face. Surendra is a hero probab'y selected by weight. He seems to have stop- ped acting seeing how much he has done in a role where he has very little to do. Usha Mantri in the role of Vasavadatta proves another liability on the production. This woman makes faces and doles out a very poor diction of Hindustani. K. N. Singh has given his typical performance with his usual grimaces and eye-brow play. The others in the picture are too poor to deserve any mention. In short, "Ratnavali" must be con- sidered a sheer waste of time and money by producers who cannot afford to indulge themselves in such luxury. For the film-goers "Ratna- vali" is one long piece of boredom. Veera and Ashok Kumar make an excellent team in "Shikari" a picture of Filmistan. 53 ■Italic ij<2 &ne fan* ! Director: P.° C. BARUA THAT WILL BEAT THE RECORDS OF " DEVDAS "JAWAB 1 MUKTI " AND GIVE A NEW SLANT ON THIS WORLD* OF OURS ! J rr.i\ 7/7/ ,-/fSJi,)S ;<•£ SETS NEW VOGUES Iff MUSIC OUTSTRIPPIHO HIS RECORDS OF jMttBbHOSPlTffL LlILlI narayan with a daughter called Veens and a suitor for her called Ranjit. They arc all rich. The other group consists of Badal, a Chieftain with Paro, a jungle girl, in love with him and Masterji, an old go-between, be- tween the two groups. With this pattern of characters romance is given to the story in which Ranjit wants to marry Veena while Veena is in love with Badal. Ranjit becomes the villain on the male side and Paro becomes the jealous cat on the female side. These two erect the usual hurdles in the race of romance be- tween Badal and Veena, and the romantic theme travels in its usual rut without either Gyan Mukerji or S. H. Manto showing any imagination about it. Just at this stage the Government of India step in with their Japanese prize boys and call upon the hero and the heroine to get mixed up in their war propaganda. So we are intro- duced to a Japanese Captain who talks some Hindustani billingsgate, shoots a lot ot people, manhandles a 63 FILM INDIA February, 1946. lot of girls and bleeds a number of children. Very soon the whole atmos- phere is transtormcd into a guerrilla warfare and wc see Veena becoming a guerrilla leader and Ranjit and Badal running between her and the Japanese at regular intervals. In keep ing with our expectations the Japa- nese are driven out, two interfering players, Ranjit and Paro, are disposed off and Veena and Badal are thrown into an embrace of romance, not only as lovers but as patriots in addition. The picture fails to attract mainl) because of poor story material and its subsequent development. We do not know who this fellow S. H. Manto is, and he seems to be a new man at the game, but his work as a screen-play and-dialogue-writer seems to be terri- fically poor. He fritters away several opportunities where he could have given very powerful dialogues which would have added a theme and drama to the situations. It is mainly because of the poor work of this man that the story fails to appeal. The only saving grace is the editing of Dattaram Pai which is remarkably slick and fast throughout the picture. The photo- graphy is good in parts and rather dark at places. Sound recording is very faulty and indistinct, and many dialogues are lost entirely to the audience. The lyrics of Gcpalsing Nepali are quite good and written in a very simple language with words which help musical phonetics. The musical tunes, however, must be con- sidered as very poor. The sets are remarkably good. Savak Vachas direction is good work as a maiden effort and this boy promises to be a good director in future if he is given a carefully writ- ten scenario. In "Shikari" he shows sufficient imagination in shot com- position and action direction. Veera, A New Find From the players Ashok Kumar, who is a vastly improved artiste these days, once again gives a good per- formance as 'Badal,' the hero of the story. He is less effeminate these days and more graceful, and his per- formance, therefore, becomes imme- diately popular. Veera is an excellent addition to the screen heroines of India. She is surprisingly good in light portrayals and is hardly camera-conscious. The only defect found in her at present is her faulty diction of the dialogue which she stammers out in a painful manner. It will be more beneficial to avoid this girl in big close-ups and generally present her in small mid- shots. Veera has a good figure and shows enough talent to be a very useful artiste in future. Paro, another new-comer who plays the jungle girl, is utterly use- less as a screen artiste. She is dwar. Nandrekar and Surraiya do some cock-eyed loving in "Akash-Deep" produced by Jayant Films. 64 Bipin Gupta makes his debut iii "Prabhu-ka-Ghar," a Ranjit picture. fish in figure and has deformed legs which look repulsive. Though the gtrl makes a sincere effort to portray her role, her appearance goes against her throughout and she fails to win the sympathy of the audience. Rama Shukul acts Ranjit, the weak-kneed villain of the piece, but while doing so he speaks more to himself than to any one in the pic- ture or in the theatre. Excited or not it is difficult to pick up Shukul's dia- logue which piles up one over the other in his unholy hurry to vomit it. I his is Shukul s main defect which makes him highly unsuitable for screen work though in all other res- pects he is quite a good artiste. Leela Misra in the role of Sunalini, the mother of Ranjit, gives a good per- formance. V. H. Desai, the come- dian of the play, has little to do and proves boring these days with his usual monkey tricks. From the Jap quarters Samson at- tracts attention by his excellent per- formance as the Japanese Captain. , This is perhaps the best Japanese Captain seen by us on this side of the Burmese border since Indian pro- ducers started doling out Jap themes. Samson certainly deserves encourage ment. To sum it all up, "Shikari" is no' at all a bad picture if you once make peace with its thin story material and its propaganda contents. Thanks to Dattaram Pai. the editor, the picture has been made fast and saved from being a complete piece of boredom. "Shikari" is not a bad time-killer. ADVANCE FILM EXCHANGE (Bombay) Considering the bad times we are having at present, "Ghar" had a splendid run of 15 weeks at the Majestic in Bombay. These well- known distributors will now be re- leasing "Ameree", a picture produced by Associated Pictures featuring Barua, Ramola, Jamuna and others. This is a socialistic theme arguing the life of the underdog and it is reported to have been well received in Calcutta. Another picture which they are likely to release very shortly is "Pahechan" produced by New Talkies of Calcutta. SHALIMAR PICTURES (Poona) Keeping their old motto, "Art For People's Sake," in view Producer W. Z. Ahmed is reported to have given to the film-goers a popu'ar picture in "Ghulami". Other pictures in the studio in the making are "Prithviraj Sanyukta", "Shree Krishna Bhagwan" and "Mira Bai." The first two are well on way towards completion. MAZHAR ART PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) "Pehli Nazar", a story of Muslim social life, is awaiting release now and will shortly regale audiences all over the country. Almost all the territorial rights have been sold for very good prices and negotiations are on way about the North Indian rights. RAMNIK PRODUCTIONS (Bom bay) Producer Mazhar Khan is very busy shooting the sequences of "Naiyya", a picture which is being produced under his supervision and directed by Aslam Nuri. In the cast we find Mazhar Khan, Munawar Sultana and Ashraf Khan, the well known stage singer. Still another picture which Pro- ducer Mazhar Khan has taken in hand is called "Sona" or "The Gold." The story of this picture has been written by Director Chowdhary and it will be directed by Mazhar Khan himself. AMAR PICTURES (Bombay) The latest news which comes from this company is that the tinal sequ- ences of 'Gvalan', a picture produced and directed by Baburao Patel, are being taken. With Sushila Rani lead- ing a useful stcLar cast, the picture is reported to have become excellent in all round production values. The musical value of this picture is likdy to be outstanding. KAHAN ART PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Producer director K. L. Kahan has taken up a new subject "Mahiya" which is a Punjabi social story. A lot of shooting has been done for this picture which features Kundan Lai, Rajrani and others. The music is given by Nisar Bazmi. STANDARD PICTURES (Bombay) At last, after a long time, news comes to us that 'Bairamkhan' is now in the final stages of production. Featuring Jagirdar, Mehrab, David and others, this historical subject is reported to have become an impres- sive entertainment. Thanks to Pro- ducer M. Havewalla who has spared neither pain nor money to make it an attractive spectacle. JAY PICTURES (Bombay) This is evidently a new production company under the supervision of Mr. Joshi. Their first picture will be called "Extra Girl" and will be directed by K. L. Kahan. In the cast we find Rajrani, Anant Prabhu, Arvind Kumar and many others. VARIETY PICTURES (Calcutta) This is a new production company started in the East of India and their maiden picture wi.l be called "Prem- In "Akash Deep" a picture of Jayant Films, Surraiya plays the lead. FILM INDIA February, 1946. Ki-Duniya". They have chosen a very fine cast including Ahin Chou- dhury, Alaknanda, Kalpana and Raj- laxmi. Producer N. R. Bose has en- trusted this picture to Jyotish Ban- erjee for direction at the Indrapuri Studios. NATIONAL STUDIOS (Bombay) Having rested for some time these producers are now keen on finishing the picture "Inqualab". Shooting is being done from day to day and the early reports seem to suggest that "Inqualab" is likely to become an ex cedent entertainment. HILAL FILM CORPORATION (Bombay) Under the direction of A. R. Zamin- dar "Hai Jani," a social story, is making satisfactory progress in the studios with Molina, Munshi Khan- jar and Madhurika in the cast. The picture promises to become a useful thriller. Another picture simulta- neously under production is called "Matwali". It is evidently a comedy. AZAD PICTURES (Bombay) The latest news from these quart- ers confirm progress of Director Bal- want B. Dave with a new picture "Namak." Quite a good lot of shoot- ing is reported to have been done and Director Balwant seems quite satis- fied with his work. CHANDRA ART PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Believe it or not, Director Nana- bhai Bhatt is reported to have done the trick with his social story, "40 Crores". Featuring Nirmala, Arun, Yakub and several others, the picture is reported to have become quite an impressive melodrama of our village life. DIN PICTURES (Bombay) Director M. Sadiq, who has shot into the news owing to his success in "Rattan", is shooting another pic- ture for these producers called "Jag Biti". It is a social story produced by M. A. Mughni and promises to be a useful picture with Suraiya leading a useful cast and with Gulam Haider giving lilting tunes. NATIONAL THEATRES LTD. (Bombay) Producer K. Abdulla rushed into our office the other day to tell us that he has finished the paper work for his new company and for a new picture called "Hamjholi." This picture will be on the sets at the Bombay Talkies studio very shortly and among other artistes we shall be seeing Nur Jehan in the leading role. Hi pui Gupta, one of our future top liners, brings grim drama into a picture produced and directed by Mr. Baburao Patel. 'Gvalan," INDIA PICTURES (Bombay) Taking a story from Hyat Ullah Ansari these producers christened it "Neecha Nagar". The distinctive fea- ture of this picture is the main role in it which is being played by Rafi Peer who has had stage experience overseas. The direction is in the hands of Chetan Anand. fAYBHARAT PICTURES LTD. (Bombay) Under the direction of Kishore Sharma that social picture "Rasili" is reported to be progressing very well. One of its best features will be the music of the picture which is given by Hanuman Prasad who distinguish- ed himself in the music direction of "Draupadi". In the cast we find Kanh- yalal, Radha Rani and Ranibala. HINDUSTAN CHITRA (Bombay) Producer Kishore Sahu is one of those persons who cannot be silenced easily. Taking the success of "Veer Kunal' as further encouragement, Ki- shore has launched two new produc- tions simultaneously. One of them is called "Sindoor" while the other is called "Chhote Thakur". According to him both are super socials. We hope they are so in reality. LAKHMIDAS ANAND PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Producer Anand has written to us a personal letter to tell us that "Krishna Leela" has far exceeded his previous expectations in quality and contents. It seems that Director Debaki Bose is back in his old form and with Kanan singing for dear life "Krishna Leela" is likely to be one of the best musicals of the year. DUGAL PICTURES (Bombay) Final and finishing touches are be- ing given to "Haqdar," a Muslim story with a good theme under the direction of Rafiq Razvi, and featur- ing Harish, Najma, Anita Sharma and others. This picture is expected to become a good money spinner. Already the producers are planning a new one called 'Sultana Chand Bibi.' R. S. PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) This is another new company start- ed with the primary idea of produc- ing stunt thrillers. Their first picture will be called "Kangoo" and has something to do with the 'King Kong' and 'Frankenstein' put together. The picture is directed by G. Currimbhoy. 66 February. 1841 FILM INDIA RANJIT MOVIETONE (Bombay) It is good news to learn that this company of producers will be shordy completing their iooth talking picture. In the meanwhile, they have relea- sed "Cband Chakori" at the Laming- ton and "Prabhu-Ka-Ghar" at the Royal Opera House. At the studios, Director Chaturbhuj is reported to have completed "Phool- wari," a social subject and taken up a new picture featuring a new heroine. Director Aspi is reported to be giving final touches to "Rajputani" featuring Jairaj and Veena. Director Manibhai Vyas is reported to be in the final stages of "Dharti" featuring Trilok Kapoor and Mumtaz Shanu. MANSATA TALKIE DISTRIBU- TORS (Calcutta) "Takrar" produced by Art Films is reported to have been released at the fyoti Cinema in Calcutta, where it is drawing good audience. Another pic- ture which these distributors have got ready for release is called "Raj- lakshmi" produced by M. P. Produc- tions and starring Kanan Bala. NAVYUG CHITRAPAT LTD. (Poona) "Din Raat," a social story which could not get a release date in Bom- bay has been released at Calcutta. Delhi, Lahore and Allahabad. At the studios, Director Vedi has almost completed "Room No. 9", a detective thriller. Another picture under production is 'Paroo" starring Geeta Nizami, Randhir and others. Still one more planned for production is called "Shikayat" which is a social story. It will be handed over to Shahid Latif for direction. DURGA PICTURES (Bombay) Director Phani Majumdar is report- ed to have completed his musical comedy "Dur Chalen". The music of this picture is given by K. C. Dey. OM PICTURES (Bombay) Their maiden production 'Bridge' is being controlled by Rajlakshmi Pic- tures. It is evidently a social story featuring Biman Banerji, Rehana, Balraj and others. The shooting of the picture has almost been complet- ed and the picture is expected to be ready for the screen within a month. SHIVRAJ PRODUCTIONS (Bom- bay) Producer-director Shivraj informs us that his maiden picture "Dhoke Baj" has been censored. The next item of production is a social comedy called "Dilawar." PRAFULLA PICTURES (Bombay) Producer-director K. Winayak has completed the shooting of his mytho- logical comedy "Subhadra" featuring Shanta Apte, Ishwarlal, Yakub and others. This picture is reported to have become good entertainment. The next item of production is called "Bazaar," a social story. •() ^tottf with Maylc and Stuntt R. S PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS "MAHAPARA" K ANGOO Led by: — QAMAR, SADIQ, SHAHZADA MALIK, ANWAR SULTANA, MAHENDRA DUTTA and BHATIA Directed By:— G. CURRIMBHOY Story & Dialogues by:—C. M. HUNAR. Music .— M. SHAFI. Songs by:— SHEVAN RAZVI & C. M. HUNAR. Froduced by .— SURIYA ZULFI. ftzoduced undei the peiionaL '.upetvilion ofi R. RAZVI C. P. C. I. : GOVARDHANDAS LILADHAR, Bhusawal Overseas: SURESH FILM DISTRIBUTORS, Kalbadevi, Bombay. For Particulars apply:— R. S. PRODUCTIONS. Vincent Road, Suraj Bhavan, Matunga, BOMBAY. Phone :— 61014. 67 F I LM INDI A February, 1946. MURLI MOVIETONE (Bombay) Director Ram Daryani has returned from his out-door shooting of "Shra- van Kumar" and within a few days this picture will be ready for the screen. Featuring Chandra Mohan, Pahari Sanyal and Mumtaz Shanti "Shravan Kumar" is reported to have become a grand spectacle. BRIJ PRAKASH PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Munshi Khanjar"s story "Pick Pocket", a social theme, is nearing completion under the direction of NTari Ghadiali. This picture which is produced by Miss Brijmala and features Rajrani, Navin Yagnik and others. SEW INDIA PICTURES (Bombay) Director Sagir Asif has already com- pleted the shooting of his social story "Hasrat" featuring Ranibala, Dila- war, Sadiq and others. VASWANI ART PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) After completing the out-doors of "Sassi Punnu' at Karachi, Director J. Recruit Brij Mohan Lai c o Universal Tailors, Kutchery Road. Lahore, rea- lises that he is not an influential person and yet feels that producers would some day give him an opportunity to express his acting talent P. Advani has just returned to Bom- bay to shoot the indoors at the Shree Sound Studios. In the cast we find Geeta Nizami, Jairai. Yashodhara Katju and others. JAGRITI PICTURES (Bombay) "Song of Desert," a phantasy from Arabia, is reported to be drawing very good houses at the Kamal Talkies in Bombay. Directed by Bhagwan, the picture features Master Vithal, Amar- nath and Khurshid Jr. FILM WORLD (INDIA) LTD. (Bombay) Mr. J. Udeshi, an old campaigner in the film industry has started this new production company. He is not tell- ing us the name of his maiden picture but we hear it is a social subject. MURARI PICTURES (Bombay) With his usual slick efficiency, Pro- ducer-Director Mohan Sinha has al- most completed "Omar Khayyam" written by Dr. Safdar Ah. The pic- ture features Saigal in the tide role. The next subject to go on the sets will be "1857." fiz&k&lk 'Pilttiltuto'c* Undote Present VANMALA & SURENDRA in A Box-office Social Hit Supported by > Harish, Hansa Wadker, Sheikh Mukhtar Kanahaiyalal, Pesi Patel, Ansari and others. Directed by RAMCHANDRA THAKUR M.A., Music by > ASHOK GHOSH, MASTER ALI BUX. Doz QVoxtJ & UcxxiioxUiC CONTACT:- MESSRS. PRAKASH DISTRIBUTORS, BADJATIA BLDG.. BADA SARAFA, INDORE. (C.I.) 68 M/oe* & Sick OQ5 ( This is the reader's forum— as and when space permits. From the producer to the lay film-goer, every one can write to the Editor and ventilate his grievance. For every letter published in these columns, the publishers will pay Rs. Si- Letters should be signed and marked "Hoes And Echoes". Photographs of the readers will be published along with theit letters, if convenient. — The Editor.) MATTER OF BRAINS "It was recently that I saw both the pictures, "Dragon-Seed" and "Ghu ami." To be just, "Ghulami" is only the Hindi version of "Dragon- Seed". The tragedy is that "Ghu- lami" is not even one-tenth as good as "Dragon-Seed," although both the pictures have the same theme. Such was the case with "Dassi" and "Random Harvest" too. I am at a loss to understand as to why these fndian producers do not get their own stories for picture production." LUCKNOW. G. N. Govel TELLING ME? "Two days ago I had the misfor- tune to see "Lakharani" at Nagpur. From the very start the thin audi- ence was surprised at this Prabhat's latest. "Well, in the end I was thorough- ly disappointed. There is nothing except some spectacle and dancing. The story is unconvincing and clum sily put. The picture is a disgrace i< the name of Prabhat. whose trumpet is becoming weaker day by day to the great disappointment of tbtir vast well-wishers." GONDIA. r. P. Bhargava. SORRY. "Film critics (?) as a general rule do more harm to the Industry by attributing insipid adjectives to the names of film stars. Words such as lotus-eyed, glamorous, bewitching, mysterious etc., when attributed to persons least deserving them, only tend to make these stars have a wrong notion of themselves. "And Mr. Patel, I am very sorry to state that in this respect you are no better than these so called 'critics.' "How can you justify yourself in calling Kishore a 'genius" and Jayant Desai "a box office wizard." "Surely, you don't wish to lose our faith in you for frank and fearless opinion about men anil matters in movieland." ROMRAY. G. Ramasubramanian SAVE ME, FRIEND. "The valuable service that is be ing done by "filmindia" is not goin;: home to many of the South Indian film stars or the film public as they are not very proficient in the Eng- lish language. Why not start a South Indian edition of "filmindia" in Te'ugu or Tamil language devot- ing mainly to the improvement of the present rotten state of South Indian film industry?" CUTTACK. Pattapou' MYTHICAL ALRIGHT "After seeing some of the current mythological films, I have come to the conclusion that instead of giving entertainment, these films are calcu- lated to affect one's pat'ence and mental tranquility. A dangerous ground for plot building has often been used bv producers in the too familiar garb of mytho'ogy. Rv itse'f, mythological storv is a good motion picture subiect with a number of me- lodramatic incidents which though my- thical are essenMally entertaining. But unfortunately the story, as it is pre- sented on the screen, however, be- comes a terrib'y nerve-racking expe- rience because it is handled w;th utter lack of imagination bv the director." PATNA. Satvendra Prasad Jamuar. AND YET — "Hind Pictures' 'Laila Mninu' depicts a reckless waste of celluloid to us who are living in an atom- bomb age. The old order should change yielding place to new, but it is incomnrehensib'c why producers should slide towards retrogression. How can an antiquated fable appeal to the twentieth century men? We clamour for pictures which shou'd make a fresh approach to the varie- gated activities of our people from a new angle. #We yearn for pictures which should pave the wav for im- proving our social life, infuse in us a spirit of nationality and inculcate in us a sence of appreciating the hopes and fears of humanity at large. Gone are the days %vhen maniacal lovers died for the sake of a woman's love." DELHI. Miss Rajindra Kaur. PAID FOR IT! "Jamshed Wadia's 'Piya Milan' is easily the worst picture of 1945. It is a sad illustration of bow precious ce'luloid can become mere trash un- less producers use intelligence and foresight." BANGALORE. N. S. V. Chalam WHY ME? "We do not want to live in the past any more. Draupadis, Meerabais, Savitris, Seetas and Shakuntalas were undoubtedly great women in their times. Today they are only legen- dary figures. We have had enough of them in our homes, schoo's, col- leges and on the screen as well. "We are tired of the modern ro- cial hits which are more often than not failures. "There is the beautiful backgroun 1 of Burma, Ma'aya and Assam. Will it be too much to ask of you. an in- telligent fearless critic, to give us the achievements of the Jhansi Regi- ment? We are politically awakened now. Fearless though vou are will you fear the censor, who will live on °.ur s°,'' as ]°ng as Rritish Imperialism V1LLE PARLE. Miss Tula. NOTHING NEW "I join hands with Mr. R. J A Somjee in deprecating the ' black- marketing in cinema tickets. If I arn not mistaken. Calcutta with a popu- laUon of over 40 lacs, must be lead- ing in this respect. Barring a few cinema houses, everywhere this black- marketing is thriving in broad day hght and in the full knowledge of the respective managers. Sometimes 1 he tickets are sold at 200 to 300 per cent premium. I remember a Ben- gali family who had covered a dis- tance of two and odd miles and had paid RS. 3!. to the Gharriwalla. and had to pay RS. 4| for each ^ rf Ks. 1 Jo to see "Udayar Pathev " CALCUTTA. P. N. Sharma PREJUDICED, ARE YOU! In response to an advertisement in the "Bombay Chronicle," I presented myself at the office of Harischandra Pictures today exactly at five minutes before 12 o'clock. I was asked to wait as the time given for interview in the advertisement was 12-30 p.m. and I had committed a great offence by calling there half an hour earl:er So I took the only chair in the room and sat down. As the time for the interview drew nearer "new faces" began to arrive. At the prospect of every new comer I strained my ears to catch the tinkle of bangles, the 69 FILMINDIA Nagendra Mujumdar plays the village barber and how in "Gvalan" a social story produced and directed by Mr. Baburao Patel. ral appearance of escaped convicts. At five minutes past 12-30 a short, stout- looking fellow wearing bush coat and glasses emerged from behind the screen partitioning the room, gave a rusde of a sari, the silver ring of an enquiring voice, but it turned out to be a "he" every time. All the "new faces" wore haggard expressions, were wretchedly dressed and had the gene- February, 1946 swift but searching glance to us — no she — and sniffing like a mad bull marched over to the attendant whom I had met at the time of my arrival. "Tell them to come tomorrow at 2-30 p.m.," he stuttered in affected tommy accent and then disappeared down- stairs. The non-appearance of a 'cow' had obviously enraged that bull! I wonder why these self-complacenl fools do not go directly to prostitutes instead of putting in bogus advertise- ments in the newspapers with the hope of entangling some respectable girl, such baits cannot attract any girl — not even a prostitute. I think it is the duty of all the reputed studio- owners to take action against such devils in the film industry and to ostracize them by refusing to allow them to make pictures in their studios. If the employers of such mean and dirty tactics are not kicked out of the film industry at once that time is not far when educated and cultured per- sons would wince at the very mention of an Indian film producer and would gladly turn to the foreign producers who are going to invade the Indian soil in near future. "Please don't send any money for publishing; this letter." BOMBAY. Atib Usmam. NAVIN YAGNIK RAJ RANI IN Brij Prakash Production's Mighty Thrilling Hit, "PICK-POCKET" (m 7 £ s z ) with Samson _ Radha - Habib Ali Manchi Thoothi _ Varne & others. Director NARI GHADIAL I Story - Scenario & Dialogues : Munshi Khanjar Songs: Ahsan Rizvi Music: Nisar Bazmi Audiography: C. Sahju Paul Photography: Shiavax Daruwala Dance Master: D. Babulal PRODUCER: BRIJ MALA Oot ^PaxticaCaii. vcriite. to: Brij Prakash Production PATANWALA BLDG., WADIA STREET, TARDEO BOMBAY 7. 70 The Indian film industry will improve only when film-goers pick and choose their en- tertainment. As long as fools keep on rushing for tickets, there is not the slightest chance of getting better pictures in future. The duty of every intelligent filmgoer is not only to stop see- ing bad pictures himself, but also to stop others from doing so. For ready reference from month to month we shall be grading pictures as follows: — ***** (5*) Excellent, Don't miss. **** (4*) Very good. *** (3*) Quite good ** (2*) Tolerable. Entertaining in parts. * (I*) Rotten. Avoid. Pictures reviewed in "filmindia" from January 1945 A (2*) 'Aina' (Hindustani) (D.R.D.) March '45 issue- Social. — "presents the same old story — is a small money-maker." (1*) .'Amrapali' (Hindi) (Murli) Jan. '46 i?sue— histo- rical romance — "proves a terribly boring expe- rience." B (2*) 'Bari Baat' (Hindustani) (Mazhar Art) Jan. '45 issue — Social. — "not at all a bad time-killer if you have nothing particular to do." (1*) 'Bari Ma' (Hindustani) (Prafulla) Sept. '45 issue Propaganda Social. — "year's most rotten show." (1*) 'Bhagya Laxmi* (Hindustani) (Laxmi) May '45 issue — Social.— "proves just so much trash." (2*) 'Bhai Jan' (Urdu) (United Films) Dec. '45 issue- Social — "presents the usual sob-stuff." (2*) 'Bhartruhari' (Hindustani) (Navin) Aug. '45 issue — Mythological. — "nothing much." (2*) .'Bondita' (Bengali) (New Talkies) July '45 issue — Social. — "sob-stuff pure and simple." <1*) 'Burma Rani' (Tamil) (Modern Theatres) May '45 issue — propaganda social. — "a crude war thriller" C (2*) 'Caravan' (Hindustani) (Ranjit) May '45 issue- gipsy social— "interesting story indifferently handled." (2*) 'Chal Chal Re Navjawan' (Hindustani) Filmls- t&n) Jan. '45 issue — Social. — "is not worth seeing twice." (2*) 'Chand' (Hindustani) (Prabhat) Feb. '45 issue- Propaganda Social. — "a light entertainment." (3*) 'Chandragupta' (Hindi) (Jayant Desai) April '45 issue— Historical.— "Historically incorrect but en- tertaining." (3*) 'Chhamia' (Hindustani) (Protima Dasgupta) Oct. '45 issue — Social.— "presents sensible en- tertainment." (X*) 'Chand Tara' (Hindustani) (Asiatic) Dec. '45 issue — Social. — "a stupid time-killer without even a single moment of intelligent relief." D (1*) 'Dotana' (Bengali) (Eureka) June '45 issue- Social. — "just rotten and disgusting." (2*) 'Dui Punish' (Bengali) (New Theatres) Nov. '45 issue — Social. — "rattles down N. T. Standard- there are spots where the picture proves slight- ly entertaining." E (3*) 'Ek Din-ka-Sultan' (Urdu) (Minerva) Jan. '46 issue— historical romance— "a picture worth see- ing, at least for some good entertainment." G (1*) 'Gaali' (Hindustani) (N. R. Desai Productions) March '45 issue — Social.— "presents disappointing entertainment." (2*) 'Ghar' (Hindustani) (Sunrise) Jan. '46 issue- Social— "a good picture to see though it drags at places." (3*) 'Geet' (Hindustani) (Kardar) Sept. '45 issue- Social. — "a picture worth seeing." H (4*) 'Hamrahi' (Hindustani) (New Theatres) Oct. 45 issue. — Social.— "a picture which is worth going a long way to see." (1*) 'Hospital' (Hindustani) (M. P. Productions) April '45 issue — Social.— "presents stupid and boring stuff." (2*) 'Humayun' (Urdu) (Mehboob) July '45 issue- Historical.— "Sadly fails to entertain." I (2*) 'Ismat' (Urdu) (Fazli Bros.) April '45 issue- Social— "presents common uninteresting plot." J (2*) 'Jwar Bhata' (Hindustani) (Bombay Talkies) Jan. '45 issue — Social. — "nothing outstanding— yet it is not a bad time-killer." K (1*) 'Kiran' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) July '45 issue- Social.— "just a rotten picture." (2*) 'Krishnarjun Yuddha' (Hindi) (Murari) Sept. '45 issue— Mythological— "a boring story." (2*) 'Kaise Kahun' (Hindustani) (Pancholi) Jan. '46 issue— social— "is not such an awful time killer." 71 FILMINDI A Febrnary, 1946. L (1*) 'Lakharani' (Hindustani) (Prabhat) Dec. '45 issue— co- tume fantasy— "a picture too rotten for words." (2*) 'Lalkar' (Hindustani) (Jay ant Desai) Fab. '45 issue— Social.— "not a bad time-killer if you are not looking for anything intellectual in it." (2*) 'Lai Haveli' (Hindustani) (Bombay Cinetone) Feb. '45 issue— Social— "continues to entertain throughout its length." (1*) 'Lady Doctor' (Hindustani) (Venus) June -45 issue— Social.— "should be considered ,an all round flop." (2*) 'Leila Majnu' (Urdu) (Hindi) June '45 issue- folklore.— "proves slightly boring." M (1*) 'Maha Maya' (Tamil) (Jupiter) March '45— issue— Mythological.— "moderate stuff without much entertainment.'^ (2*) Miss Devi' (Hindustani) (Laxmi) Oct. '45 issue- Propaganda Social.— "a pretty cheap production." (2*) 'My Sister' (Hindustani) (New Theatres) March '45 issue— Social.— "a - common story clumsily done — expected to run well because of its or- thodox theme." (1*) "Mumtaz Mahal"— (Urdu) (Ranjit) Dec. '45 issue— Historical— "a disgusting distortion of history." (2*) 'Mun-ki-Jeet' (Hindustani) (Shalimar) Nov. '45 issue— Social.— "though travels a bit leisurely before interval, it gathers some tempo ana drama after the interval." (1*) 'Maharathi Kama' (Hindustani) (Prabhakan Nov. '45 issue— Mythological.— "a ludicrous por- trayal of Mahabharat." N (2*) 'Nala Damayanti' (Hindi) (Janak) July '45 issue —Mythological.— "a killing time-killer." P (1») Tannadai' (Hindi) (Pradeep) May '45 issue- Historical.— "Proves a heart-rending flop." (3*) 'Panna' (Hindustani) (Navyug) Aug. '45 issue- Propaganda Social.— ''jects of this organization will be to conduct a research id technical institute, to co-ordina'e the activities of the dustry so as to raise its standard, make suggestions tc overnment on the improvement of public health regula- ms in cinemas, studios and about storage of films etc he Film Council will have representatives of the Central id Provincial Governments, the trade interests and the dian States. The Government will also nominate four its'anding men of letters to advise on cultural matters The proposed Film Council is another good idea if e majority decisions of the Council are carried out by the ecutives and not shelved as "mere advice" as was done the case of the Advisory Committee which co-operated ith the Government during the war. The proposed idea to give the film trade, constituted lly of the re actionary associations found at present, a ma rity voice in the Council is not, however, welcome rhi!e the different associations should have their elected presentatives — only one each — on the Council, the Gov nment should nominate others, such as journalists and dependent persons directly interested in film work or film ade but outside the associations, on the Council so that o stubborn cliques are formed and the intended progres ve work of the Council is not held up. This is most sential seeing the past experience film people have had of nhcly cliques of powerful interests operating against the cneral progress of the industry. Let the Film Council be thoroughly democratic body of people who are out to do >mething for the future weal of the industry in general id not a syndicate of self-seeking capitalists. We are warning Secretary Thapar about the personnel f the Film Council in good time, otherwise in his anxiety > secure the co-operation of the industry, he nvght play lto the hands of syndicated interests which should be Tupulously kept out of the Film Council if this body is t all to have a national and democratic complexion. While all the general aims of the Film Council are in eeping with the usual ideals of such an institution, an em of urgent importance is the present menace of foreign ompetition. which should come within the scope of the Council. This matter must be immediately thrashed out and ettled in national interest seeing that two representatives >f Arthur Rank, the British film magnate, are already losing round India and feeling their way and the Walt )isney organization is thinking of giving its cartoons the iindustani tongue to capture Indian millions. Once the oreigners secure a foothold in this country, it will be next o impossible to get them out of our industry and out of our ountry. In this respect, we appeal to P. N Thapar. the Indian f he is going to do a lot for the Indian film industry in uture, let him do something about this first. This is more han a lot the*/ co/MB ot/rsesro/v KODAK LTD- (Incorporated in EngUnd) BOMBAY - CALCUTTA - LAHORE - MADRAS 9 Particulars :— A Z A D PICTURES, \yot\ Studios, Kennedy Bridge, BOMBAY 7. This section is the monopoly of "JUDAS" and he writes what he likes and about things which he likes. The views expressed here are not necessarily ours, but they carry weight because they are written by a man who knows his job. -EARN TO BEHAVE! In the Indian film industry it is a risky job to be given I title by the Government. The man who gets the title lias to go round so many times to so many friends night Ifter night and take dinners and swallow speeches in the (Inidst of the very same people, that for weeks, life becomes jne big vicious circle of hypocrisy. Even the initial joy ot [being rewarded with a title for some good work is dissi- pated by the time the ninth party is reached That is the krdeal of the lucky man. But there is another aspect of these parties of which Ihe new-rich gentry of the film industry must take serious Inotice if they are ever to be accepted as members of an Educated and cultured society. No one expects much grace and polish from the first generation of the new-rich. Cul- tural polish requires a practice of several generations of poise and character before it expresses itself naturally in little acts of life. This would be a tall order to expect from fome of our film gentry, many of whom in the immediate pre-war period were no better than crude street pedlars. But even these well-dressed erstwhile pedlars are expected jo behave when they enter good homes. It is essential that jhe naturally crude ones should turn such invitations into ppportunities to learn good manners, etiquette and other little social graces which stamp the man of education and rulture. At many of our film functions, commercial or social, Altogether another type of behaviour is usually found. Though some people are quite gentle and nice there arc Inanv who bring to such functions petty jealousies and private grudges to turn the host's hospitable home into an (unholy bedlam of filthy abuse and cheap billingsgate. jThis is unfair both to the well meaning host and hostcs land to the other guests who expect reasonably courteous (behaviour at such functions. People who dress like gentle Jmen should strive to behave like gentlemen. A community (gathering in a private home is certainly not the place to [settle business sores in a language that gives street filth 1 [better fragrance. If some of the new-rich have rescued their social con- science by taking cheap street prostitutes as life-partners, lis it necessary that such people should inflict their vulgar (bed-side language and filthy mannerism, acquired in close (intimacy of their self-chosen mates, on decent members of [society who respond to invitations of kind and well-mean- ling hosts and hostesses to honour some good man or other5 Those good ones who become unwilling victims of such vulgar behaviour often choose to keep quiet not be cause thev do not know how to defend themselves or reta Hate but because they respect the sanctity of the homes I thev are invited to and are also anxious not to barter then own cultural heritage under the provocation of cheap jibes coming from crude, uneducated persons of questionable birth. Success and money should make people humble and not vulgar. Film people who tell this to the world through their motion pictures should themselves learn this lesson first. - THE GAEK WAR'S ATTITUDE! As a community the Princes of our Native States have never enjoyed a good reputation, either for good behaviour or for good rule. The average Indian accepts them as a had inheritance from history and is anxious to see the last of them as quickly as possible. But because a majority of our Princes are rotters, a few, who are progressive, stand out prominently and people expect from such Princes sym- pathy and support for people's national aspirations in all ictivities of life. It is a patent fact that many of our Native Princes are mightily interested in our film industry. But it is equally well-known that this mighty interest begins and ends with some of the less desirable film stars of the industry. Miss Madhuri plays a tantalizing role in "Gvalan" pro- duced and directed by Mr. Baburao Patel. SABIT A DE VI : with : HEMAVATI - HASAN - TALESH- KADIR . M AQ BOOL and others. Producer : Director : C.P.BHATT MOTI JANGIANI Music : D. C. D UTT A NATIONALS! SIWIO .March, 1946 FILMINBI A The Donkey doesn't seem to mind Mehru riding across in "Hai Jani," a picture of Hilal Film Corp. These remarks, however, do not apply to the Baroda State which is considered as one of our progressive States. The news, that the Gaekwar of Baroda refused to grant permission to a film producer when the latter wanted to utilize the Gaekwar's palace in Bombay for film shooting, comes, therefore, as a great surprise. We understand that a written guarantee, that nothing in the palace gardens would be spoiled, was given by the producer and ye: the Gaekwar is reported to have refused permission. Film producers who strain to get as much realism in their films as possible are thus robbed of their ambition by such unsympa'hetic rulers of our States. Though many a huge set can be constructed in the studios these days, still it is impossible to build a huge garden set as good as the real ones we see attached to some of the pleasure palaces of our princes. The natural desire of the producer to shoot his sequences on the actual location can therefore be un- derstood by all producers and lovers of film art. But the Gaekwar evidently could not understand this problem in the sympathetic manner in which the producer had expected him to, even though his pleasure palace in Bombay remains deserted for months every year. If this is the treatment and co-operation our national industries are going to get from even supposedly progres- sive rulers the future of our industries is not very rosy. Perhaps this boorish, dog-in-the-manger attitude of our princes is one of the reasons why our princes are unani- mously unpopular. Take the story of this young Gaekwar who has inhe rited millions in money, not to mention a large number of palaces, with his right to the gadi of Baroda. He doesn't stretch his little finger to help the Indian film industry, while he sinks millions in buying horse-flesh in England, as if the Sport of Kings is going to provide bread for the millions starving in his country. What would have been his exact loss if he had per- mitted a few film producers to use his palace gardens which are hardly, used by him round the year? But the petty potentate would not hear of it perhaps for petty personal reasons. In Free India, are we to expect help and sympathy from such princes who waste millions on horse-flesh, give a cold shoulder to our industries and make merry when millions starve before their very eyes.: The earlier these princes are chased out of their un- deserved inheritance the better for our people and our country. In the present democratic times it does sound criminal that one human being should enjoy all the good things of life through accident of birth while millions should die of want and hunger. It will be a good day for India when some of these princely fortunes are equitably divided among the more needy ones. AND EVEN DR. AMBEDKAR The Hon. Dr. Ambedkar, our Labour Member, is a great scholar of statistics and a man of great personal effi- ciency. We were surprised, therefore, when he chose to label The Abdulla Fazalbhoy Technical Institute of Bom bay as a communal institution run for Muslim benefit, whilst giving information to Dr. Sir Ziauddin Ahmed on the Central Assembly floors. We hasten to correct this wrong notion of the Hon. Member. And the best way to do so in case of a man who firmly believes in statistics is by giving the communal statistics of the candidates trained by the Institute during the last nine years of its career. SESSION H. M. P. C. Total July 1937 to June 1938 64 14 15 11 104 July 1938 to June 1939 136 18 7 29 190 July 1939 to June 1940 145 26 10 23 204 July 1940 to June 1941 155 11 17 20 203 July 1941 to June 1942 120 14 16 24 174 June 1942 to March 1943 91 13 7 25 136 June 1943 to March 1944 291 58 33 46 428 June 1944 to March 1945 178 24 31 37 270 June 1945 to March 1946 191 21 41 33 286 H — Hindus, M — Mohammedan. P — Parsis, C — Christians. The statistics above ought to show how entirely wrong was the information given by the Honorable Mem- ber for Labour. And it is not too much to expect from Dr. Ambedkar, because the Member is honourable, an apology for his unconscious mistake which has created a wrong impression about the Institute, which is run by an old illustrious institution like the St. Xavier's College. DRASTIC LAW REQUIRED The immense popularity of the film as an entertain- ment for the masses has given rise to many sharp prac- tices not only in the fields of production and distribution but also in the consumer's field of exhibition. 13 March, 1946 FILMINDI A After very exhaustive inquiries we find that the cri- minal blackmarketing of tickets, which is a common fea- ture outside every popular cinema these days, is jointly carried out by some of the corrupt executives of the i cinema halls with the help of the professional racketeers who sell the tickets on the pavements charging very I often as much as three times the original admission price This racket is very much in vogue in the first few i weeks of a popular picture and we are told that at a sin gle well-known city cinema, playing a very popular for eign picture last year, the theatre manager made as much as Rs. 4000;- for his share in the first five weeks of the picture. This is a serious state of affairs and if it is al- j lowed to continue it is bound to affect the showman'; trade ultimately. This racket seems to have become such a religious affair between the different gangs at different cinemas in the different cities of India that when these thieves fall out, knives are brandished and quite a tew abdomens are cut open unceremoniously. Evidently this racket seems to have become a very paying job to all the parlies concerned, seeing that it has become worthy of risk to human life People who come a long way to see our motion pictures, with their women folk and children, arc generally impos cd upon by the racketeers when the film t>cers discover that even the highest priced admission tickets have been "sold out" hours before the show. Rather than go back with their family caravan disappointed, these people pa\ as much as Rs. j\% for an admission ticket of Rs. 2[8, giving an illegitimate profit of Rs. 5I- per ticket to rhe racketeers to be divided between the theatre executive:, and themselves. The different associations cA the industry did pass some pious resolutions condemning ih s practice from time to time but nothing seems 10 have been actually done to eradicate the evil The theatre owners, though mam of them realize the importance ut stopping such filth> rackets in the general interest of iheir trade, cannot tak- strong action against their own executives because the owners themselves are deeply involved in another black marketing racket in which they fleece the distributor, who beg tor releases. The cii.ema executives know en ough about the black-marketing operations of their em I ployers and using this knowledge both as a power and i a lever, ihey operate 1 heir ow n racket on a smaller scale The whole affair seems to be a terribly vicious circle and has reached a stage where the people of the industry 1 can't be useful in putting it down. This racketeering has become an urgent matter toi public legislation and the Commissioner of Police ought I to take a serious notice ot 11 it he is anxious to do his I duty by the long suffering public The Government of the Punjab has trained a lule under the Cinematograph Act by which the Licensee (the cinema owner ) is required v 1 ) to refuse admission to any person who had not bought a ticket trom his autho rised booking clerk or agent and {2) to make arrange I merits tor the orderly marshalling ot persons desirous ot ■ purchasing tickets at the licensed place. The Chief Commissioner of Delhi has notified his intention to adopt this rule for the Delhi Province. £ Jlifa-ttoat Jload oft in \ liaiiioik Production BACHCHCHI kHEL Prorlucep : Sk.th RAMMIKLAL M, ShAh. Olfaction: Muslc. RAJA NENE c RAMCHANDRA Starring : Baby SHAKUNTALA MEENA KUMARI N KABIR and AGA JAN. ★ FOR WORLD RIGH 1 s Kaiwiiklal llolianlal & Co., Khetwadl - Bombay ^ 15 Murari Pictures' ALL STAR CAST THRILL X A RED YEAR OF INDIAN HISTORY Director : Rebel MOHAN SINGHA Photography REDDY MAE Starring. Great SAIGAL - SURA I YT A SHAKIR - BUNJAMIN MUZAMIL - MADE NPURI LILA - WASTI A Dream of film World ★ : Story . Dr. SAFDAR AH ★ : Songs : Md. AF S AR ★ : Photography : REDDY ★ : Director : MOHAN SINGHA MURARI PICTURES, Ahmed Chambers, Lamington Road, BOMBAY 4. March, 1946 FILMIND1 A Featuring : — NASEEM KAMAL DAMAYANTI BALRAJ RAJKUMARI AGHA JAN DAVID and K. C. DE. ,b7„/?/:_BIPR0DAS TAGORE. Dialogues '• — SAJj AN . Photogra phy' — BIDYAPATI G HOS E . Music Direction- — K. C. DE. Produced & Directed By: — PHANI MAJUMDAR. The Government of the C. P. and Berar has framed a rule under the Entertainment Tax Act, prohibiting any person from transferring or receiving by transfer any ticket, which had been issued by the proprietor of an en- tertainment place, or by any person duly authorised by the proprietor to issue tickets, at a price in excess of that for which, inclusive of duty, it was issued. In Bihar the existing rules have been so amended as to require the Licensee (the cinema owner)) to make ar- rangements to the satisfaction of the District Magis- trate for the sale of the tickets of admission and for the orderly marshalling of persons desirous of purchasing tickets. All District Officers have been asked to see that no tickets for the classes, in which the evil of black-mar- keting was prevalent, are sold more than an hour or two before each performance. Though all these rules by different provinces lead us a step further in the direction of eradicating the evil they are not a complete remedy for the disease because most of the rules are based on the assumption that the theatre owners are innocent folks and as such are anxious to co- operate with the authorities to put down the evil of black-marketing. As a rule the theatre-owners having a crime of their own to hide are prepared to co-operate with the authori- ties, only to the extent of contributing to throw some dust into the eyes of those who suffer and complain. There doesn't seem to be any real anxiety on the part of the owners to put down this evil. What we need is some drastic penal legislation, in which the jail should stare in the eye of the owner, the manager, the booking clerk, the pavement racke*eer and also the buyers. The owner may in addition have the ultimate fear of losing his license. Unless some'hing as drastic as this is done, we do not think there is any chance of stopping this black-marketing racket of the tickets. The Commissioner of Police in Bombay can give a splendid lead to the other provinces if he takes this mat- ter seriously as a much-needed social amenity. YOU'LL HARDLY BELIEVE That the film people have invented a new code of behaviour at social functions. It consists of abusing peo- ple under the protection of hospitality. One wonders how some people whilst eating wholesome food can use their mouths for a function reserved for some other part of the human body. That it is a strange morality with 'some film people to condemn legitimate love marriages to condone their own illegitimate liaison with cheap prostitutes throwing their married wives on junk heap. That V. Shantaram will have nothing less than the Metro in Bombay to release the English version of his "Dr. Kotnis". In the Metro, Jayashree's English will sound American with Metro's old association. That theatre-magnate Keki Modi has sent a petition to the Government not to give him any more titles as the recent one has given him a duodenal ulcer with "friendly" dinners. It is Keki's money, these "friends" respect. 17 for ferrf for/a/ A/fAZs KIRTI PICTURE! LTJ? Podar Buildings, /andhur/trd BOMBBV 4 FILM INDIA March, 1946 That the trade slump seems to have hit the film peo- ple ra"her badly the way we find them doing financial transactions paying as much as 40% per year premium. That Shiraz All Hakim, who is struggling to be Ar- thur Rank of India, is reported to have accepted some millionaire friends as aids to organize his fast expanding activities. That the Prabhat Film Company will shortly stop their activities in Poena and begin on a small personal scale in Bombay with Baburao Pai as the top man. That the Baburao Pai and V. Shantaram liaison is reported to be progressing satisfactorily and both of them will be soon thing tc America, of course with "Baby" Jayashree and "Baba" Sharar keeping company. That the request to put "gentle" Janisu Wadia in .harge of Rajkamal was refused and Karnatki Winayak will be in charge during Yankudre Shantaram's absence. Blood is always thicker than water. That Sardar Chandulal Shah is these days searching for female-guests to provide atmosphere and inspiration to H. M. V. Chaturbhuj Doshi while directing on the sets. They say that H. M. V. does it well with saris watch ing his intellectual gymnastics. That not satisfied with winning the Derby with his "Chakori"'. Sardar Chandulal recently presented a humor- ous skit on the stage, with another "Chakori" acting, as benefit performance for the tired nerves of Hari Singh of Kashmir, whose "Dev Kumar"' chased Chandulal''; "Chakori" round the course a mile behind. That our noble Indian Princes expect film producer* to entertain them ^the princes') lavishly but when the producers request a deserved palace or two for film shoot- ing, the princes suddenly find the producers unworthy of any co-operation. That Thorold Dickinson. British director of Arthur Rank. British producer, dined in Bombay with gentle Jamsu Wadia. Member of the British Empire. The Union Jack is safe now bo'h in Britain and India. Incidentally the British d;rector discovered how easy it was to com- pete with Indians, the wav he found Jamsu and Hilla jabbering away Parsi English. That Thorold Dickinson, the British director will now get parties from the following and for the following reasons: — From Dewan Sharar to pay off his debt to Lon- don for past kindness; from Yankudre Shantaram to prove to the Bri'ish Vankudre Javashree's command over King's Eng'ish: from Baburao Pai to prove to the Bri- tisher that there is more Scotch in Bombav than in Lon- don; from Rai Bahadur Chuni Lall to tell the Britisher. "I am the President of IMPPA. I produced 'Kismet', my bovs are working hard etc."; from M. A. Fazalbhoy to prove that R. C. A gives bet'er result in India than in London; from Sardar Chandulal Shah to inform the Bri- tisher in corfidencc that the cotton market is a better place than the fi'm market and from Sohrab Modi to prove to the Bri'ieher that "Pukar" was a greater film than "Henry VIII". A Mighty ZhrilUmj Hit - NAVIN YflGNIK * RAJ RANI Samson * Radha * Habib * AH Manchi Thoothi * Varne & others. Direrfrd for. NARI GHADIALI. Story - Scenario & D al-gues : MUNSHI KHANJAR Songs : AHSAN RI2VI * Music : NISAR BAZMI Photography: SHIAVAX DARUVALA Audiography: C. SAHJU PAUL Dance Master: D. BABULAL fWwmf hir. BRIJMALA * "fr -si- South Territorial Rights with :- DECCAN FILM DISTRIBUTORS, BANGALORE CITY. For Remaining Territorial Rights :- Appfy: BRIJ PRAKASH PRODUCTIONS Patan v.ala Bldg.. Wadia St,, Tardeo. BOMBAY 7. 13 (In this section, tht editor himself replies to queries from the readers. As thousands of letters are received every month — some anxious and several frivolous— it is neither possible nor convenient to attend to all. Selected letters are usually treated in an informative and humorous strain and no offence is meant to anyone. ) MISS PUSHPA REGE (Simla) Whom do you prefer — Begum Para or Ncciu5 As an artiste I like Para who can react well under good direction. As a friend I like Neena for her poise and culture. EADKUDIN K SAYANY (Bombay) Did the film 'experts' who visited Hollywood get a j date with Betty Grahlc ? Have you seen the faces of these 'experts'? Why spoil Betty's diary! M. l> PUTRAJ (Mysore) What is your conception of life? Living and kicking till death ring* the curtain down. NARAYAN S. N (Bombay) Should a woman who has had pre-marital experience be allowed to marrv and lead a respectable life? Or is one blot on her reputation enough to ostracize her from the ranks of respectability? In this world of sinners, sin is hardlv an offence for one human being to sit in judgment over another. If man can have pre-marital orgies and settle down as a respectable member of society after marriage, why should this privilege be de- nied to a woman? With his vain possessive in- stinct, a cowardly trait at best, man has envelop- ed the woman with all codes of morality leaving himself a free lark. If the physical sex-act is a sin. how docs it become a virtue just because a few priests mutter mouthfuls of incoherent mantras and grant a social license for an act which must al- ways remain private, physical and intimate? Which film star do you consider to be the best among the following: Shobhana Sam.irth, Ratnamala, Jayashree, Nalini Jay want and Snehaprabha? Snehaprabha has talent for acting, Jayashree has looks for the screen, Nalini has vouth, Shobhana has luck and Ratnamala is a product of necessity. S. S. GUPTA (New Delhi) A friend of mine says, "to see 'Humayun' is 2 hours' imprisonment and 9 annas fine." What is your opinion 5 In my case the fine was Rs. 10'- but instead of imprisonment I had two hours' amusement be- cause I changed my angle of vision and took "Humayun" for a comedy. J. MOHAMED (HubU) I feel like knocking at the doors of Sushila Rani's heart. Any objection, Baburao? Tf vou do so, I shall peep out. And that's a risk which no insurance company is likely to cover. M. P. R AM A KRISHNA N (New Delhi) What is the worst thing in this world2 For me, the misfortune of having to see all Indian pictures as a duty. M. K. RAMANATH (Bangalore) Do you like the song, "Vande Mataram"? Do you think it should come at the end of every picture? I don't like the song for the simple reason that I don't understand it beyond the general belief that it is our national anthem. At best it is a stupid choice to select a song as a national anthem 1 he words of which millions in the country can't understand. This song may be great poetry and many tell me that it is, but it fails as a national anthem. I think it will be a more puzzling end to our motion pictures which are puzzles bv them selves. Someone in our country should write a national anthem which every Indian can under Maud. This national poetry should not have obso- lete Sanskrit words nor high-flown Urdu. It should 19 R. D. Pareenja's T CH Starring . Screen's newest, sweetest, prettiest glamour girl CHANDNI & Screen's newest glamour boy S U R E S H with many new faces. KISHORI - KAMLA - SAROJ BORKER G U LAM RASOOL - HAROON - KATHANA SANGER - MASTER AMRITLAL R. D. PAREEN J A. quzi. Wali Sahib. (Photo gzafi/iy P. ISAAC. ut of the for'une that "Kismet" has given them and name t after the film itself? Kapurchand is a shrewd man. Under his pro- tection the other two 'chands' also look shrewd. They step into the film business after the producer has struggled and given birth to a film. Very few make money in production. Fortunes start roll- ing after the 'baby' is born. The 'chand' brothers nurse the 'baby' produced by others. BALAN (New Delhi) Don't you think it is time we had rilms in this coun- ty depicting maternity welfare, child care etc? What we actually need is films on birth control. In India, children grow even if they are dioppc 1 on the roads. N. S. V. CHALAM (Bangalore) In Pennsylvania, a new law has been enacted, by which winking at girls is a crime punishable by law. Is it not stupid? If that is stupid, we have a similar penal law i:i India, under Section 509 of which, winking at ;i strange woman is an offence punishable with simple imprisonment upto one year or with' fine or with both. LOKUMAL D. (Karachi) Suppose your pen is auctioned in public what could it fetch? Not even the price of its nib. It doesn't write unless it is dipped every minute into mv brain. It is the 'ink' that comes from the 'pot' which counts. WITH A NEW THRILL N HER VOICE KANAN WILL SING HER WAY TO YOUR HEARTS M. V. Productions' Musical Hit with CHABBI, JAHAR, PURNIMA, NATWAR and IFTIKHAR. ^ixecud PRAMEN MITRA. WATCH FOR ITS RELEASE For CENTRAL PROVINCES :- JAMNADAS LTD. For SOUTH :- SELECT PICTURES CIRCUIT. For BENGAL :- MANSATA FILM DISTRIBUTORS. The ticket or the film spools? If you want to keep these two related — if you want your box office to justify that expensive building and equipment, deal with the one and only firm that can claim to supply everything for the cinema. From plush curtains to poster boards — from ashtrays to lighting equipment, Gaumont-Kalee can supply every detail you require. And this, remember, is the firm of " Vulcan " and " Duosonic" fame, which make films brighter, livelier, more true to nature and there- fore BETTER ENTERTAINMENT. This wonder- ful service is available every where- now -today! GAUMONT-KALEE LTD. 7ftr//i£is pMO&mic Sound fyuipment FORBES BUILDING : HOME STREET : BOMBAY ) EVERYTHING FOR THE CINEMA < March, 1946 FILM INDIA JOHN G. SOANS (Bangalore) Is Nalini Jay want a spinster2 She is too youthful to be called a spinster but where have you been sleeping like Rip Van Winkle all these years, seeing that little Nalini is a'ready on way to motherhood? JAYANTILAL RATILAL BHATT (Kandivili) The trade marks of Minerva Movietone and M.G.M show a lion. Then whv is there such a difference in the products of the two companies? The Minerva lion is a half-starved anaemic stuff while the M.G.M lion growls at you every time you see him. The first is a lion in a non-violent country, the second is a brute from the Atom land. There must be some difference between the two. M. N. MISTRY (Karachi) What are the feelings of a woman towards her illegi- timate child? To a woman no child is illegitimate unless it comes out of the womb of another woman. In- side the womb of a woman there are no man made social laws. Everything is legitimate in- side. It is onlv when the child opens its eyes and discovers a stiange world of sinners and hypo crites, the world brands the little one as illegiti- mate before the little one proceeds to disrobe tlu- world of its hypocrisy. What do you feel when you see beauty with a beast : Being four years with a beauty I have stopped feeiing now. K. KRISHNA (Dadar) Excluding yourself who is the most hated person in the film industry? After excluding me, they hate me again, and again and again, till they hate me last, and once again. K. S. MANI (Bangalore i Why is Ullhas becoming "fat. fatter and still fatter**1 He seems to be following Kardar with his "High. Higher and still Higher." P. V. NAIR (Agra) How is "Dr. Kotnis"* progressing? He is at present in Sbantaram's maternity hospi- tal and hopes to be delivered by the middle ot March A. RAM (Bombay) Don't the American film magazines give us an im- pression that all the film people in America are nice and attractive? Then why do you run down our people3 The American mags sell lies and make money. I tell the truth and remain poor. Which do vou lik*? SAVITRI DEVI SHUKLA (Cawnpore) Where does a bad picture hit you? Shankar Vazare, Amina Khatoon & others. DIRECTED BY:- RAMJI ARYA. tight} controlled by Ms. SURESH FINANCE CORPORATION. 381, Vithalbhai Patel Road, BOMBAY 4. This is "J adt» i Ratan" and film-ratan too ! Cast:- S. BHAGWAN, Miss USHA & OTHERS. 2Wfeinesh's mother and Dinesh's eye :medy is also called into use very >on. ' In the village, Shambhoo, the :cond brother, has in the meanwhile lit away from the family after the sual quarrel between women. But is separate quarters soon catch fire nd Kailash, the Dharmaraj of the hmily, rushes to his rescue and in oing so loses his eye-sight. The final Umax is soon reached in which ;)inesh comes with his miracle- bmedy to restore the eye-sight of Eailash, Alka meets with a motor ccident and dies in a generous spirit b remove herself from the way of [he heroine, the brothers reassemble [nd the old love sprouts again to res- tore family unity and harmony. There js not a single situation new in the ftory from the beginning to the end [nd right from the first foot anyone krith a little imagination could have vritten the story backwards if re- ruired to do so. Sfianta is saying it itli flow eis. iii spite of that sullen look a Profulla Dicture. 'Subhadia* This girl, Nur Jehan, has given an excellent performance in *'Zeenat" produced by Shiraz Ali Hakim. Good Production Values It seems that with the acquisition of Yusuf Mulji the technical work of Prakash Pictures has improved. The photography of this picture is dis- tinctly superior to any given before by these producers. With the excep- tion of one close-up of Sumati Gupte in the room of Umakant in the city which close-up is spoilt because of foot lighting given on the face the rest of the photographic work in the picture is very pleasing and appro- priate. In harmony with the photo graphy even the sound recording seems to have been done carefully by Mr. L. J. Bhatt. The dialogues of the picture, though centering round familiar situations, are pretty force- fully written hut the same can not be said of the songs which are at best tiresome compositions. The Urdu gazal in the mouth of the \illagc heroine sounds like a strange piece of sophistication. The music is not much by itself though a couple of tunes can become popular. Shanti Dave who has now become Shanti Kumar by some Grange process has directed the picture suitably, maintain- ing a good unity between the drama and its development. Jeevan Impresses From the players Jeevan gives the best performance firsdy as the older Munshiji and subsequently as Kailash, the eldest son of the dead man. His is a verv sincere portrayal of the role which carries a lot of sympathy from the beginning to the end. Jeevan speaks his dialogues almost perfectly and the only person who competes with him in this respect is Rajkumari Shukla. Rajkumari Shukla, who is a versatile artiste, plays her usual shrewish role with her usual melo- dramatic flair. In doing so she pro- vides both comedy and drama in the role of the badi-bahu. Umakant as Dinesh, the hero, gives his usual awful performance without much emotion or expression, while Ranjana in the role of the heroine makes a very poor show rubbing in the impression that she can't act. This woman has de- teriorated a lot in her looks and her eyes nowadays radiate a blank and stupid expression. Sumati Gupte, the other girl in the picture, looks anae- mic at best and gives a very weak portrayal of a role which was at once sympathetic and polished. This girl, moreover, makes very ugly mouth formations while speaking and her dialogues sound Maharashtrian at best. The veteran Jilloobai radiates her usual sour expression and delivers her dialogues in a melodramatic man- ner. The rest in the picture hardly do anything of importance. In fine, "Hamara Sansar," though not such a bad time-killer, is hardly a picture for intellectuals. The main defect with this picture is its theme which has been overplayed for screen purposes. 43 MIREM LAHIRI - NAWAB- MOLINA RABIN MAZUMDAR • SUNDER DEBI MUKHERJI • HIRALAL (no.a photo co. KAMAL DASGUPTA FOR PARTICULARS CONTACTi ~WM SHREE EILMSi ««■ i>a.^» ma<* r»v„ n.,x.».w OUR REVIEW Dramatic Ualues Sustain Audience Interest In 'Rattan' Gulab, Rajkumari And Badri Prasad Entertain "Rattan", the maiden attempt of Jamuna Productions, has proved a very successful box-office production all over the country. After seeing the clumsy production values as presented in the picture, we are led to helieve that the producers themselves could not have planned for such a roaring success which "Rattan" has had ac- tually. Other producers are now run- ning about the town asking one an- other why "Rattan' is running so well. With their usual escapism to explain their own deficiencies, they are quick- ly spreading jhe impression that the music of "Rattan" is the main attrac- tion of the picture. We regret to say that it is not so because Rattan's music- is just common viewed from the mu- sical angle and bar one popular tune is hardly such as to become the main reason of its success. The secret of this picture's success lies in its dramatic story which has, through accident or design, become an excellent motion picture subject. In its essence 'Rattan' presents the an- cient love triangle with the usual Laila-Majnu intensity of romance. "RATTAN" Produced By: Jamuna Produc- tions. Language: Hindustani Story: R. S. Chowdhary Screenplay | Dialogues & )■ Madhok Songs. J Music: Naushad Cast: Rajkumari Shukla. Badri Prasad, Gulab, Suvaraa- lata, Wasti, Karan De- wan and Manju. Released At: Imperial, Bombay. Date of Release: nth January 1946 Directed By: M. SADIQ And the story ends tragically in the last reel without even giving a warn- ing to the spectators. But before this highly tragic ending we find numer- ous situations worked out with hum- our and entertainment keeping the pathetic bedrock apparent in the theme throughout. If you forget some Kaiian becomes a singing Radha in "Krishna Leela" a picture of Lakh- midas Anand. clumsy moments "Rattan" is easily the best motion picture story given by Madhok so far. It is therefore the screen story of the pichue which is drawing millions all over the country — and not the music. FAMILIAR HOTCH-POTCH The story is the usual familial hotch-potch of romance. Gowri. the village girl, the daughter of a Kshatriya widow, and Govind the village boy. the son of a village Bania. have played together since childhood and fall in love with each other when they grow. Belonging to different communities they can not marry and Gowri is soon married away to a city elder while Govind decides to pine away. The city elder who is a journalist repents at the union after seeing his young wife and after reflecting over the difference between their ages The story writer gives this character a con- science but does not worry about ex- plaining his negligence in not meet- 45 FILMINDIA March, 194( ing his bride-to-be previous to the marriage. We are told that the mar- riage is arranged by the old women oL both sides and the bride and the bridegroom are both unwilling vic- tims of the well-intended machina- tions of the old fossils. Gowri comes to town to live with her husband who can not pick en- ough moral courage to consummate his marriage with the girl. Govind lives in the vil.age and starts pining and singing. A year passes by and Gowri and Govind meet again and old flames of love are rekindled with a new fury. The climax is soon reached in which Govind lives in the forest, away from his home, feeding himself on love and gradually stepping out of this sordid world. Ultimately when Gowri meets Govind, he soon dies in her arms and gives her an opportu- nity to lay down her own life in his memory. It ends in the traditional fashion of our Lailas and Shirins. This is the main story of the hero and the heroine and their romance. But the beauty of the story is not in these characters. The writer has intro- duced three good characters: first two in the parents of Govind and the third one in the Bhabi of the bridegroom. These roles are played by Badri Pra- sad, Rajkumari Shukla and Gulab respectively. And together they give to the picture the continuous giggle which contributes substantially to the entertainment in "Rattan". POOR PRODUCTION VALUES As a motion picture "Rattan" is a clumsy attempt. The photography is erratic and so is the sound. The pic- ture has two attractive tunes which are at best a rehash of old familiar tunes. The song composition of Ma- dhok is, as usual sil.y, senseless and wrong at many places. It is lucky for Madhok that our masses, who see our motion pictures mainly, are illi- terate and uneducated. Madhok's- compositions would not be tolerated for a minute before educated audi- ences. At some spots Madhok has given pretty smart dialogues but otherwise they are common. The technical framing of the picture is rather poor and the direction is not ;ii all smooth or polished. Sadiq has not been able to improve on his work in "Namaste". On the contrary, he has gone back a bit. SIDE CHARACTERS SHINE From the players, the three side roles played by Badri Prasad, Raj- kumari and Gulab stand out effective- ly. Ail these three artistes have roles which lit their types beautifully and they give excellent performances throughout the picture. The hero and the heroine— Karan Dewan and Su- varnalata— fail miserably. Karan Dewan has not yet acted on the screen and he was not expected to do so now, but Suvarnalata, who has been a pretty good artiste, somehow forgets to act in this picture. She looks ugly and emaciated and gives a very indifferent performance. Wasti, in the role of the elderly journalist, remains crude as usual and shouts his dialogues in a stagy manner for noi rhyme or reason. From the rest in the picture Chandabai, as a village woman, speaks beautifully. All done and said, "Rattan" is a picture which has been patronized by the masses, and though it has noth- ing new to tell it is not at all a bad entertainment. bipin gupta prakash nagendra 3rd Month at- ROYAL OPERA HOUSE 46 OUR REVIEW "Chand Chakori" Provides A Headache Ranjit Picture Proves Intensely Boring This is a Kidar Sharma picture and that alone should scare the peo pie away. By now Director Kidar Sharma has acquired an unenviable reputation for giving a series of flops. "Chand Chakori" is one more in th;s series. It is strange that the Ranjit Movie- tone continue with their suicidal ex periments at the hands of Director Kidar Sharma. Sardar Chandulal. the Ranjit Chief, must be loving Kidar Sharma more than his own son to give this educated man a new op- portunity every time to produce just another flop. We appreciate Sardar Chandulal's sentiment for Kidar Sharma but we wonder why the peo- p'e at large should be made victims of this high-flown personal sentiment. We have always been under the im- pression that Sardar Chandulal Shah is an intellectual person and this im- pression has been supported by ump- teen evidence in the past. Rut if this method of motion picture produc- tion is to continue in Ranjit we shall have to hurriedly revise our opinion about the intellectual attainments o! the old producer. What is the spe- cial wisdom in cutting one's nose to spite the neighbour: This is, un- fortunately, what is exactly happening in the Ranjit— Kidar Sharma team- work of motion picture production. SILLY STORY "Chand Chakori" is a stupid story. It is surprising that an alert intelec- tual like Chandulal should have per- mitted this story to be produced. Even if doped by morphia Chandu- lal's intellectual calibre should have screamed in protest against this sub- ject. The story is so thin that even a blind man can walk through it. It is a nursery tale of two street per- sons. There is a beggar girl called Chakori who meets a flu'c maker caFed Birju. They fall in love with each other at first sight and then start singing all over the town. Cha- kori is the ward of Madari, a one- eyed juggler, who loves her and who wants her for himself. Birju makes flutes and sends Chakori to sell them. She sells them with the help of "CHAND CHAKORI" Producers: Ranjit Movietone Language: Hindustani Dialogues: Kidar Sharma Songs: Pandit Indra & Wa'li Photography: B. M. Naresh Sound Recording ; Thakorbhai Pate!. I Music By: Bulo C. Rani. I Cast: Mumtaz Shanti, Surendra Released At: Lamingion, Bombay. Date of Release: 4th January 1946. Directed By: KIDAR SHARMA Bhagwan, an erratic philosopher and brings the dough home. Madari be- comes jealous and taking advantage of a flimsy op|>ortunity manages to send Birju to jail lor three months During Birju's absence Chakori pines and wails. Alter his release, however, they miss each other and a thin mis- understanding creeps between them. Time passes ami wc see Chakori be- coming prima donna on the st;ige in the assumed name of Neelam. It is now time for the hero and the heroine to meet and they do meet with Cha- kori at the height of her fame and Birju in the saddest depths of his love. The usual differences arise now and there is usual give and take in which the hero misunderstands the heroine but at the end it is all cleared to provide sunshine to them. The story is a very tame affair of two persons and ends more tamely. It lacks atmosphere and one gets fed up seeing the long-nosed Surendra and the egg-faced Mumtaz Shanti on the screen every two minutes. These two artistes keep on taking their turns to bore the audience. NOT BAD TECHNICALLY Technically 'Chand Chakori" is not so bad. The photography is plea- sant throughout while the sound re- cording seems to have been carefully done. Music, which is inclined to be a bit classic, is quite pleasant with a couple of popular tunes. The song compositions, though not betraying any flights of imagination, are still pointed and suitable for the situa- tions. The stage dances of Mumtaz Shanti are quite attractive and well photographed. The dialogues are generally good and brilliant in a couple of places. The direction of Kidar Sharma is highly unimagina- tive and lacks action every minute of the 2$ hours. The picture fails mainly because of poor story and poorer direction. MUMTAZ'S WORK Mumtaz Shanti, despite her egg- shaped face, gives a good perfor- mance throughout the picture. She is quite lively and pathetic according to circumstances, but her roman ic situa- tions lack intimacy which is most essential to put over a love theme successfully. All her talent seems to have been wasted because of a thin story. Surendra looks too old and heavy to be the hero now. In the role of Birju he proves boring with his usual mannerism and with his huge nose sticking out of the screen. This fellow shou'd now switch over to character roles if he wishes to con- tinue his screen career. Surendra however sings a coup'e ol good songs in good tune. Ashral Khan, in the role of Bhagwan, the erratic philoso pher, gives his usual jflly perfoi mance and fails to appeal. In conclusion, "('hand Chakori" is a picture one should avoid if one is anxious to prevent a headache. It bores from the beginning to the end with only a few moments of relaxation when Mumtaz creates rhythm with her feet. Dulari plays a convert in "Namak" of Azad Pictures. 47 # Sk Stand* foot » FOR HIM WHO HAS GOT LESS - FROM HIM WHO HAS GOT MORE Variety Pictures' HINDUSTANI VENTURE. n: JYOTISH BANERJEE SUBAL DAS GUPTA PT. BHUSHAN F A I Z 'CPIiotocjXa.filiij : SURHID GHOSH CALCl/TIA, VARIETY PICTURES LTD., 68, DHARAMTOLLA STREET, CALCUTTA. OUR REVIEW "Kalankini" Becomes A Motion Picture 'Kalank' Jyotish Banerjee98 Poor Production Jyotish Banerjee has been looked upon as a "specialist" in mythological pictures with the expressed conviction that mythological pictures hardly need any brains in direction or story tell ing. Good or bad, the god-stricken people of this country go and see my- thological pictures with faith in their heart and devotion in their eyes and thus clouded, they do not miss any imagination or intelligence which such pictures usually lack. A man like Jyotish Banerjee, train- ed in this mythological school, is not expected to give anything intelligent, clever or progressive in his pictures for the simple reason that he is tied down by his past experience. It is therefore not surprising to find in "Kalankini" an orthodox and react- ionary treatment of the subject which becomes, under Jyotish Banerjee's direction, just another tirade against the younger generation in which an educated young couple, victims ot love at first sight, is shown as leading a previously predicted unhappy life. What A Story! A husband and a wife, both edu- cated, begin the story of the picture. "KALANKINI" Producers: Indrapuri Movietone Language: Bengali Scenario: } Banerjee Music: Sachin Dev Burman Photography: Sudhir Bose Audiography: J. D Irani Cast: Renuka, Savitri, Jahar, Dhiraj & Ahindra Choudhury. Released At: Minar, Chabighur & Bijoli. Date of Release: 12th Oct 1945 Direction: JYOTISH BANERJEE The husband is unemployed while the wife works as a school mistress. She is a woman of independent tem- perament and social and therefore her movements rouse the suspicions of her husband. Misunderstandings take their toll soon and the husband de- serts the wife immediately. Of all the places the hero goes to Bombay and as cinematic coincidence would have it he meets the production chief Recruit Balkrishan from Public Re- lations Directorate, Hyderabad House, New Delhi, says he can sing better than Motilal and wants to know why he is left out. of a film company in the train. This film man promises to buy "Kalankini". a story which the hero is supposed to have written. After some weak in- terludes the hero meets with the usual motor accident and is landed in the house of a wealthy man with a charm- ing daughter. The daughter has already got a hanger-on, a foreign- returned dentist. As is expected the hero suffers from amnesia and from loss of eye-sight. The strange girl and the strange man are thus brought together and the situations travel on the usual idiotic lines till the wife is brought on the scene in the final climax and reunited with her husband with more love than ever before. The other girl is given to the other man so that no one is left unmarried at the end. It is useless to analyse the story of this picture in detail. If we did so nothing would be left at the end, not even the celluloid. Let us tell yon in short that "Kalankini" is 10.96(1 feet of continuous blot on the screen. The picture is poor in all its pro duction values. The direction of Jyotish Ranerjee is unimaginative and unintelligent. Excepting Renuka in the role ot the school mistress no one seems to have done well in the picture. All the rest make faces at you till you be- come conscious of your own looks. A few dialogues of the picture are quite good and a little relief is given by some good songs which are well tuned. But bar these little things, the picture is a very poor effort and one that should be scrupulously avoided. Jagirdar and Mehtab make "Bairam Khan" a dramatic picture. 49 RAGINI ULLHAS YAKOOB KUMAR KRYIM ^tedfy. s.M.YUSUr * STARRING* ob- RAGINI # ULLHAS ft KUMAR W. M. KHAN ft MIRZA MUSHARAF SHAKIR ft YASHODHARA KATJU & YAKUB J FOR TERRITORIAL RIGl'ITS WRITE TO . — BOMBAY CINE FINANCE CORPORATION, 1, MOTI MAHAL, JAMSHEDJI TATA ROAD, CHURCHGATE RECLAMATION, BOMBAY. Phon« , 106J5 OUR REVIEW "Rlbeli" — R Boring Gypsy yarn Ramola's Ouer-acting Becomes Tiresome Producer R. C. Talwar seems to be keen on proving that his star Ramola cannot play any other roles except those with the vivacious, tomboyish element in them. Picture after pic ture this good artiste is being badly typed with the result that what was once considered to be some tree and easy talent has now become a much emphasized boring experience. We feel that Ramola deserves a better break than she is getting from Talwar. THE SAME OLD YARN When producers suffer from bank- ruptcy of brain in the matter of screen subjects, they always run to gypsy stories. So many gypsy stories have come on the Indian screen in the last so many years that it is difficult to keep a count of them. Everyone of them however has failed to click at the box-offices. For some reason or o'.her gypsy life is not liked in this country and no one seems to be anxious to see it. We are not sur- prised at this prejudice of the people of this country who believe in the joint family system and also believe in living in packs and in a manner more dignified and subdued than the average gypsy of the world. "Albeli" has a gypsy story in which the heroine begins her career in the streets by singing and begging. In this profession of hers she practices some tricks and explains her doings with the help of some high-sounding philosophy. This girl later on gets interested in a gypsy boy who has, as is expected, a girl from his own tribe mightily in- terested in him. This street girl and the gypsy boy are the romantic pair of the story. Now we are introduced to a local Raja who has a young voluptuous daughter. She is ahead \ engaged to a nitwit who is booked to live in the Raja's home after his in- tended wedding with the wealthy heiress. This would-be son-in-law of the Raja is a stammering poet in whom the girl has only decorative in- terest and nothing more. This wealthy heiress falls in love with the gypsy boy purely for physical reasons and chases him all over the story from the beginning to the end. This chase creates hostility in the street girl who loves the gypsy boy very dearly. Hav- ing created this triangle a cheap and Prodi Language: Story: Screenplay ;* Dialogues : Music : A L B E L F Talwar Productions Ltd. Hindustani R. C. Talwar J. S. Cashyap G. S. Chishti Lyrics: Shantisirup & Chisti Cameraman: G. K. Mehta Audiograph) : Manna Ladia Cast: Ramola, Satish, Roop- lekha, Hiralal and others Released At: Central, Bombay. Date of Release: 22nd Dec. 1945 Directed Bv: R. C. TALWAR .ommon sequence thing, the usual jealous ; arc introduced on the screen. The wealthy heiress mano- euvres to inflict different tyrannies on the gypsies till things become intole rable for them. To win over the Raja the street girl, the heroine ot the story, becomes temporarily a pro- fessional dancer and makes love to the Raja, because at this stage her lover is in the palace jail. After an artificial climax all things are adjusted and the hero gets his heroine without anybody bothering. At best the story is stupid and bor- ing. Throughout this picture we hear some silly over-emphasized dialogues about the poor being robbed by the rich, the poor being tyrannised by the rich and such other socialistic stuff which has been put in without any logical necessity. These socialistic ser- mons become boring and annoying as they are unnecessary in the general design of the story. NOT BAD The general production values of the picture are not so bad. Sound and photography are quite good. The music is pretty attractive The song compositions are rather poor. Some of the dialogues are well written though many are entirely out of place. The picture fails because of the transparent story unnecessarily dragged with the help of a number of unnecessary songs. The direction of the picture is very poor. TIRESOME RAMOLA Ramola gets on the nerves v\ith her over-acting. She does a few love scenes in rather a bold manner but her constant vamping leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Satish in the role of the gypsy boy proves himself a crude gypsy without even passions, leave aside emotions. The best pcr- lormance in the picture is given by Sunder in the role of the nitwit who is chosen to become the would-be son- in-law of the Raja Saheb. This man has some really good talent for acting humorous roles. Hiralal gives his usual good performance in the role of the Raja Saheb. The rest in the picture are best forgotten. In fine, "Albeli" is a boring story which has come so often on the screen that it has no novelty left in it now. The picture is best avoided. Shiraz and Shahzadi have a tense moment in "Naiyya' Mazhar Khan a production of 51 SurrenJ^r » I THE PfRFUmf OF ARISTOCRACY f As you glide by with majes- tic grace and steady gait there will trail behind you the fragrance of SURREN- DER sweet as flowers, sober as night, irresistible to the sophisticated elegantes of a fashionable world. SURRENDER the perfume of the aristocracy has the specially blended scent of a hundred flowers that will last till morn still carrying the freshness, of smell as when first put on. Only a limited stock o f this high class perfume has now arrived. Obtain your requirements to-day as sales are restricted. FLORY MAKERS OF FINE PERFUME Available from all leading stores and chemists or direct from FLORY LTD., P. O Box No. 875, Bombay 1. OUR REVIEW "Bhabi Kal" Inaugurates new Vogue In Bengal Mitter And Lahiri Deserve Congratulations This picture is a surprise and a very pleasant one. More so because Premendra, our popular progressive writer, seems to have turned a new leaf and given us a really purposeful story this time forgetting his own past of cheap screen material which he had been giving. Incidentally, "Bhabi Kal" heralds the dawn of a new era in Bengal's film industry. In this picture we find a topically purposeful theme in sym- pathy with the ruling sentiment of our nation in its present temper and awakening. The ideals of village re- construction and local self-government as visualised by the late Chitta Ranjan Das and now made the main plank by the Indian ' National Congress have been cleverly portrayed in this screen story emphasizing the democratic principle of 'Four Freedoms'. This is therefore the best screen story written so far by the author with the single purpose of giving impetus to the na- tional ideals of a country struggling for freedom. The direction of Niren Lahiri is far away from being perfect and yet the "BHABI KAL" Producers: K. B. Pictures Language:: Bengali Story & Dia- logues: Premendra Mittra Photography: Ajoy Kar Audiography: Gour Das Music: Kamal Das Gupta Cast: Debi Mukerjee, Amar Mullick, Chandravati, Sipra Devi, Jahar and others. Released At: Minar, Chabighur & Bijoli. Date of Release: 21st Dec. 1945 Direction: NIREN LAHIRI young director deserves all congratu- lations for his courage and imagination in handling this subject forgetting for a while the Frankenstein of the box-office. He has gone one better than all the directors in the country by deleting completely vocal music from his pic- ture. "Bhabi Kal" has not a single sob-raising song throughout its long Gope has a spell of optimism when he finds his better-half 'dead' Kumar" directed by Ram Daryani. 'Shravan Sulochana Chatterjee gives a popular performance in "Jag-Biti," a picture of Din Pictures. length. This is therefore the first Indian picture without a song. And yet Niren Lahiri has proved by his excellent work that even a dry, pur- poseful subject can be made an ap- pealing entertainment without the help of music. As we find the pic- ture on the screen, it presents a grip- ping story which keeps the audience spell-bound from the beginning to the end. This picture is dis'inctive in not having the usual painful, bor- ing scenes of love-making, of cheap humour or of slapstick situations. True, there are certain exaggerations at places but taken as a whole the picture provides a true presentation of village fascism as practised by little dictators in ihis greedy world. Well Presented Story There is nothing new in the theme of this story. Its beauty is in the way it is worked out. Zamindar Shibnath Choudhury, a young idealist, loses his home in family litigation and finds himself on the road with his wife and young child. Very soon, in a jungle, the wife dies giving a solemn assign- ment to her husband as follows: — 'If you can build a little vil- lage here free from jealousy and quarrel where people would be able to live in per- fect peace, where they would not be afraid to raise their heads and look — I shall feel very happy." This incidentally constitutes the main ideal for which the hero strug- gles. To fulfil his wife's last wishes 53 F I L M I X D 1 A March, 1946 Shanta Apte looks a wild bride in "Subhadra" a picture of Profulla Shibnath starts raising his dream village and calls it Mayaghat. He does this with the help of Manohar, a school teacher and Sadhan. a faithful servant. As the village blossoms into a happy, prosperous land there comes into it Kedar Sanyal, a crafty industrialist with unscrupulous methods and prin- ciples. Here begins the clash Between ideals and exploitation. A romance- is now thrown into the story between Shobha. the daughter of Kedar and Somnath, the son ol Shibnath. Somnath soon marries Shobha. Sho- bha is a spirited girl and she has knowledge of the villainous nature of her father. Now the story takes the usual turn in which Kedar Sanyal accuses Shibnath of fraud and other sharp practices. In these aspects the story seems inspired by extracts from several democratic foreign pictures. Ultimately, hurt beyond tolerance. Shibnath leaves the village taking with him his little grandson. As was expected things go wrong during his absence from the village. The story now travels to the usual climax in which Kedar is unmasked, Shibnath's greatness is vindicated and the people realize their fault. It all ends on a high democratic note. Good Production Values Technically the picture is good all round. The dialogues arc quite digni- 54 fied and impressive. A good use is made of the background music and musical effects. From the players Debi Mukherjee lives the role of the idealist hero Shibnath. He gives a masterly per- formance which seems almost perfect. Amar Mullick in the role of Kedar Sanyal, the villain of the story, also gives a faultless and natural perfor- mance and thus provides handsome support to the hero's role. Chandra- vati impresses as Shobha both in action and diction. Sipra Devi, who plays the editor's daughter, seems to have glamour and a good voice. This girl promises a good future. Mihir, as Somnath. fails to impress. The late Ratin Banerjee gives a touching performance displaying his histrionic talent as Manohar. the selfless, hard- working school-teacher. In hne. "Bhabi Kal" is a picture everyone should see if not for its ap- peal and entertainment at least for its high-flown ideology as presented bv two sincere artists like Mittra and Lahiri. It is a pity that the picture is presented only in a provincial lan- guage. hamIm 1 I J. J2£ IHIAMAM The rich and fragrant lather of Hamam has made it a popular soap throughout India. We have kept abreast of the ris- ing demand. Stocks are available everywhere. Ask your dealer for Hamam Ft TATA OIL MILLS COMPANY LIMITfO HAMAM i -A mm review "Song Of Desert"— B modest Presentation Familiar Story Of Court Intrigues In Bagdad i 'Song Of Desert" is a picture pro- duced by a very, very small com- pany of producers. They did not have all that was needed tor motion pic- ture production except the enthusiasm and the spirit to produce a motion picture. Viewed in this spirit, "Song Of Desert" should be called a good effort though, as a motion picture, it remains a very modest presentation. The Old, Old Story. I This is the story of Bagdad and it Is as old as the city itself. It is the usual story of court intrigues in which Prince Feroz is ousted by the villain- pus Jalal who, in his own turn, is kgged on by Ishrat, a dancer. Jalal usurps the throne and throws Prince iFeroz into the usual jungles where he meets Altamash, a rebel loved by the people. The rebel and the Prince oin hands to get the better of Jalal ind continue the usual conflict which ivaxes and wanes according to the leeds of the story writer. A girl is thrown into the bargain in the person bf Princess Nargis who is in love with Prince Feroz. The girl attracts the attention of Altamash who also falls In love with her. The usual triangle Is thus created and towards the end pf the story a conflict is shown be- tween the Prince and the rebel, only tor a while till it all ends as it should pave ended in the first reel. The "SONG OF DESERT' Jagriti Pictures Urdu Harbans \hs;in Rezvi Producers: Language : Story: Songs & Dialogues: Photography: P. Ram Row Sound Recording: V. V. Gandhi Music: C. Ramchandar Cast: Master Vithal, Khurshid Jr., Bhagwan, Amamath. Kavita Devi and others. Released At: Kamal Talkies, Bombay. Date of Release: 22nd Decem- ber 1946. Director: RHAC.WAN whole subject is very transparent and, therefore, unnecessary. It is a pity that a small company of producers should not have taken the pains to secure a good story lor their very first effort. Technically Weak Production It is too much to expect from pro- ducers of this type a technically excel- lent motion picture. Driven by neces- sity these people work from place to place and cannot, therefore, acquire any quality in their technical work. ingle of Para from "Soni Jayant Pictures. ostume story of Recruit Lachmandas Hotchund co Franzpaul & Sons. Sadar. Karachi, is a man of scientific bent of mind. He is prepared for any job in the films. It is not surprising, therefore, that the recording of the picture is poorlv done. A number of long-winded dialogues are not at all heatd and many a situation goes unexplained. Photography is good in parts and erratic otherwise. Song compositions and music arc amateurish. A couple of dances are well taken and the director shows some imagination at many places in shot compositions and trolley movements. Bhagwan, the director, has tried to give a fast pic- ture by maintaining a speedy tempo but as the story material is very thin he docs not succeed in his attempt. Amongst the players, Bhagwan, himself, seems to have taken the main burden of entertaining the people. He plavs a slapstick role in which he makes faces and eyes constantly and does succeed at places in entertaining the children amongst the audiences. Master Vithal and Amamath do their bit in running about with the sword. Khurshid Jr. plays the role of Princess Nargis. Her appearance is a revolt against our tradi'ional ideas of womanly beauty. Between the nose and the lips she has space as big as a road-way and in close-ups she hits the eve with cruel ugliness. Add to this feature her habit of twisting her lips whilst speaking and imagine the sex value she lends to the picture Kavita Devi who plays Ishrat, the dancer, is another revolting experience. She cannot act nor can she speak. In fine, "Song Of Desert" is design- ed to be a speedy thriller for the masses. It may appeal to those who like the stories of the Arabian Nights. 55 RAGE OF CALCUTTA! A&T HLMS- ALLURING SOCIAL TANTALIZING TWOSOME WHO FIRST MET IN njl/xltt&n & Circled By: HEMEN GUPTA Starring : JAMUNA NAWAB, MOLINA, IFTIKHAR, ARUNA, DEVBALA, TULSI, INDU TANDON Etc. SACCHINDAS (Motilal) RUNNING TO CROWDED HOUSES IN 8TH WEEK AT JYOTI TALKIES. CALCUTTA. For C. P. • JAMNADAS LTD. For SOUTH : SELECT PICTURES CIRCUIT. For BENGAL : MANSATA FILM DISTRIBUTORS. A NAVYUG PICTURE STARRING : GEETA NIZAMI, * SAROJ BORKAR. SHYAM, K. N. SINGH tsf DAR KASHMIRI. Direction : Screenplay : Songs : Music : VEDI. SHAHID LATIF. NAKHSHAB. RASHID AT No w Ready For Release A tale of si winsome Wile uml her Haualihj H us\n\ DIN R A AT DIRECTION: STARRING: SNEHPRABh SHOREY P. BANNERJI, SULOCHAU DAULTALVI. Now Running at |\ RISHN A A Peerless Pictures' Release music STOPS mOTION IN pictures M0on9t Sacrifice Story For Songs By: Professor KRISHNA GOPAL You may have heard of the judge who recognised the accused as the music-teacher ot his daughter, and gratefully increased the punishment to its maximum. Judged in this manner, most Indian film-musicians richly deserve a death-sentence. For, the gramophone, the radio, and the street-singer make some of their har- rowing melodies omni-present by catching you napping even in the most lonely spot on earth. But it is not so much the cornetist, the violi- nist, and the pianist who make a sen- sitive hearer a pessimist. The chief credit for a.l this nauseating riot of music plugged into our ears goes to the music-director, about whose efforts a friend of mine said, he didn't know whether the Indian film-music was improving or the listeners were just getting more used to it. I daresay people might be found willing to pay these music-directors to save them- selves the torture of this braying blare. Nonetheless, these music-makers are not the real culprits, for are they not just paid to inflict on us their tiresome wailing agony! And the producers pay them. One wonders why these long-eared producers should inflict not one or two but as many as eight or nine soul-searing songs in every picture. It may be inconceiv- able, some may think, to have a song- less picture in a music-mad country like India. Yet, could not the pro- ducers reduce the number of songs in a picture, including just two or three truly musical melodies3 Indian producers are shrewd birds (no, not vultures!), and they want their pictures to satisfy every musical taste. They must have one or two 'Geets', a couple of 'Ghazals', one 'Qawwali', one romantic duet, one socialis ic song, one patriotic song, one comic song and you could add many other varieties. Well, what our pro- ducers desire is to increase the num- ber of songs rather than decrease it. And their difficulty is not how to decrease but how to increase the number. The varieties of songs be- ing so many and producers being keen on having every kind .io fine picture, it is not strange if- with the amount of grey matter at their dis- posal, they find it difficult to choose half-a-dozen out of more than a dozen kinds of songs This, however, is by way of a prelude to the musical maladies of our Indian screen. The main issue is: Why should all kinds of pictures have songs, and almost the same number of songs? Whether it be a historical, a social, a biographical, a religious or any blessed kind of picture, the songs are there and never less than half a dozen. Indian producers are sedulous- Damayanti Sahani a new comer, has a p'easant face to see in "Dur Chalen," a Durga picture. ly aping Hollywood, but they don't see that Hollywood thrillers have no songs, that Hollywood historicals and biographicals have none or just one. It is true that some Hollywood pic- tures have songs, but not all of them, and then not so many songs in one picture. THE THEATRICAL INFLUENCE Let me come ilown to brass tacks An Indian picture of the present length (eleven thousand feet) lasts for a little over two hours, and the songs take up about half an hour. This means that the real story has to be compressed within an hour and a half. And within this duration the characters are to be introduced and made alive, at least a couple of crises to be staged, some comic relief is to be provided, the sumptuous settings are to be displayed, a climax to be achieved and what not Shades of Agha Hashar Kashmiri! Why should Indian pictures still have the same number of songs as in a theatrical play of the past. The In- dian theatrical play went on and on until the small hours, extending over some five hours, two-and-a-half times more than the present-day picture. It must be admitted that Indian talkie was born under the evil star of thea- trical influence, and this has obsessed it up till now. Sohrab Modi, for in- stance, was a theatrical name, tread ing the boards and facing the lime- light before he started as a picture maker. And his first few pictures were theatrical plays, pure and sim pie. It was only New Theatres which made songs a part of the drama, either to relieve the emotional tension or to intensify the feeling. Others simply stitched the songs to the story, super-imposed and superficial. In general, Indian talking pictures were in the beginning and to a large ex- tent remain even now, not much dif ferent from the theatrical plays, ex- cept for the shifting scenes, and more realistic back-ground. It is high time, therefore, that Indian pictures get weaned from theatrical influence. Why should not some producer make a songless picture? I know it would need lots of guts and grit to start an innovation, and there are tremendous risks. For this rea- son, only a producer who can afford to gamble away a couple of lakhs, should have a stab at it. More than that, he should strain himself to make it a first-rate picture. For if the first songless picture runs upon the rocks, it would not merely mean individual loss but a set-back to Indian film. The failure of the first songless picture would prejudice the masses against other similar ventures at least for five years. The songless picture is, in- deed, dangerous stuff and should be handled with kid gloves. Before I come to my final suggestion, let me indicate briefly what these songs do to most Indian pictures. Take for instance, the latest historical, Sohrab Modi's "Ek-Din-Ka-Sultan". 57 FILMINDI A March, 1946 You may rub your eyes in amaze- ment when you read that it has nine songs — I have counted them. The picture is an extravaganza in the exact sense of the word. It makes hardly any attempt to be realistic, so fantastic it is. Such an airy fairy pic- ture may get away with this plethora of songs. Even so, the tempo is seve- ral times disturbed by these songs. In 'Humayun', the picture is unmistak- ably marred by the discordant songs which play havoc with the drama and make il jerky. Time and again the drama develops only to fizzle out in messed-up melody. "Humayun's" true merit apart, it would not have suffered even the least bit by being without songs — they make it only worse. In the same way, not to the same extent though, "Laila Majnu" works up the tempo three times, and it peters out ihrice on account of songs. THE STORY FIRST AND LAST Indian picture-makers should know that motion picture is an altogether different kind of medium from the stage. In one word it 'moves' and gathers up a momentum No song that impedes the 'movement' of the picture should be retained. Every- thing should be subordinated to the narration of the story, and to the de- velopment of the drama. Before songs and such other things evolved, man was interested in story; interest in story is in his very blood, ingrain ed in his being. Then, from the stand-point of Art, Unity which is the first great principle of all Art should not be sacrificed for a mere song. And the unity of many pictures, as its dramatic movement, gets shattered by forced songs which muscle in upon coordinating links and even upon psychological moments From another view-point, so man} songs in a picture are exhausting the icpertoire of the music-makers, who are becoming spent forces only good enough to rehash the offal from past pictures. For one thing, how many stirring tunes, at once new and re markable, could a music-director give in a year? If he gives half-a-dozen he should be singularly praiseworthy There is a limit to his capacity, not unlike the egg-laying capacity of a hen. What the whole thing comes to is d less songs are used in pictures, their song-value must remarkably improve . My conclusion is that not more than four songs should be used in a picture. Lyrical pictures of extraordi- nary poetic-value are quite a different pair of shoes. A poet's or a musi- cian's life-story may have more songs. In the same manner, a detective thrill- er, as "Dhamki" and "Room No. 9" are said to be, should have less. And generally, the picture should not be sacrificed for the song, the song may well be for the picture. Different pic- tures should have different number and kinds of songs. Above all, the songs should be woven into the tex- ture of the play, and should not be mere patches upon it. In view of the foreign whirlwind competition that looms large on the horizon, Indian producers should take stock of things. One thing that is perhaps of the greatest moment is the need to reshape the structure of their screen-plays, which should not merely ring changes upon the same vaude- ville-cum-opera stuff in all their pic- tures. This monotony is tiresome and should soon give place to spicy variety. As an outsider I don't know things behind the screen, but as an observer I know what's what. And some times an onlooker can hit upon the right move bettei than the chess- players deep in the game. 59 Reviewed In New York % P. S. HARRISON [Editor: HARRISON'S REPORTS) "MIT THE HAY" (Columbia, Nov. 29; time, 62 min.) Sixiy-uvo minutes o! unbearable boredom! It Aca demy Awards were handed out tor the duller comedy of the year, this one would undoubtedly win first prize. The story is insipid, tedious, and long drawn out, with very little action. The characters behave in so ridiculous a manner that the spectator becomes impati em with them. The plot is interspersed with songs, several which are operatic arias, which Judy Canova sings in bur- lesque fashion, but her efforts to be funny fall flat. It is doubtful if even her most ardent followers will find Miss Canova s antics entertaining: — Ross Hunter laces bankruptcy because ai his inability to secure financial backing from Paul Stanton for his civic opera company. Lunching in a food market, Ross finds Judy singing operatic arias while milking a cow. Discovering that she was the daughter of a former opera singer, Ross takes her to Stanton who, after hearing her voice, agrees to finance the opera. Ross enlists the aid ul Doris Merrick, his girl-lriend columnist, who gives Judy a publicity build-up. He soon finds that, although Judy sang well, she was totally lacking in acting ability. Lest he lose his financial backer, Ross, in desperation, con- ceives the idea ol having Judy sing from the wings while a double played her part on the stage. Gloria Holden, another singer, who was jealous of Judy's success, de mands the leading role under threat of exposing Judy as a fraud. Ross succeeds in thwarting (iloria's scheme, but Judy, stricken with remorse, refuses to deceive the public in further operas. To save the opera company, however, Judy writes her own version of "William Tell." designed to suit her special talents. The novelty of the production ap- peals to the opera patrons, and Judy emerges a greater success than ever. Richard Weil and Charles Marion wrote the original screenplay, Jed Richmond produced it, and Del Lord directed it. The cast includes Fortunio Honanova, Fran cis Pierlot, Grady Sutton and others. Unobjectionable morally. "THE BELLS OF ST. MARY'S" (RKO, no release date set, time, 126 min.) Excellent! That it will be a smash box-office success is assured, not only because of the stars' wide popularity, but also because it is a simple, inspired entertainment, the sort the masses will relish. As in "Going My Way", which he also wrote, produced, and directed, Leo McCare\ has proved again that great pictures do not require pre lentious stories. "The Hells of St. Mary's" tells a simple story, which, in warmth, human appeal, wholeSQmeness and humor, is in every way comparable to "Going My Way". In it we find Bing Crosby cast once again as 'Father O'Malley the youthful understanding parish priest, this lime taking over a new assignment, as pastor of a parochial school which was in a bad state ol repair, and which had in- adequate funds. How he helps Ingrid Bergman, the Sis ter Superior, to acquire a new building, despite their good mannered differences over school matters, is told in such a charming and human way that those who will see the picture will leave the theatre with a feeling that they would like to see it again. The story, though simple, is rich in incidents, some of which are highly amusing, and others that cannot help lugging at one's heart strings. For example, there is con sidcrable appeal in Crosby's undertaking to reconcile an estranged couple so that their dejected 'teen-age daughtei could have a happy home life. Another phase of the story that is rich in humor and in human interest is the manner in which Miss Bergman and Crosby, working 111 dependently, soften the heart of a crochety old millionaire and induce him to donate his new office building, ad joining the school grounds, lor a new school. Among th- many delightful highlights are Miss Bergman's efforts to teach a young boy the manly art of self-defense, only to be knocked down flat when she invites him to try to hit her on the chin, and the staging ol a Christmas play bv a group ol kindergarden children, who enact their own Paro makes her screen debut in "Shikari" a picture ot Filmistan Ltd. 59 FILM INDIA March, 1946 version of the Nativity — both sequences are memorable. Crosby's singing of a few religious songs, in which he is joined by Miss Bergman, adds much to the picture's en- tertaining qualities. The dramatic phase of the story concerns the illness of Miss Bergman, who develops a touch of tuberculosis but is not told about it. Crosby, advised by the doctor that she needed a milder climate, arranges for her transfer from St. Mary's but, unwilling to tell her the truth, allows her to think that she was being transferred because of their differences. The closing scenes, where she leaves the school, and where Crosby brings himself to tell her the true reason, are powerfully dramatic. The acting of the entire cast is excellent. Crosby de- lights one with his ease and natural charm, and Miss Berg- man will undoubtedly rise to new heights of popularity because of the effective way in which she portrays her role. Watching them both, one forgets that they are act- ing Leo McCarey set himself a high mark to shoot at in producing a follow-up to "Going My Way", but none can deny that he reached that mark with high honours. Dudley Nichols wrote the screen play. The cast in- cludes Henry Travers, William Gargan, Ruth Donnelly, Joan Carroll, Rhys Williams, Una O'Connor, Martha Sleeper and many others. "VACATION FROM MARRIAGE" (MGM, no release date set; time, 94 min.) Produced in Britain by MGM, this domestic comedy- drama is a delightfully pleasant entertainment. Depicting the changes wrought by the war in the lives of a prosaic married couple, who led a dull, unadventurous existence, the story is a skilful blend of comedy and drama, rich in human appeal. Most of the humor lies in the fact that, after three years of separation, during which each served in the British Navy, and each learned how to enjoy life, both dread the necessity of returning to one another to resume a monotonous married life, without realizing that the other's way of life was what each now desired. The scenes in which they first meet after the separation and come to the realization that the other's personality had changed completely are highly humorous. One's interest is held throughout, thanks to the engaging performances of Robert Donat and Deborah Kerr, as the principals. Although the story has a war background, it has a little to do with the fighting: — Donat, a timid office clerk, placidly married to Debo- rah, a drab, mild-mannered woman, joins the navy at the start of the war. Under the rigors of navy training, he becomes toughened physically, and world-wise mentally. At home, Deborah, tired of an idle life, becomes a Wren. The change from a humdrum existence has a decided effect on her; she blossoms out and soon discovers that she had been missing many pleasures, particularly when she be- comes infatuated with a young naval architect. Mean- while Donat, too, becomes eager for life when he falls in love with Ann Todd, his nurse, while recuperating from Producer SURAIYYA ZULFI OF R. S. PRODUCTION h now producing "KMIGOO" full of stunts & magic. 40 March, 1946 FILMINDI A wounds in a North African hospital. After a separation of three years, Donat and Deborah each receive a ten-day furlough and both arrange to meet in their London apart- ment. Each felt morally obliged to return to the other, but the thought of resuming their dull married life was abhor rent to both. Deborah journeys to London accompanied by Glynis Johns, her Wren friend, while Donat takes with him Caven Watson, his buddy. Both tell their friends that they planned to ask for a divorce. Meeting for the first time, Deborah and Donat are delightfully shocked to see the change in one another, but inadvertent remarks made by their friends about what each said of the other leads them into a quarrel. Eventually, however, bo h be- come repentant, and the finish finds them in each other's arms. Clemence Dane and Anthony Pelissier wrote the screen play, and Alexander Korda produced and directed it. The supporting cast is composed of English players. Unobjectionable morally. "FRONTIER GAL" (Universal, Dec. 21; time, 84 min.) A pretty good "glorified" Western, in Technicolor. In spite of the fact that the story is ordinary, it should enjoy wide audience appeal, for it has plentiful rough and-tumble action, comedy, some music, and a fien romance. Some of the melodramatic situations are wildly imaginative, and the hectic romantic by-play between Yvonne De Carlo and Rod Comeron is sometimes stretch ed to the limit of comic absurdity, but if one accepts the story for what it is he should find it entertaining. Miss De Carlo's acting shows improvement over her work in "Salome, Where She Danced," and, as in that picture, extra care has been taken to see that her physical attributes are shown off to good advantage. The surprise of the picture is five-year-old Beverly Simmons; she is a natural little actress, and her charm is captivating: — Rod Cameron, a fugitive wanted for the shooting of his partner's slayer, rides into Red Horse Gulch in search of the assassin's accomplice. There he meets Yvonne, operator of a saloon. She misinterprets his attentions as a proposal of marriage and, when he tries to laugh it off. compels him at the point of a gun to marry her. Amused, he takes her forcibly to his ranch for a honeymoon, much to the chagrin of Sheldon Leonard, her discarded admirer. On the following day, however, the law catches up with Cameron and he is sent to prison. Returning after a six- year term, Cameron finds that he has a five-year-old daughter (Beverly Simmons). Despite the coolness between Cameron and Yvonne, the little girl wins his affection and, when he sees her singing in the saloon, he wrests her away from Yvonne and takes her to his ranch. He sends for his former sweetheart, a school teacher, to give the child a woman's care. When Yvonne comes out to the ranch, Came- ron tells her that he intended to marry the school teacher. She agrees to divorce him and to give up her daughter in the belief that the child would have a cultural advantage. Their agreement is frustrated, however, when Leonard, still angered at having been jilted, kidnaps Beverly. Cameron rides after him, while Yvonne rounds up the sheriff (Andy Devine) and a posse. After a hot pursuit. Cameron catches Leonard and in a desperate struggle throws him over a cliff to his death. He then rescues the child from a perilous perch on a log over a deep chasm. Their daughter saved, Cameron and Yvonne become re- conciled. Michael Fessier and Ernest Pagano wrote and pro- duced the screen play, and Charles Lamont directed it. The cast includes Fuzzy Knight, Andrew Tombes and others. Unobjectionable morally. "ROAD TO UTOPIA" (Paramount, March 22; time, 90 min.) Good mass entertainment. Like the previous "Road" pictures, in which Crosby, Hope, and Miss Lamour have been starred, this one is fast-moving and filled with many nonsensical but hilarious situations. In spite of the fact that it hasn't much of a story to tell, one's interest in the proceedings never lags, for the laughs come frequently, continuing to the end. Crosby and Hope, as two confi- dence men loose in Alaska during the Gold Rush days, are extremely funny; individually, or as a team, they get the most out of every gag and comedy situation. The picture pokes fun at itself throughout, beginning with a com- mentary by the late Robert Benchley, who tells the audi ence that it is an example of how a picture should not be made, and continuing with numerous other "kidding" gags, some of which include direct remarks to the audi- ence by the players, as well as by animals that talk. The action is intcrpersed with several tuneful songs, sung b\ Crosby and by Miss Lamour: — Learning that her father, discoverer of a gold mine, had been murdered by two Alaskan desperadoes, who had stolen the map of the mine, Dorothy Lamour determines to follow the pair to the Klondike to recover the map and to file claim to the mine. Meanwhile Crosby and Hope come to a parting of the ways when Hope insists that they go to Alaska in search of gold. Hope, however, tricks Crosby into accompanying him and, during the voyage, both become mixed up with the two thugs, steal the map. and assume their appearances 10 get off the ship. The townspeople, believing them to be the ruthless desperadoes, keep out of their way. Dorothy, under the same impres- sion, starts romancing with both of them in an effort to recover the map. She also enlists the aid of Douglas Dum- brille, a crooked political boss, who pretends friendship for her as part of a plan to steal the map for himself. Hope and Crosby soon become the prey of, not only Dorothy, but also Dumbrille's henchmen, as well as the two despe- radoes, who sought revenge. They head into the fat north in search of the mine, closely pursued by the others, who overtake them in a snow storm. After numerous complications and adventures, during which both men play hide-and-seek with the villains, but find enough time to vie for Dorothy's hand, they elude their pursuers and turn the map over to Dorothy. Hope wins her for his wife, but twenty-five years later their grown son looks uncom- monly like Crosby. Norman Panama and Melvin Frank wrote the screen play, Paul Jones produced it, and Hal Walker directed it. The cast includes Hillary Brooke, Jack LaRue and others. Unobjectionable morally. 61 •I m m ■!* ^ (IWi f« reader's forum-— as and rvken sPaee Permits M m M f m From the product fx the lay film-goer, every one nan m M M 0 W M write to the Editor and ventilate his grievance. For every letter wjmf A JC* /IM/fcil/ Published in these columns, the Publishers will pav R*. Sh §F 0T \jk£Q CK. m—mm Cmwl (7k mi Letters should be signed and marked "Woes And Echoe," Photographs of the readers will be published along with the ft letters, if convenient. — The Editor.) LET US HOPE "One hoped during the war thai our film producers would produce soifte really good pictures, instead ol rotten ones, which they had so far been producing. During the war. when raw film was scarce, we could find a hundred and one pictures of the sort of "Pehle-Aap," "Vish- Kanya", "Mumtaz Mahal", all ex- ceedingly bogus and rotten. I don't know what must have been the mo- tive of producers in giving us such pictures. Now that the war is over, and the situation has become much better, many new concerns will crop up. Let us hope and request these would-be producers to kindly change the present atmosphere, and produce some really good pictures, which may have some good effect on our public. They must realise that films can be the best source of edu- cating our people and this is what the un educated masses of India need" ALIGARH. S. A. Hameed WHY BLAME ME? "One is surprised to find in your December '45 issue, a letter from a reader wherein the writer goes to the extent of advocating complete stopping of pictures in any South In- dian language. Why this ultra- Hindustani mania? I ask. The dif- ferent people that speak South In- dian languages can make small na- tions by themselves. All the languages have got a history and a literature of their own. And now nobody denies the importance of Hindustani in our future national life. So many South Indians have got to learn it. By this we need not discard our mother- tongue. If our language is our mother-tongue, Hindustani will be our father-tongue (in the sense that it is the language of our Fatherland). And there need be no quarrel about our languages. Is it not short-sight- ed to say that no South Indian pic- tures need be encouraged5 This is a time when a great people are forging themselves into a new nation. As long as such writers flourish, the chances of making India into a na tion becomes less hopeful. "What pains me most is your utter disregard towards South Indian films. You don't think it worth the while to even let the name of any South Indian picture appear in your paper. This in effect has made some North Indians think that there arc no South Indian pictures worth their name and that it is a waste to pro duce them. I put the whole blame on you, and suggest you should allot some columns in your magazine to South Indian news too. Can you not show so much co-operation to your kinsmen when you are ready to publish news about English pic- tures ? " P. Gopal Krishna VIZAGAPATAM. (My kinsfolk in the South keep their production activities a secret and I can't get any honest and reli- able person to report correctly and review pictures honestly. — The Edi- tor). ASKING ME? "I am at a loss to decide whether places where Indian pictures are screened are really cinema-halls or markets of dirt, filth and squalor. In all the cinema-halls of this town. I find betel spitting. cough-spitting, banana-leaves and moongfalis etc. I being a student of biology can to some extent tolerate trash in pictures for every director is not expected to be a genius, but can never bear these anti-hygienic things. Whenever I go to sec a picture in any one of these halls, I feel a sort of mental con- straint to leave the cinema-hall with out enjoying the picture. Is it not a damnable thing, Mr. Patel?" Shasht D. Shukla. C AWN PORE. MISFORTUNE OF SLAVES "A recent press report says: — in a village called Kuttu- paramba in Kerala, men, women and children assembled in a touring cinema tent were being beaten up in the best Bombay-tear-gas-and-bullct style, by a number of Malabar special policemen. People crowded into the cinema. The machine would not run. The people demanded their money back. They shouted and bawled. The cinema proprietor ap- pealed to a Malabar special police- man in the audience. He started chasing the people out. The people caught hold of him. He yelled Others of his tribe came, and more of them, and then a beating-up be- gan, the like of which Kuttuparamba at least, had never seen. Men fell down and women ran. Children were attacked Sixteen people received fairly serious wounds and were treated in the hospital. Achutan, a Congress worker, got it very badly. His life is not out of danger yet. A weaver's arm was broken. There has been an enquiry, but the police ask- ed the people, "Who broke the chair?", "Who smashed the bulb?" "But the police forgot to ask themselves: "Who got the ticket money from the people 11 id cheated them by not paying it back when his time-worn cinema projector failed to function". Is it not fair that the proprietor of the said cinema should be charged with the most of- fensive crime of having sent a score of people to the hospital and a cou- ple or more up to the next world. There is every likelihood that the victims of this outrage wore self-res- pecting, innocent folk who had wait ed to see if they could obtain their hard-earned money back". S. Padmanalih^n TRICHUR DYING HOPE? "Every time I go to a Hindi pic tore, I sit with the intention of wit- nessing a better one than the previ- ous, but only to be cheated in my ambition. Very recently I saw pic- tures: "Us Par". "Lalkar" and the like. Oh. why the hell do they pro- duce such preposterous pictures at all! Those antics, that overacting, those clumsy situations, have been so often exhibited on the screen, that they neither appeal to the masses nor to the intelligentsia. I heartily en- dorse your downright decry of such unwholesome pictures which have contributed little to the 'uplift' of the (3 March, 1946 Recruit G. L. Narang of P O Box 225, Karachi, has had considerable feet in some cases. All this, you know, is done with the only object of getting more space and ultimately 'I getting more money. "In accordance with hygienic rules, the minimum distance between the I cinematographic screen and the front row of seats should, in no case, 1 be less than 25 feet, as otherwise the I rapidly moving film is liable to CONSTRUCTING CINEMA HOUSE, IN KARACHI Parties hlerested in constructing the theatre on lease system or lease for certain period, also suppliers oF Cinema Eqjip-npnt, Building Materials and Furniture are requested to communicate with Post Box No. 25, Karachi. 64 March, 1946 FILMINDI A and died in the various theatres of war not for the freedom of their country, not even for world peace, but for the perpetuation of British rule and the supremacy of the allied nations. I can not but, therefore, definitely hate the production of war propaganda films by our Indian pro ducers. Can't they look to the dark side of the picture? Do they not know that India's contribution to the winning of victory is to be judged bv the hardships and privations her poor millions had to go through. Tears come into my eyes not for those who went away to the battlefields abroad and died but for those poor women and children who were left behind to languish in distress, for the victims of Bengal famine and for those modest women and tender maidens who were driven to commit suicide either to hide their shame of naked ness for want of clothes or for the preservation of their chastity. They have storms in the hearts the way Sushila Rani's picture-family is look- ing in "Gvalan" a social picture produced and directed by Baburao Patel. cause visual aberration and retinal strain with consequert deleterious ef- fects on the health of those members of the public who usually occupy the cheaper front row seats. Several re- quests have been made to the mana- gements but to no purpose. Dear Mr. Patel, will you please approach the authorities and move them to get this defect removed?" Prithi Paul Singh. LAHORE. CINEMA WENT TO HIM "Addressing his last prayer meet- ing in Calcutta on 18th Jan. '46, Mahatmaji said that he had never been to a cinema. "If my recollection is correct I have read an advertisement to the effect that the Mahatma saw Pra- kash's "Ram Rajya". "Gandhiji is the embodiment of truth and the words and sentiments coming out of him are the sacred trust of a nation and its people. "Will Director Vijaya Bhatt or the bosses of Prakash come out with their explanation on the above? Sure ly, that will be interesting informa- tion". N. S. V. Chalam BANGALORE. A LATE APPEAL "To glorify the military triumph* of an Indian soldier is to mock In- dia's cause of freedom. India is a slave country quite apart from the r<*st of the world. Her troops fought "One is more shocked at the nei result or the reward of all these mise- ries of war — the sun-dried and pig- headed refusal to transfer power to India on the plea of communal dis- cord. "1 appeal therefore to the patrio tism of our Indian magnates of the film industry to stop their produc- It is evidently domestic situation from "40 crores" a picture of Productions. Chandra Art 65 FILMINDIA tion of war-time films on the pre- sent lines." Miss Asha Devi. ALLAHABAD. FROM THE HIMALAYAS "I must on the very outset thank you for the excellent review of "Chhamia" in the October issue of the "filmindia". I saw the picture only last Saturday and I liked it im- mensely. I fully endorse whatever you have said about it. It was a pleasant surprise to see such a well-acted and directed picture. The male directors barring a few of course should take lessons from Protima. "I would however like to sound a note of caution to Protima that she should remain sober and work earnest- ly to eradicate the defects pointed out by you. We do hope she will not, like so many directors, who pro- duced a good picture first and pump- ed up by praise, produced only flops, start turning out one flop after an- other. This is but human psycho- logy. "Protima is planning more pro- ductions and time will no doubt show in which direction the water flows. "Para has indeed improved a good deal in her acting than what she did in "Chand". She deserves to be con- gratulated, but at the same time she must learn to handle the illusive dopatta". S. S. Bhatti. SIMLA. HUMAN APPEAL "My woe is about the low and vul- gar humour-catching devices resorted to by some of the directors in the Indian films. Ignoring the other de- vices for the time being, I will rest content this time by strongly pro- testing against the use of stammering for providing humour to the audi- ence. March, 19 "Stammering is a psychical malats in majority of the cases. Its 'treaj ment and cure depend to a grej extent, upon the way in which tft stammerer is treated by the peopk there is every chance of the fellovi being cured. But, if, on the othel hand, he is made a laughing-stock, ; target of the typical indecent jokinj and mocking, his life is surely turn ed into a virtual hell through n< fault of his own; and there are nc chances for his cure. "What I want to convey is thai the directors ought to be very consi derate towards these silent sufferers. And, stammering, a very serious thing in itself, ought not to be ex- ploited for the purpose of providing humour to the cine-goers, consequent- ly poisoning their minds with such vulgar, indecent humour and en- couraging them to laugh at the stammerers." Satya Narayan Purohit JODHPUR. 7a /Steak Monotony & J2erolutioni5e Chand' (Hindustani) (Prabhat) Feb. '45 issue- Propaganda Social. — "a light entertainment" (3*) 'Chandragupta' (Hindi) (Jayant Desai) April '45 issue— Historical —"Historically incorrect but en tertaining '• (3*) 'Chhamia' (Hindustani) (Protima Dasgupta) Oct. '45 issue— Social.— "presents sensible en- tertainment." <1*) 'Chand Tara' (Hindustani) (Asiatic) Dec. '45 issue— Social.— "a stupid time-killer without even ft single moment of intelligent relief." D (1*) "Dhamki" (Urdu) (Pancholi) Feb. '46 issue- detective thriller— "a stupid and tiresome (1*) "Dhanna Bhagat" (Hindi) (Ranjit) Feb. '46 issue— devotional social— "just another devo- tional hocus." picture." (1») 'Dotana' (Bengali) (Eureka) June '45 issue- Social. — "just rotten and disgusting." (2*) 'Dui Purush* (Bengali) (New Theatres) Nov. '45 issue— Social.— "rattles down N. T. Standard- there are spots where the picture proves slight- ly entertaining." E (3*) 'Ek Din-ka-Sultan' (Urdu) (Minerva) Jan. '46 issue — historical romance — "a picture worth see- ing, at least for some good entertainment." G (1*) 'Gaali' (Hindustani). (N. R. Desai Productions) March '45 issue — Social. — "presents disappointing entertainment." (2*) 'Ghar* (Hindustani) (Sunrise) Jan. '46 issue- Social— "a good picture to see though it drags at places." (3*) 'Geet* (Hindustani) (Kardar) Sept. '45 issue- Social.— "a picture worth seeing." H (4*) 'Hamrahi' (Hindustani) (New Theatres) Oct. 45 issue. — Social.— "a picture which is worth going a long way to see." (1*) 'Hospital' (Hindustani) (M. P. Productions) April '45 issue — Social.— "presents stupid and boring stuff." (2*) 'Humayun' (Urdu) (Mehboob) July '45 issue- Historical.— "Sadly fails to entertain." 1 (2*) 'Ismaf (Urdu) (Fazli Bros.) April '45 issue- Social— "presents common uninteresting plot " J (8*) 'Jwai Bhata' (Hindustani) (Bombay Talkies) Jan. '45 issue— Social.— "nothing outstanding— yet it is not a bad time-killer." K (1*) 'Kiran' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) July '45 Issue- Social— "just a rotten picture." FILMINDIA March, 1946 (2*) 'Krishnarjun Yuddha' (Hindi) (Murari) Sept. '45 issue — Mythological — "a boring story." (2*) 'Kaise Kahun' (Hindustani) (Pancholi) Jan. '46 issue— social— "is not such an awful time killer." (1*) 'Lakharani' (Hindustani) (Prabhat) Dec. '45 issue— costume fantasy— "a picture too rotten for words." (2*) 'Lalkar' (Hindustani) (Jayant Desai) Feb. '45 issue— Social.— "not a bad time-killer if you are not looking for anything intellectual in it." (2*) 'Lai Haveli' (Hindustani) (Bombay Cinetone) Feb. '45 issue— Social— "continues to entertain throughout its length." (1*) 'Lady Doctor' (Hindustani) (Venus) June '45 issue— Social.— "should be considered an all round flop." (2*) 'Leila Majnu' (Urdu) (Hindi) June '45 issue- folklore.— "proves slightly boring." M (1*) 'Maha Maya' (Tamil) (Jupiter) March '45— issue— Mythological.— "moderate stuff without much entertainment." (2*) Miss Devi' (Hindustani) (Laxmi) Oct. '45 issue- Propaganda Social.— "a pretty cheap production." (2*) 'My Sister' (Hindustani) (New Theatres) March '45 issue— Social.— "a common story clumsily done— expected to run well because of its or- thodox theme." (1*) "Mumtaz Mahal"— (Urdu) (Ranjit) Dec. '45 issue— Historical— "a disgusting distortion of history." (2*) 'Mun-ki-Jeet' (Hindustani) (Shalimar) Nov. '45 issue— Social.— "though travels a bit leisurely before interval, it gathers some tempo ana drama after the interval." (1*) 'Maharathi Kama' (Hindustani) (Prabhakar) Nov. '45 issue— Mythological.— "a ludicrous por- trayal of Mahabharat." N (2*) 'Nala Damayanti' (Hindi) (Janak) July '45 issue —Mythological.— "a killing time-killer." P (1») 'Pannadai' (Hindi) (Pradeep) May '45 issue- Historical.— "Proves a heart-rending flop." (3*) 'Panna' (Hindustani) (Navyug) Aug. '45 issue- Propaganda Social.— "a good time-killer." (1*) 'Path Bendhey Dilo' (Bengali) (De-Luxe) July '45 issue— Social.— "a picture better avoided than seen." (3*) 'Phool' (Urdu) (Famous) June '45 issue— Social. —"a good picture if you do not mind a bit of morbid entertainment." (1») "Paduka Pattabhishekam" (Tamil) (Gemini) & (Rajarajeshwari) April '45 issue— Mythological. —"proves utterly disappointing." (1*) (1*) (1*) (1*) (5*) (2*) (1*) (1*) (1*) (2*) (2*) a*) (i*) (3*) (3*) (1*) (2*) (2*) (3*) 'Piya Milan' (Hindustani) (Wadia Movietone) i Nov. '45 issue — Social.— "all round rotten and boring show." R "Ratnavali" (Hindi) (Amar) Feb. '46 issue- mythological — "a waste of time and money." S 'Sawan' (Hindustani) (Sanjiwan Art) June '45 issue — Social. — "waste of celluloid." 'Seetha Rama Jananam' (Telugu) (Prathibha Pictures). July '45 issue — Mythological. — "all that it can do is to create some disgusting boredom. 'Shakuntala* (Stage) (Hindustani) (Prithvi Theatres) April '45 issue — Mythological.— "an excellent production." "Shikari" (Hindustani) (Filmistan) Feb. '46 issue— propaganda social — "thin story material, well framed." 'Shrin Farhad' (Urdu) (Pancholi) June '45 issue —Folklore. — "intensely boring picture." 'Sri Valli' (Tamil) (Saraswati) July '45 issue- Mythological. — "a stupid and boring affair." 'Subah Sham' (Urdu) (Indrapuri Studio) Dec. '45 issue — Social — "a dead picture. It has nei- ther life nor movement." T 'Tadbir' (Hindustani) (Jayant De'ai) Jan. '46 issue — social — "tolerable in parts." 'Tahsildar' (Telugu) (Jagdish Films) May '45 issue — Social "a good time-killer." 'Taramati' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) Nov. '45 issue —Mythological.— "fails to move— is cne long se- quence of boredom." U 'Uspar' (Hindustani) (Sun Art) May '45 issue- social. — "becomes a spineless stuff." V 'Veer Kunal' (Hindi) (Kishore Sahu) Jan. '46 issue — historical — "is a picture more for the in- tellectuals than for the masses." 'Vikramaditya' (Hindi) (Prakash) Aug. '45 issue —Historical.— "becomes an entertaining picture. 'Vish Kanya' (Hindustani) (Ranjit) March '45 issue — Folklore.— "a motion picture poison one would not like to swallow." 'Village Girl' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) Nov. '45 issue — Social— "a pleasant picture to see — stor* misses emotional target." Y 'Yateem' (Hindustani) (Central Studios) July '45 Issue — Social.— "makes good impression." 'Zeenat' (Hindustani) (Eastern Pictures) Jan. '46 issue — social— "a picture worth seeing though presents popular emotional theme." Printed by Baburao Patel at New Jack Printing Works. Ltd.. 39. Sankli Street. Byculla. and Published by him for "filmindia" Publications Ltd.. from 55. Phirozshah Mehta Road. Fort, Bombay. NO MERR STAR-GAZER but A GREAT MAN of ACTION whose sword built up an Empire Standard Pictutei ' Mighty Spectacular MOVIE. Starring : | AG I R DA R MEHTAB | Courtesy Minerva ) David -Sadiqali - G. Mohamed - Benjamin - W. M Khan - Akbar - Hansa - Sunalini - Laiika - Zelu and SHAH NAWAZ Uydoyiits: Kamal Amrohi. Music: Oulam Hyder. Art: Wategaonker. Sound: K. Edalji. Dance: Chiman Sheth. D-ecto. g. JAGIRDAR. D.oJ.ce. M. HAVEVALA. Now soon to flash across the silver screen to inspire the NATION to ACTION ! ft ST^HSTZD-^ZR/ID JPICTXJi^ElS' — Kennedy Bridge — Bombay 7. NAIYYA MAZHARKHAN ASLAMNOO w MAZHARKHAN, MUNNAWER SULTANA ANWER, ASHRAF K.HAN,MASTER CHHOTU t>IIMAN RAI AKPAM 5JHf H7*m CIDA.I April, 1946 FILM IN D I A What a wonderful code of behaviour is prescribed for i married Hindu woman! We wonder whether the pro- ducer's or the director's wife did the same in their early lays of wedlock. In die producer's home when this educated girl from rood society dances she advises all the members to drink o their hearts' content giving short life as an excuse and ouch as a passing phase. She asks them all to fill their yes with her youth and get intoxicated. What a pattern it behaviour is thus prescribed for the educated girls ol ndia! One has only to see these lewd and filthy sequences etwcen the film producer and the film star to be com detelv disgusted with the Indian films, the Indian film in lus.rv and the Indian film stars. These sequences consti- ute the most disgusting slander on the Indian film industry. In producing "Din Raat" what do the Navyug Chi- rapat seek to portrav? Do they mean to tell us that the ndian film industry is full of debauched producers who are laily demoralizing girls from good society by lewd over- ures during working hours.3 Do the \a\jyug Chitrapat lare to suggest that all the educated girls from good so iety, who are working in the films today, are of the type ►ortrayed in the picture3 And yet whai else can the public conclude seeing the ingle film producer and the single film star, as shown in he picture, become representative |iortr.iv.ils ol the film ndustry ? We challenge the Navyug Chitrapat Ltd. to point out o us a single producer in our film industry today doing he dirty things as shown in the picture. It they can't do o what type of realism were the NTavayug people trying to Hasrat," a story of New India Pictures, Rani Bala plays the lead. show? Such putrid imagination divorced from all sense of decency deserves to be condemned by all decent people. To what extent can the filthy imagination of a producer be permitted to stretch to earn some filthy lucre? Should the child bite the breast of the loving mother that feeds it? We wrote about this to Rai Bahadur Chuni Lall, the President of the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Asso- ciation. Responding to our urgent call from a sick bed, he went to see this picture and now writes to us: "I quite agree with you that the picture as it stands at present dis- graces everybody connected with the Indian film industry and particularly the producers and the artistes." And yet this disgusting slander against his community has been forged by a film producer. Can perversion go lurther.3 And can the producers blame those members of yellow journalism who keep on shouting to the world that all film producers are unpunished scoundrels, when a film producer himself depicts vividly before millions the de- bauched life of a film producer? In "The Journal of the Film Industry", the official organ of the Producers' Association, Editor k. M. Multani shouts himself hoarse throwing blame at the door of the journalists for running down the producers in and out of season. What has he to say now about the 11,000 feet of celluloid slander exposed before millions by a member of his own brotherhood.3 Though tragic, the situation has in it some cruel humour from which it is difficult to escape. For twelve long years, "filmindia" has been shouting itself hoarse asking boys and girls from good society to join the film industry. After years of hard work, propaganda and argument we have been able to induce numerous edu- cated persons, men and women, to take up the film as a career. Today we have hundreds of graduates working in different departments ot our film industry. All these people s.and condemned today because of the cowardly slander of a single producer who thinks that the film industry is still crowded with demoralized persons. If "Din Raat" is allowed to continue on its merry career in its present shameful form, no decent man or woman will care to associate with the Indian film industry. A producer like Rai Bahadur Chuni Lall who insists on employing educated and cultured talent may well give up his future hopes of getting such persons to work in the industry. Millions are going to laugh at our industry after seeing "Din Raat". Those who are in the industry today and have slaved for years to build it into a national industry .ire likely to go down in the esteem of the good people of die world when they meet others in different walks of life. And all this because one dastardly producer has the impudence to condemn a whole community of film pro- ducers. We shall wait and see what action the august associa- tion of our producers takes against this picture. The least that should be done, and immediately, is to stop circula- tion of this picture and revise it suitably before releasing u again for mass entertainment. If the Producers' Asso- ciation lails to do this, it must accept, willingly or un- willingly, a complete condemnation of all its members and ot those working in the industry — and at the hands of a film producer. 5 PRESENTS THE LATEST \ EQUIPMENTS FOR mm STUD I OS 35 mm and 16 mm Recorders, Reproducers, Full Studio Lighting Equipments including Incandescent and Arclamps. Back Projection Equipment, Dollies, Tripods, Play Backs, Moving and Still Cameras, Special Lenses, Studio Booms, Location Booms etc. etc. FILM LABO R AT O R I E S 16 mm and 35 mm Processing Plants, Continuous and Step Printers, Reduction Printers, Positive and Negative Joiners, Hand and Motor Driven Synchronizers, Film Counters Sensitometers, Densitometers, Sound and Picture Editors etc. etc. SOUND 16 mm and 35 mm Projectors, Broadcast Receivers, Loudspeakers, Transmitters Com- munication Receivers, Radio Relay Systems, Public Address Systems, Disc Recorders, Wire Recorders, Microphones etc. etc. INDUSTRY Radio Frequency Heating, Radio Laboratory and Service Instruments, Special Fractional Horse Power Electric Motors and Generators, Special Transformers, Connectors for Air- craft, Communication and allied equipments. Factory Radio and speech Relay systems, Arena and Architectural Flood Lighting etc. etc. PHOTO Still Cameras, 8 mm, 16 mm and 35 mm Movie Cameras and Projectors, Photoflood Lights, Studio Lights, Filmstrip Projectors, Filters, Camera Enlarger Lenses and a full range of accessories for the Professional and Amateur Photographer. Wftm BF\ . CANADA BLOG HORNBY RD. BOMBAY •A-l III l-V Ai^rBRANCHES-DtlHI.CALCUnA,HAnRA5 WtuMpMlLMi- This section is the monopoly of "JUDAS" and he writes what he likes and about things which he likes. The views expressed here are not necessarily ours, but they carry weight because they are written by a man who knows his job. GE AND GLAMOUR Film stars in India never grow beyond their twenties, he other day I met a 45-year old dame who has been orking in the films for the last 20 years. With impish discretion when I asked about her age, with an impunity at took my breath away, she said she was only 28. , Yes, Indian film stars are very sensitive about their l;e. If they could help it, most of them would love to be , lied "baby" stars but with half-a-dozen babies shouting fvlama" at home, we are spared at least this outrage. I Age has always been a sensitive point with the oman as a race but one fails to understand the hyper- nsitiveness betrayed by our film stars about the ca'endar I .at keeps changing every year adding a year more , their glamorous appearance. After all every iaman being, man or woman, has to get old lime day and I cannot understand what particular ejection our film stars have in telling us their true be. A woman is as old as she looks is a well-proved iage and under-counting the age is not going to rub off tie traces of age from the faces of our g amour girls. See- lig that every year, like every child, leaves its trace on the Insitive face of the woman, one fails to understand what lirticular illusion is sought to be gained by this game of ide-and-seek. Max Factor can rub a few years off at too yards but 1 a close-up even Max Factor's grandfather will have to irow the sponge in despair. Ho lywood film stars are evidently not so hypocritical ; their Indian sislers. Can you believe that the glamorous llarlene Dietrich, the woman with the perfect legs, is a irandmother in her 41st year and has a daughter 21 years d? Constance Bennett is just 40 while her sister loan, is r" The coy little Claudettc Colbert has just signed a fcven-year contract at 40, whi'e Joan Crawford, who has een working for over 20 vears in Hollywood openly ad- hiis being 37 \ears, though you can safelv add five vears iiore to her mathematics. Bette Davis, one of Hollywood's most famous actresses, loesn't care a damn if every one knows that she is 37. i V'hile Kay Francis has passu. I the 41 mark, Greta Garbo, |ie mc.it glamorous, is 39 years today. Katherine Hepburn is 36 and Myrna Loy, the perfect ousewife who has failed iwice in her own domestic adven- lires, is a 40-year o'd girl. Irene Dunne, who is still con- idered as Hollywood's most beautiful woman, is not a day elow 41 and only a month older than Norma Shearer. And let us take a few glamour boys. Ronald Co' man. hat ever popular hero, is in his 55th year, earning near'y lakhs of rupees per picture, while William Powell, •lyrna Loy's popular screen husband, is waxing strong in |iis 53rd summer. Is it therefore difficult to imagine Charles Boyer be- ing 46 and looking so romantic at that age? Well, if Hollywood boys and girls can admit their years, what is wrong with our gir'.s giving their confes- sions? In any case, whether our girls admit it or not, wc know their age. But if we are told the truth, we may not add a few unnecessary years which their looks compel us to. A MYSOREAN IN TEMPER Raghavendra Rao, a Mysorean in Gwalior, is wild with me because of my strong remarks about the Mysore State authorities banning the film of the proceedings of the A.I.C.C. session. Writing to Editor Patel, the angry Raghavendra say*, "so far as this particular ban is concerned, Judas should know that the people in Mysore could in no way be held responsible for it is the act of the Government which is not a full-fledged responsible Government." He therefore considers my remarks as "unwarranted", my cheap jibes as Madhuri is still an attractive proposition as win ue seen in "Gvalan," produced and directed by Baburao Patel. 7 FILM INDIA BRINGING TO A BEWILDERED AGONY-RIDDEN WORLD THE MESSAGE OF COURAGE & ACTION RATNAKAR PRODUCTIONS' Picture of the TIME— UTHHO ilRGO Starring : S H A H Z A D I (of ' Zoola ' fame ) Baby N A LIN I (of 'Mali' fame) ASHIK HUSSEIN (of 'Mother India') JAMSHETJI. M. A. AZIZ and A. KHAN ft Now Xeariny Completion Trade Inquiries: RATNAKAR PRODUCTIONS Ahmed Chambers, Lamington Road, BOMBAY 4. April, 194 "ill-thought" and my challenge as "unworthy of a man wh is supposed to understand his responsibility." At another place in his !ong-\vinded letter, the angrl Raghavendra says that "Mr. Nicholson of the Britisl Parliamentary Delegation observed that the people o Mysore are fortunate in being citizens of a progressiv and prosperous state." I should like to ask friend Raghavendra after who* dinner had Nicholson spoken — after the people's or thi prince's: And when did I ever say anything about th< people of Mysore? What I wrote in the January issue wa condemning the stupid act of the Mysore Governmen which Raghavendra himself describes as "not a full fledged responsible government." Where the hell is the complaint then; Why can't thi patriotic Mysorean in Gwalior be a little more sensib'e? I still think it is a shame to be a Mysorean if by beinj so one is expected to contribute to the present reactionary and bureaucratic government prevalent in Mysore — a gov eminent that bans the faces of the nation's most helovei leaders on the screen. I should advise a'l Mysorean Raghavcndras, spreat all over India, to read my writings with greater car< future before pu ling me up again. THE RACKET OF EXTRAS Of all the numerous rackets prevalent in the Indian film industry, the one practised by the "Extra Suppliers" i: about the most annoying.. The "Extra Supplier" is th< person who supplies to the different film studios extra men and women who are required for mob scenes dances and lor minor roles. There are half-a-dozen of these Extra Suppliers operat- ing in Bombay and suppl) ing hundreds of men and scores of gir's to producers who require such "atmosphere" in their films. No one in the world can object to these people carry ing out their business of supplying extras. Even in Holly wood there are umpteen agents who do this business on a big scale. What we object to are the methods of these Suppliers which have turned the business into a racker. Usual'y, the^ Extra Supplier, bar a couple of happy exceptions, is iden- tified as an unpunished goonda, and no wonder seeing that his methods of work can be easily recognised as improved technique of goondaism. The pool of extras — men and wmen — is a common crowd from which the half-a-dozen Extra Suppliers draw iheir supplies for different studios. Very often, perhaps too often, the very men or women that are previously supplied by one Extra Supplier to a studio are taken to another studio by another Supplier on the very same day that these extras are required to main tain scene continuity. This procedure constantly holds up the work of one producer or other almost every day and without the producer being able to do anything about it. If a producer shows his desire to be independent of these Suppliers by negotiating directly with the extras, he is given a mild threat while the extras, themselves, receive a few sticks on their unprotected skulls. In fact this woe- ful racket of supplying extras to the studios is maintained purely by methods of goondaism in which the knife and ilk- stick feature prominently. Another aspect of this racket, callous in its execution, is the scale of payment at which these extras are paid. a April, 1946 FILM INDIA E While the studios are made to pay on an average of Rs. 60 - J per day for an exra girl who can swing her hips below an 1 ugly face, the girl actually receives Rs. 20 - for her work, the balance being pocketted by the Extra Supplier. Little boys tor whom studios pay Rs. 4'- a day, receive I on'.y 8 annas tor their day's labour, Rs. 3 8 per head going ■ into the pockets of the Supplier. Men, who can speak a I few dialogues and are charged to the producers between I Rs. 2o|- and Rs. 30^ per day, actually receive between I Rs. 8 - and Rs. io[- per day. All the extras working in the different studios know I this dirty game too we'l, but they dare not protest through I fear of the professional goondas who are paid to "protect"' I the interests of the Extra Suppliers. Recently some extras tried to form an association of ■ their own but in the absence of any support from the differ - I ent studios and in the face of the threats from the Extra I Suppliers, the attempt was given up. But why didn't the studios support them seeing that I they could get the extras for less money by direct negotia I tion ? The reason is simp'e. Almost at every studio, the I production manager works in tow with the Extra Supplier I and takes the lion's share of the illegitimate profits. Unless this studio man gets his pound of flesh, there I ssible. UR CHEAPEST STAR I Amnesia, a malady in which the sufferer loses his femory, has become a very important accessory to writers i motion picture stories. "Random Harvest" an M.G.M. ;turc popularised amnesia in India as a main feature in lr screen stories. After the release of "Random Harvest" in Bombay, so kiny Indian pictures starring amnesia in its numerous ktortions appeared on the screen one after another that len our audiences got so badly affected, till they could >t remember whether they had seen amnesia in Pancholi's bassi" or Fazli's "Ismat" or Murli's "Amrapalli'. (In |e last picture the long-forgotten Sabita Devi returned to be screen as an amnesia star). Indian producers welcomed this new "star" with both Inds because they did not have to pay for it in black prket money. And amnesia could always turn black loney into white one mcrc'y by losing a moment of lemory. I think it will be useful tor our amnesia producers and rectors to know a few truth-strangcr-than-fiction incidents pm real life. Wc expect these incidents on the Indian |reen within the next six months, so here they go: Trooper Peter Axton was blown up in El Alamein and st his memory. Advised by his parents, the hospital llows gave Peter a trombone. Peter took it automatical!} ;d started playing it. With the musical notes came his past lemory gradually ti'l he remembered that he was once [trombonist in the Army. Sailor Fergusson lost his memory fuse after being krpedocd. He got back the current when he heard on the wireless "I'll Walk Beside You", the favourite song of his wife. Within a few minutes of leaving his house, another young man lost his memory. Three days later he was found working at Aldershot unconscious of his past. The authorities found a young woman and sent them both back on an aeroplane. On the air journey he noticed a wedding ring on the woman's finger and asked "Are we married?" They were. And later he got back his old self, except those three days in the streets when the fuse had snapped. Well, let us see who gives us these three incidents quickly on our screen. No prizes offered. SALUTE TO MINERVA CINEMA With regard to my remarks in the January issue of "hlmindia" regarding the filthy advertisement of "Bisvi Sadi" which appeared in the "Dawn" of 28th November 1945, the Manager of the Minerva Cinema. Delhi, where the picture was running, writes to the Editor as follows: "We beg to clear our position for your remarks in your January, '46 issue (under the heading "Bombay Call- ing") regarding the offensive advertisement of "Bisvi Sadi." "The entire publicity was done by the Managing Director of Mis. Evening Pictures Ltd., Delhi, and they arc solely responsible for the above advertisement. "The day this advertisement was brought to the no- tice of our 30 years' experienced manager, he warned the manager of the above distributors to keep off from such dirty publicity. "Kindly insert this, so that the readers may know that it is not our work at all." I regret I could not reproduce this letter, which is dated 2tst January, earlier owing to pressure on space. P. O. (perspiration 8- odor) OFFEND GOOD TASTE Perspiration and underarm odour are a nuisance these hot day*. But you need not offend good taste. Use Odex and it will sjop perspiration and underarm odour. You can have that after-bath freshness throughout the day by using Odex. ODEX R>- S- per bolllt, Pt»taff tmta. AratlabU ej all ehrmhu *»d ilorti- 0 1. EX KEEPS UNDERARM PERSP RATION ODOR AWAY PEARLINE- PARIS LTD., P. O. Box 493, BOMBAY 1 1 Sc: ttnplay db , Dialojfuett AG HA JANI KASHMIRI NAZIM, SHAMS & HUSAINI LHULAM HAIDER DIM PICTURES 25, Lamington Rd., BOMBAY. Direction: M. sad IQ of Ratin Fsme. Cameraman: Producer: S. N. GROVER. M. A M UGH Ni Also under Production PARO" April, 1946 Here is a straight-forward, self-respecting exhibitor who is not afraid to tell the truth. I now want to know what the different noisy trade associations we have, have done about this matter. Now they know who are the culprits. Before I comment again, I shall wait and watch the developments. MUNICIPAL THEATRE AT LAST Taking up our suggestion in the December, '45 issue of "filmindia'', the city fathers of the Bombay Municipal Corporation, sanctioned on the 4th of March, the con- struction of a municipal theatre in the City at a cost of rupees two lakhs. Though it will be a rather poor theatre, that costs only 1 two lakhs, it is a good beginning for a city that had never j before thought of providing any special amenities to its long suffering citizens. It will be a good idea, however, to make a really good |ob of this municipal theatre scheme by asking some public spirited citizen, one who can afford, to contribute a substantial amount as additional donation and build a really first-class theatre that can become a pride of the First City of the Indian Empire. In any case, we congratulate our City Fathers on the promptness with which they adopted our suggestion and particularly thank Mrs. Lilavati Munshi and Mr. S. K. Patil who chaperoned the scheme. We now expect other cities like Calcutta, Delhi, Lahore, Madras, Ahmedabad, Karachi etc. to follow Bom- bay's example. There should be a network of municipal theatres all over India. YOU'LL HARDLY BELIEVE That V. Shantaram's "Dr. Kotnis" will run 50 weeks at the Swastik, Bombay, 45 out of which have been booked in advance. That in the Golden Jubilee Week, V. Shantaram will be presented by the Abbas-Sathe Syndicate, gold medals for the best story, the best acting, the best direction, the best music, the best cinematography, the best recording, the best dialogue, the best publicity and for the best heroine. After this presentation Shantaram will be the best man in the world after Adam — and how easily. That the only picture V. Shantaram is scared of as la competition to 'Dr. Kotnis* is "Sharabati Ankhen" pro- duced by "gentle" Jamsu of the British Empire. "Shara- bati Ankhen" has also come out of the Rajkamal Kala- mandir, the Quality Corner of the Indian film industry. That Sardar Chandulal Shah was immensely plea- i sed with his new picture, "Rajputani", which Hari Singh of Kashmir liked immensely. That is another competi- tion Shantaram of "Dr. Kotnis" has to face. That in future our princes are going to endorse all film products to provide guidance to the masses. So after a long time success is within reach of our producers. They don't need journalists to 'review the pictures and in any case they don't care. That the members of the Producers' Association are more worried about the character "filmindia" gives to our film producers than how Navayug Chitrapat Ltd. try to paint them before millions. That way "filmindia" has always been more popular than our films. That Cartoonist Shankar of Delhi is likely to come down to Bombay to capture the expressions of K. A. Abbas. Sathe and Dewan Sharar after the release of "Dr. Kotnis." FILMINDIA Jan Mansion. Sir Pherozshah Mehta Poad. Port, BOMBAY. * ANNOUNCEMENT * (Permission of the Central Government obtained for this Capital Issue) INDIAN NATIONAL PICTURES Ltd., • AUTHORISED ISSUED CAPITAL CAPITAL RS. 50,00.000 RS. 20.00,000. Divided into 1,00,000 Shares of Rs. 20 each. Payable Rs. 3 with Application; Rs. 5 on Allotment and the rest on calls as Directors may decide * BOARD OF DIRECTORS (1) . Nawab Sir Liaqat Hyat Khan, K. B. E. (2) . Sahu Seth Shriyans Prasad Jain of Dalmia-Jain Group. (3) . Raja Dhanraj Girji Narsing Girji. (4) . R. Datta Esqr., of House of Dattas. (5) . Wazir-ud-Daulah Rai Bahadur Col. Dewan Dinanath, C. I. E. (6) . Seth Puranmal Surajmal Lahoti. (7) . Seth Manak Lai Gupta. (8) . Mr. Goverdhan Das Aggarwal, M. A. * SHARE APPLICATIONS AND FULL PROSPECTUS AVAILABLE AT ALL THE BRANCHES OF IMPERIAL BANK OF INDIA. PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK LTD. BHARAT BANK LTD. OR DIRECT FROM THE INDIAN NATIONAL PICTURES LIMITED, 13 FILMINDIA April, 194k Heralding the Bnwn oi u New trd in Motion Picture Entertainment t omes THE INDIAN NATIONAL PICTURES LTD., FROM TH'S NEW TEMPLE OF ART and CULTURE WILL COME PICTURES THAT STAND FOR LIBERTY FRATERNITY & EQUALITY* & TO BE PRODUCED AT THEIR OWN MODERN, FULLY-EQUIPPED, EXTENSIVE STUDIOS. :W ANTED: BOYS & GIRLS TO WORK AS ARTISTES. THOSE FROM GOOD FAMILIES ONLY NEED APPLY. APPLY IMMEDIATELY WITH PHOTOS. : STORIES : WANTED STORIES FOR FILMS SEND SHORT SYNOPSIS. THE INDIAN NATIONAL PICTURES LTD. JAN MANSION Sir Phirozshah Mehta Road, Fort, BOMBAY. 14 That Kashinath Vankudre (Dada of Rajkamal) wi now take a vacation after his Herculean labour of pre ducing "Dr. Kotnis." Seeing Dada's huge photographs i several papers, it seems Shantaram has retired from pre duction. That the happiest man these days is Friend Baburai Pai. He loves Dr. Kotnis, the way he died in China ti< give V. Shantaram a picture to compete with "Lakh; Rani." That Syed Fatehlal wept when he heard that Dr Kotnis died in two places: China and Swastik. A doubli death is always heart-breaking and you can't blame ; sensitive artist like Fateh Lai. That the Universal Pictures of America are reporteu to have given an offer of 40 lakhs for the English versioi of "Dr. Kotnis." And they say the greatest ambition o:j Hollywood producers is to produce a million dollar (Rs. 3J lakhs) picture in a life-time. Wonder where Universal;1 brought all this money from. That counting 40 lakhs for the English version oi "Dr. Kotnis" and 60 more for the Hindustani version, V Shantaram will soon become a "Crorepati". a dangerous! proposition for the income-tax, seeing that the picture coulc not have cost more than eight lakhs of rupees. That H. M. V. Chaturbhuj Doshi of Ranjit think; "Dr. Kotnis" to be the best picture in the world, bar, ol course, "Bharathari". After H. M. V.'s opinion Shanta ram must commit suicide having completed his life-work and not having anything left to do. To beat "Bharathari'' he must be born again. That Producer W. Z. Ahmed produces more pictures, in his publicity than in his studios. His recent threat is of 14 pictures in a row before the end of 1946. And Sar- lar Chandulal says he is the most prolific. Anyway it is more profitable to produce pictures the way Ahmed does* and certainly less expensive. That Producer Kardar is reported to have divorced his first wife after years of separation. The fate of his two sons and a daughter is still not known. Now he can have three more, according to the Muslim religion. That Film-actor Chandramohan discusses the form of race-horses in his drawing-rooms these days. At the Race Course, he has become too popular with the bookies who want his autograph on the cheque book. That you should not be shocked if in future pictures our popular actor Motilal is billed as follows: "Motilal— By Special appointment to His Highness the Maharaja of Kashmir". In bald age, a crown fits well. That K. M. Multani of the Producers' Association thinks that journalists are dogs who bark even after being' led with the choicest food by the producers. Why nol ir\ the choicest pictures for a change? That it would be interesting to know the menu pro- vided to journalists who praised "Adhikar", "Devdas". "Vidyapati", "Sikandar," "Achhut", "Admi", "Padosi", "Hamrahi" etc. Why not try the same menu again? Pro- ducers after all are wise and practical men of business.,' Or aren't they? That K. M. Multani has used more choice language than the food given in describing the journalists. Multani's language will contribute considerably in improving the relations between the producers and the journalists. And •hat is why Independent Producers invaded the Associa- tion to teach every one around a lesson of their life. Let us see who learns and what. lipril, 1946 FILMINDI A That Ram L. Gogtay, the ex-secretary of the Pro- ucers' Association, seems to have turned his old coat in- de out these days. He has suddenly discovered that ulian producers copy foreign pictures. What is wrong in hat seeing that the very art of making motion pictures we ave borrowed from the foreign people? What is wrong i adopting a good thing? That Ram L. Gogtay thinks that our producers should ive him a special bonus of Rs. io,oooj- for his past ser ices and future sabotage of our film industry. What bout "filmindia" getting a bonus because producers think lat "filmindia" has rendered precisely the same services. Vc always like an equitable distribution oi favours, Filmindia" should be given nothing less than 5 lakhs, is services and sabotage being on a much bigger scale. That with Ram L. Gogtay in the opposite camp, our iroducers are shivering in their pants these days and are oing bald worrying about the future of our rtlm industry. Vhy not give little Ram full freedom and watch the drill f our industry which 60,000 wreckers could not extin- uirh in a 30 years' grand effort. That Ram L. Gogtay is getting more importance these ays than the Cabinet Ministers who have come to India d give our country its freedom. At this rate we will have 0 make little Ram, the celluloid viceroy ol India. That after reading Ram L. Gogtay's epoch-making rticlc in the "Film Daily," Hollywood producers have lecided not to export their pictures to India. These Indian iroducers can be relied upon to close any running busi- ess including their own. That Film-actress Mumtaz Shantj has decided to go >n a hunger-strike at the gates of the Krishna Talkies in Jombay, because the film actress in "Din Raat" is con tantly pawed by the film producer. She doesn't allow ven her hero to touch her in her pictures. We can't allow lur charming Mumtaz to die of hunger. Thai will mean billing Walli by starvation. Two deaths on hand would >e too much blood to wash off. That it was highly discourteous of Shiraz Ali Hakim 0 disappoint the numerous film rags who were itching to vriie his commercial obituary. Shiraz went out ami pur hased all the equipment of the Indian News Parade. Ami vc have been under the impression that Shiraz was a ■■cry poli.e man. That film rags all over the country seem to be more ntercsted in Maburao Patcl and Sushila Rani than in the Indian him industry. Incidentally, these two have be .onic pillars ol Indian journalism. No one can start a Daper witliou; these prize newsmakers of India. It will be 1 shocking sight to see a film paper selling without criti risin of Rani and Patcl. That Maburao Patcl enjoys a unique position in the film industry. 60,000 people would love to sec him nun lereJ in cold blood. Ami no exception to thi, sacred desire. I'll. 11 Sushila Rani is the luckiest ^irl in the film in chislryv Now Sardar Chandulal Shah claims her as a «is er of his. The old Sardar is a more substantial brother than the hungry-looking Pandit Indra. These film people emotional types. They toy with emotions while making pictures and get affected themselves. Why doesn't any one laim Baburao as the long-lost brother? That beggar eems destined to remain a prize-orphan of the world. RAGE OF CALCUTTA! ART HLMS' ALLURING SOCIAL TAKRAR c\ViitUn & ^arrted; HEMEN GUPTA Starring : JAMUNA NAWAB, MOLINA, IFTIKHAR, ARUNA, DEVBALA, TULSI, INDU TANDON Etc. SACCHINDAS (Motilal) RUNNING TO CROWDED HOUSES IN 8TH WEEK At Jyoti Talkies. Calcutta. For C. P. : JAMNADAS LTD. For SOUTH : SELECT PICTURES CIRCUIT. For BENGAL : MANSATA FILM DISTRIBUTORS. 15 Makers of "YAD", "CHAND TARA and "PAN MART offer another MAMMOTH MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA £W^, MAHESH CHANDRA ("PANGHAT" fa me) Starring: KANAIYALAL ft DAVID ft GULAB ft BABY NIRMALA ft LAKSHMAN and a new pair ft NISHI BARAN and ^ MAZHAR HAQ. Story, Dialogues : Pandit GIRISH. Music : S. N. TRIPATHI. Songs : DEEPAK & KAPOOR. For territorial rights apply to- ASIATIC PICTURES, Kathok Lodge -Main Road - Dadar, BOMBAY. ( In this section, the editor himself replies to queries from the readers. As thousands of letters are received every month — some anxious and several frivolous -it is neither possible nor convenient to attend to all. Selected letters are usually treated in an informative and humorous strain and no offence is meant to anyone. ) K. RAMA RAO (Tenali) Why are songs inserted at each and every sad situa- tion in our films? That moony English poet, Shelley, wrote some- thing about our saddest thoughts being our sweet- est songs. But that was before the film industry- was born. Had Shelley imagined what use pro- ducers were going to make of his poetic thought in inflicting pain on innocent millions, he would have rather died than written what he wrote. In Indian pictures corpses suddenly wake up, sing a song, drop a quick curtsy to our Pandit Indras and pop off again. H. JOSHI (Lucknow) What place have character, education and good breed- ling in the film world? They have the same importance in film work as in anv other field of human activity. Without these you can never make a really good film. MISS K. BEHZAD (Allahabad) When does a girl become a woman? When she wakes up and opening her eyes sees the man in a boy. R. S DILWARIA (New Delhi) When a girl is over twenty she mainly hides two things, her age and her dreams. Why ? That's what you think. Her age is written across her while her dreams are read in her eyes. What does she hide then? CAPT. P A. SOMALINGAM (S. E A C.) How would you answer ibis charge to a foreigner, "Hinduism has no history"? Hinduism is the history of all foreign and Indian races. India was the cradle of Aryan civilization, when Europeans were mere barbarians. ZEBIN NFSSA ATIQ (Calcutta) A friend of mine told me that you are ;i glutton. Is it a fact 5 What did she feed me with? SATYENDRA PRASAD JAMUAR (Patna) Do you think our producers are justified in making the cine-gifers pay for their films to have sex-appeal, sex-appea' and nothing but sex appeal? Sex appeal? Don't make me laugh. All that we have in our films is sex-repeal. We have a row of girls who would make a whole stud sterile. S L. AGARWAL (Hathras) I saw Ramola in "Shukriya". I wonder how she could have remained quiet in the womb of her mother for nine months? Inside there, there is not much space to move. But once released from there, they trample on hearts and walk away. B. MEHROTRA (Cawnpore) What will happen to the the film industry when the Congress ministries come into power? The industry won't improve. If at all it will be- come worse with several 'protections' given to it. We might have a few pictures with cheap jibes against the foreigners who would be going out. Believe me. there won't be any improvement in quality. MISS KUSUM KISHORY (Secunderabad) Are parents responsible if they have ugly children? Veera, a new comer, brings a pleasant personality to the screen in "Shikari," a picture of Filmistan Ltd. 17 Distributors: PEERLESS PICTURES, 116, Chami Road, Bombay 4. pril. 1946 FILM INDIA Awaiting Immediate Release ALL (MB INDIA ! REHANA A Song ami Danrv Shoir ! STARRING ■ Manorama Salim Raza Pran Roofy Ramesh Majnu & Begum Parveen Fareeda Musie QADER FARIDI Dialogues : AHSAN RIZVI Dm ction : H A R B A N S Produced by: G. A. THAKUR iVW 6LY THE SETS CULNAR Directed by : Mahmood Hussain Dialogues Tufail Hoshiarpuri FOR BOMBAY & C. P. C. I. Rights Apply : GIRDHAR BAHAR PRODUCTIONS Tinwalla Building, Tribhuvan Road, BOMBAY 4. Normally, who else? Very rarely neighbours arc blamed. K < VERM A (Benares) In reply to a question in your December issue you have said that 'film stars expose art.' Do you mean to say that the exhibition of bare legs in dances in "Vish Kanya,"' "Tadbir" and so many other pictures is art? The intention to do so was artistic. What was seen, however, was wart and not art. SHOEB KIDWAI (Lucknow) Which is more tasty: to kiss the lips or to kiss the cheeks? That depends on the taste of the powder and that of the lipstick. I am told that they have manufactured some tasteless lipsticks these days. SHASHI D. SHUKLA (Cawnpore) Does not woman mean a 'woe' to man5 Not if she 'echoes' what he says. MIS S N. D. SAHIJWALA (Karachi) When docs a girl look more attractive, at day, or at night? I guess, during the day with her full camouflage. At night even her mind is stripped. A NAJMUNNISA BEGAM (Melvisharam) Some nations call their country "Motherland" and others call it "Fatherland." Will you explain this differ- ence? Pcets, who are nearer the spiritual and who keep the warmth of their mother's womb longer, call it motherland, while politicians who emulate the material ambitions of their fathers, call it Father- land. A land is a good land if it gives you food and one shouldn't be sentimental about it by lend ing it the father's or the mother's sex. What about those 7,\ millions who died in Bengal recent- ly? What should they call their land? N BH AG WANDAS (Mysore) What is the definition of woman? Woe-man. KRIJ KISHORE (Shahabad) What is more attractive: Woman or Nature? Woman is the most puzzling knot of nature. What has Pakistan to do with Islam? Islam flourished centuries before the man who thought of Pakistan. Islam is a great religion. Pakistan is petty politics of greed and power. MISS MAGGIE D. SOLOMON (Poona) What would you say or surmise if you saw a young man and a young woman always in each other's company, although they are not married? Playing with fire and toying with the future. What is inimitable about my 'jatwalla' David (Abra- ham) in the picture "Gvalan"? His queer baldness. What is Kedar Sharma's next move now that Kamla Chatterjee is dead and gone? 19 ~Tlte Stat ofi Many Mood* and &katm* in a KoU tie wal Lotn to play! $f -Oihok Kumat Plaijing the toughest Role of his Career as Bad al. FILMISTA NTS SHIKARI & Jsatuiing: VEERA : PARO : V. H. DESAI : RAMA SHUKUL :S. L. PURI.^ £wo«: SAVAK VACHA. : Stoxy GYAN MUKERJI AND NOW LOOK OUT FOR CSCMSATIOMAL FIND OF INF YEAI!) in SAFAR with KANU ROY 2te«fa**i B. MITRA. April, 1946 FILMINDIA Bharat Bhushan comes to the screen after a long time as |"Krishna" in "Shri Krishna Bhagwan," produced and directed by Mr. W. Z. Ahmed. Proving his loyalty by dedicating a picture to hei memory. BIPIN C. TEWARI (Lucknow) In your December 1945 issue all the first four prizes were given to the ladies. Does this mean that they are more competent than men in asking better questions? Women were always good at asking questions. What surprises me is that they are asking sensible questions these days. HASH III AHMED (New Delhi) What should those persons like myself who generally bgree with your criticism of pictures do? Should they stop going to the pictures in despair? If aye, they would lose much of the pleasure and benefit that they derive out of leading "filmindia," for then they cannot appreciate and (pass judgment on your views? So you pay your good hard-earned money to our producers to check up on me. How do you ex- pect our films to improve in quality at this rate? M. J. DAWSON (Bangalore) Modern sarees are becoming more and more transpa- rent—is' it to make the dames look dreamy or is it to educe the weight on their delicate figures? To permit some sunlight to penetrate, to give the skin a sun tan. You know our women don't go to Brightons and sprawl on the sands in birthday- costumes. KAGHUVIR UJREKAR (Bombay) Have you paid your tribute on 21st January to the great Lenin on his 22nd Anniversary? How am I related to the great Lenin? I am a child of the greater Gandhi. Why are the photos of new recruits printed in your magazine? To prove the intellectual impotency of our pro- ducers. H. VENKANNA (Kurnool) Suggest a post-war scheme to tackle the problem of the demobilised girls of the W.A.C.(I). Make them traffic police women and watch the jam in the streets N. S. V. CHALAM (Bangalore) When all the world is agitating tor the abolition of caste suffixes, why do you insist on adding "Patel" after your name? Is it not anti-national? 'Patel' is not my caste. It is symbol of my ances- tral status as the chief of some obscure village. My caste is male — just male. J. MOHAMED (Eelgaum) It is observed that 'Madame' is put before the names of dancers: (of courst, female dancers) viz Madame Alak- nanda, Madame Auzurie. Who has awarded these tit'es to these dancing dames? Their sex and* our courtesy. S. V. RAMA RAO (Guntur) Why are virgins bes: at asking questions? Their dreams lend a silver lining to their thoughts. G. T. ALIMSINGH (Karachi) What impressions have you about the students of the D. J. Sind College of Karachi? I liked their enthusiasm and wonder whether it can be harnessed to do something useful to them- selves and to their fellowmen. Which is the best way of committing suicide? Living with nothing to live for. It is worse than suicide and more difficult to do. What is the difference between 'gal' and 'gaT? "Gal" in your arms — "Gall" in your neighbour's. What is the best way of snatching a prize from you? By scratching the brain for a change. RAMN-UN B. CHATJDHARY (Natal S. A ) Why is it that Nature has limited the time that a child must stay in its mother's womb? It is nature's rationing or mothers would keep them in longer and our output of man power would show a drop. How can we have world wars then? C. GEORGE RAINBERT (Bhiwandh What has happened about the recent foreign tour of Mr. K. S. Hirlekar? 21 Allied Pictures' & Hainan gupta's alluring Which will open a new chapter in the history of Indian Film Industry. A picture for the classes and the masses. Cast:- Shankar Vazare, Amina Khatoon & others. DIRECTED BY:- RAMjl ARYA. World tigliti controlled by mis. SURESH FINANCE CORPORATION. 381, Vithalbhai Patel Road, BOMBAY 4. This is "Jadui Ratan" and film-ratan too ! Cast:- S. BHAGWAN, Miss USHA & OTHERS. tehEcied %- K. P. BHAVE. (Success Guaranteed by the Producers- G uara n teed Pictures'.) "dURGliE HERO" fiot jeit and joy With Stunt-King JOHN COWAS & others. Tot tettitotLO.1 tigkts contact:- m|s. uicTORy Fibm EXCHHDGE, Ahmed Chambers, (Third floor,) Lamington Road, BOMBAY 4. April, 1946 FILMINDIA His plans are too big to be accommodated in a small country like India. So Hirlekar is nurs- ing them as family secrets. K AM ALA RANI PRASHAR (Simla) Why do our Indian girls like to put on trousers these days? Trousers help to establish that a person has two legs. Owing to our saris, foreigners always thought that our girls had only one leg to stand on — the husband usually. H. S. VENKATA RAO (Mysore) I read recently that Hollywood stars have their pets in dogs, monkeys, parrots and the like. Then, what are the pets of our stars? Some adopt producers, some distributors, a few like directors and the rest drag their husband:, behind. B SAMBAMURTHY (Cocanada) Love is not blind. What is your opinion.'* Who said it was blind? It sees more things than it should — usually beside and behind the beloved. L. S. SRINIVASAN (Bombay) Why are you eternally against poor Kedar Sharma ? Why don't you leave him a'one? Who is against Kedar? He is an intimate friend of mine and moreover I have respect for his literary talent. But that does not mean that I should also like his rotten pictures. MRS. S. HAMEED (Aligarh) Is marriage the end of a man's worries f Marriage multiplies worries by the simple ma- thematical process of adding. Why do these Anglo-Indians consider themselves to be Europeans and not Indians? Is it an insult in their eyes to be Indian? Not nowadays. The Anglo-Indians are poor and hardworking people. They were misguided for a while, nevertheless in Free India they must have their privileges like any other community. K RUKMINI (Madras) What's the difference between man and the devil? If you subtract "man" from the *'Devil", you will have "Woman" on hand. M VENKATESWARA RAO (Masulipatam) Can you judge the ability of an actor with his first appearance on the screen? Seeing the pot I can judge the clay it is made of. C. R. GEORGE (Bhiwandi) Why do Indian film companies still allow Durga Khote to act in her old age? Are they after her fair skin? Durga is not fair but she is an excellent artiste and she plays roles which suit her talent and age. K. R RANG1AH (Secunderabad) Generally we see handsome husbands having ugly wives and vice-versa. Why is this so? READ AND EARN Rs. 500 GIVEN AWAY EVERY MONTH "Read and Earn" shall be the new slogan for buyers of "f ilmindia" in future. The Directors of Filmindia Publications Ltd. have decided to give away Rs.500/- in prizes every month to the buyers of the magazine from the June '46 issue onwards, till further notice, for their questions in the "Editor's Mail" section. The prizes will be as follows. 1st Prize : Rs. 100/-; 2nd Prize : Rs. 80-; 3rd Prize : Rs. 50/-; 4th Prize : Rs. 40/-; 5th Prize: Rs. 30'-; and 20 Consolation Prizes of Rs. 10; each/-. Only subscribers and genuine buyers will be eligible to get the prizes. Only those buyers whose questions are considerd interesting or elicit interesting replies will be given prizes. The Editor's decision shall be absolutely final and binding and no correspondence will be entertained. Each buyer will be entitled to one entry and a maximum of ten questions. Entry Token for the June issue will be printed in the May issue. Without this Token no questions will be considered. One Token can be used only by one person. This scheme is primarily adopted to discourage the prevalent black-market in the copies of "filmindia", as also the hiring and circulating racket practised by some people. It is, however, hoped that needy students will take a full benefit of this scheme. 23 ^Itatolta Production* PRFSENT U d h a r c h a n d .'SHIKAR PUR P. (A MUSICAL, SOCIAL COMEDY) SHAMIM A. SHAH KAMAL ZAMINDAR NAZIR KASHMIRI N. KABIR GITA BOSE KAMRUNNISSA SADIQ & BUTT KASHER Muiic: Mohamed Shafi. Ion, QuMeb ^JdhilmlaU : — CHAROLIA PRODUCTIONS, ! Vhection: A. SHAH. Jyoti Studios, Kennedy Bridge, BOMBAY 7. April, 1946 FILMINDI A To keep the romance of the world going. It is only under such maladjustments that good-look- ing neighbours acquire a premium. K. PARASURAMAN (Cochin) Can you get for me an Atom Bomb from any of your [friends in America? Our South Indian fi'm industry re- quires one very badly. Don't waste an expensive Atom Bomb on those rice-eaters. Use some native poison. N. R. RADHAKRISHNAN (Palghat) If a popular film actress offers a kiss to the highest [contributor to a national fund, will there be a very keen [competition for that kiss? We don't believe in building a nation on kisses. Like Americans, Indian women don't sell their kisses even for their country. One of our patrio- tic ideals is to guard and protect the kisses of out women. In India you won't find even men buy- ing kisses. A kiss is not a negotiable instrument in the East. MRS JWALA PRASAD (Cawnpore) What has made the Prakash people deteriorate to so [low a standard as to produce a rot like "Hamara Sansar"? They have started living their themes themselves. Art has given place to reality. VENKATA RAMAN K. N. (Madras) Why do you make yourself odious to certain persons in the film industry witb your frank writings, if it is in your power to leave them alone? I am not out to please individuals. I am out to serve an industry I love so dearly. I don't care whether I am loved or hated as long as I please myself and do my duty. ATIB USMANI (Bombay) Will you kindly publish for the benefit of the nume- rous screen aspirants as to what are the essentials of a screen test and whether such a test is applied to the new comers who wish to join the films? Our film producers never take a really serious screen test. It is only when a girl applies for a post that screen tests are made an excuse to see her a little longer before the contract is signed. P. K. MAMMOO (Bombay) Will you please advise David to retire from films to save film-goers from some annoyance. With his bald head, how can David approach a girl? But he does that not only in films but also on the race course. Girls like his height. The low shoulder becomes a good arm-rest PREM CHANDRA MITHAL (Lahore) Why are our stars so reluctant to send their photo- graphs? i A copy costs five rupees and five rupees are not thrown into the streets every day. When is Sardar Chandulal Shah going to stop hib rubbish: "Caravan", "Dhanna Bhagat". "Mumtaz" etc? He is reported to have made a beginning with "Rajputani". Central Pictures Presents The Gem of the Box-office 1. SHAMI KHAZANA Starring : Sardar Mansur Madhurika Violet M. Elizer Garib Khan Ahmed Director: S. USMAN ★ Sensational Box-office Miracle of the Year 2. CHAfTlAKATI BIJLI Featuring: Sulochana - E. Billimoria and an all - star cast Story and Dialogues : MUNSHI SAGAR (OF "TULSIDAS" 6- "CHANDRAGUPTA" ) Direction HOMI MASTER For Territorial Riqlifs Applu, : CENTRAL PICTURES, 75, Dadar Main Road, DADAR, BOMBAY. 25 Screen's latest, newest, freshest, gentlest, prettiest, sweetest, gayest, jolliest, daintiest, loveliest, fairest, smartest, grandest, swellest, tenderest CHANDNI, who plays the lead opposite SURESH in R. D. PAREENJA'S SONA-CHANDI which is awaiting release through New Bombay Theatres Ltd., 55 Apollo Street, Fort, Bombay. RUPEES ONE HUNDRED OFFERED. To any one who suggests the best name for a Him producing concern. The name should be short, distinct, and unusual. Our decision will be final. Write immediately to R. D. Pareenja, New Bombay Theatres Ltd., 55 Apollo Street, Fort, Bombay. April, 1946 N. S. V. CHALAM (Bangalore) Have you any advice to offer to our W.A.C.(I.) sisters, who will be going home within the next few days: Carry home the discipline of their uniforms and keep their figures streamlined. Do you really congratulate your partner Parker on his "elevation" to a Rao Saheb? What good cause did he betray to deserve this honour from the alien government? He did bad printing for six years during the war and insisted on saying that he was the best printer in the East. Such brazen-faced claim must be rewarded. NOTAN DASS (Cawnpore) Do film stars ever give presents to each other? If so, what? Some exchange their lovers in sheer mutual affection — some toss up epithets, and the rest avoid each other. SUSHIL C JAIN (Bombay) What is the taste of a kiss? A kiss borrows its taste from the emotion in the heart. Is beard a hindrance in making lo\e: The region round about the teard is not the only place for love. FILM INDIA K. R. RANGIAH (Secunderabad) How do you like quarrels with neighbours? Good exercise for the voice, nice practice for our knowledge of language and good obsession for the brain. R. P. AGARWAL (Allahabad) Would it not be a terrific box-office hit if the story of I. N. A. is screened? Hit or miss! Wait a bit. You'll have L N. A., Jai Hind, Capt. Lakshmi, Capt. Dhillon, CapL Rashid, Netaji, Capt Shah Nawaz, Subhas Babu, Rani of Jhansi and many more between Singapore and Delhi, till you get fed up and curse even the memory of Subhas Babu for starting these film adventures. Oh! if only our producers had some imagination! D. N. SAHI (Lahore) Why do you mostly publish beautiful "female" faces on the cover page of "filmindia"? Once I did print a flower smelUng Akbar or was it the other way about? Whenever I don't get a wink of sleep at night, I put "filmindia" under my pil'ow and enjoy a peaceful sleep. Can you give me reasons for it? It is time you get married. ''<«<*«<>'** DEPIL is the new scientific preparation to destroy super- v^v, fluous hair leaving the most tender skin soft and smooth Above all it is pleas- antly perfumed DEPIL acts in two ways — destroys the hair positively without pain, irritation or unpleasant odour, and at the same time retards the growth of new hair r DEPIL is the new perfumed way to ensure beautiful HAIR -FREE ARMS and LEGS. Re. ill 5 per bottle, available at your chemist PERFUMED HAIR REMOVER PEARLINE -PARIS LTD., P. O. Box. 493, BOMBAY. 27 Murari Pictures' ALL STAR CAST THRILL 1857 LEADING MALE FEMALE SURENDRA # SURAIYYA SHAKIR -ft MENKA BENJAMIN & N. T. (fame) SHAM SUNDER -ft LEELA G^NJU 6- WASTI A RED YEAR OF INDIAN Hi STORY Director : Rebel MOHAN SIN GH A Scenario & Dialogues ; "Dr. SAFDAR AH" Music : SAJJAD HUSAIN Story: ZAHUR Photography : REDDY MAE Starring: Great S A I GAL - SURAIYYA SHAKIR - BUNJAMIN MUZAMIL - MAD AN PURI LILA & WASTI A Dream of Film World ★ : Story : Dr. SAFDAR AH ★ : Music : LAL MOHAMED ★ : Songs : Md. AFSAR ★ Photography : REDDY * : Director : MOHAN SINGHA MURARI PICTURES, Ahmed Chambers, Lamington Road, BOMBAY 4. April. 1946 FILM INDIA THE TATA OIL MILLS COMPANY LIMITED I F. R JAN MAHOMED (Bombay) I have an idea of making cartoon pictures in full length in Ind a. Could you p'ease give me some advice? Engage Mr. K. S. Hirlekar. He has a face that can make a good cartoon. What was Walt Dis- ney's loss can be your gain. KAMTA PRASAD (Cawnpore) Is it a fact that Durga khote has married thrice in her lite lime? Only twice, as far as I know. J. N. PATOLE (Lahore) Do you find any resemblance between Lauren Bacall ! and Begum Para? They have the same sex. V. PAL AN AND (Lahore) My dad says \ou are leading young people astray and wants me to stop buying "filmindia'* at once. What will you do if you were in my placer Ask him to shut up. Your dad seems to know precious little of present times. Follow "film- india", dad or no dad. LAKHMICHAND B. KANAL (Quetta) Suppose you are offered a Harijan girl as your bride, will you accept her? It is too late for me now to think of a new bride. But had I been free to make a choice, I wouldn't mind the Harijan label if the girl was worth the trouble. VISHAN DEVI (Delhi) The common widespread notion which dies hard is that an educated girl is more susceptible to corruption than an i literate one. Do you agree with this view? Not at all. Even the foreign education which our girls get these days is better than no education at all. An illiterate girl, however quiet and we l-behaved, is no better than a iOw. And the cow is an animal. Besides, education cannot con- tribute to (.orrupt a basically good girl. The germ muxt be inherent in her, it can thrive on education. What about the illiterate women of the streets? Aie the not corrupted? A NAJMUNNISA BEGAM (Melvisharam) I sec even some educated men having beautiful wives, raving about some girls of the screen. What kind or mania is this? It is a poaching complex which human beings have inherited from beasts. A grnt'eman writes in a him journal that he has deeply (alien in love with a film actress and that he has sent her an ultimatum that it she does not marry him imme- diately, he will commit suicide. What do ' ou think of this stunt? The pity is that such threats are rever carried out. It will be good publicity for our stars if some "gentlemen" did die for them. MISS GODAVARI HINGORANI (Nawabshah) What is love? Is it an art or an instinct? It is an impulse at its birth — an emotion in its youth and an ache in its old age. 29 JOHN CAWAS, SflANTA PATfly Samson, dalpat, AU COMEDIAN, ohJ LEILA PAWAR „ mm avm 0i reefed 6y Produced A.K.KUAN PMVEE/i LEE LA PICTURES flfply For Territoi'ml %M PMVEEN LEELA PICTURES. GRANT Pd.BOMBAV.7 April, 1946 FILMINDI A SHASHI D. SHUKLA (Cawnpore) Which takes your sympathy: a divorced husband or a divorced wife? Sympathy for what, seeing that they get another chance not to commit the same mistake again? HUKAM CHAND GUPTA (New Delhi) Will Baburao Patel exp'ain the difference between a woman's love and a man's love? A woman's love brings crying cradles in a home. A man's love builds a roof over them. SAD AN AND A DATTA (Dibrugarh) It is easy to criticize others but who criticizes you? I am the most criticized man in this country. Friends do this with a zest that suggests that the fate of our country depends on my improve- ment. Over two hundred papers every week are sold onlv because of me— a record the great Jawahar will find difficult to beat N. V RAMASWAMY (Negapatam) Are wives necessary for educated men3 Does education take their manhood away? What will be her life if an educated girl happens tc marry an uneducated waster5 She will learn lessons which she missed in school. MISS LAKSHMI (Bangalore) The course of a true love never runs smooth. Why3 The lovers have parents whose eyes are blinded by the ashes of their own romance. NANDLAL (New Delhi) At what age is an actress cal'ed a "baby"? Director Chaturbhuj Doshi calls them "babies" even at thirty. It depends on how old one's eyes are. MISS SHARDA DEVI SHUKLA (Bina) Mr. Patel, my farher has nick-named me "supari" — 1 don't know why — Can you guess? You must be astringent in taste. K L. BHAT (Ahmedabad) Do you believe in re-birth.3 It is a frightening belief considering the struggles of the present one. B YESHWANTHA RAO (Vizagapatam) Whom do our girls consider better 'ves men' or 'no men'? Girls like men who say 'no' readily and 'yes' re- luctantly. Women like a struggle in selling their ideas to men. M. S SRINIVASAN (Bangalore) What is vour advice to a well-built educated young man? Village uplift work. SURESH KUMAR NAKUL (New Delhi) When will Indians learn discipline? They are just learning to be rowdy. Let them enjoy for a while. They have been lambs too long. There will be plenty of time for discipline. Why is Mahatma Gandhi always accompanied by a woman 3 Women are natural nurses for a frail old man. .6 V ^ Presents A bEVOlUTIONAHy THEME IN R PRESENTING A NEW FIND ANA RK A LI WITH ATHAR-ZULFI-PUJARI & others. iPiodu ce.1 ■ 3> Li tctox : N. F AHMAD- ABID GULRAYS. G. M. DURRANI. tStaxu - BEGUM DURDANA. £ondi-. KUMARI NAHEED M0H1NI. Particulars, GULRAYS PICTURES 32. PEOPLE'S BUILDING. FORT. BOMBAY. Phone 33886 Grams. Guleshabbo. Bombay. 31 j DRAMATIC CLASSIC I REACHES THE SCREEN IN ALL ITS GREATNESS • Variety Pictures' HINDUSTANI VENTURE. PREIRIDOIYi ICinction: JYOTISH BANERJEE SUBAL DAS GUPTA n^>iaCogu£ : PT. BHUSHAN F A I Z 'Lpkotocjia fifty : SURHID GHOSH CALCUTTA VABIETY^ICTURES LTD., 68, DHARAMTOLLA STREET, CALCUTTA. April, 1946 FILM INDIA A moment from "Din Raat" a social story of Navyug Pictures. (i. KUTTALAM PILLAI < Trivandrum ) Rumour has it ihat K. A. Abbas is directing "Children Of :he Rarth." Is it true1 It so, do you think he is fit for the job? After all it is the story of children which an over- grown child is doing. What can be wrong with it? I am fed up with the face of ihe aged S.iigal with the far from-smart wig on his head. In spite of his age he is still acting the part of the 'lover' in several pictures. Is there any way to keep him away from the film world? For the glorious music that he gave us in the past 'et h;m work for a few davs more even as a hero. Why rot be genetous to a man who will not he with us for long? NE1 LIMA (Jodhpur) It seeing die pictures is sin and reading "fiimindia" is I crime, tell me what is 'vir.ue ? Who gave you these distorted ideas about present day mora's? Seeing Indian picturc> is a virtue tcmidering the divine tolerance you need in diins; so. And reading "Hlmindia" is a greater virtue »eeii:g that vou have to pay two rupee, fo. doing so. K. KRISHNA MI RTH Y (Lucknow) I no'ice that Kurop:\ins like cars be.ter than their wives. Why? Tl ey can nark the car where thev like without anvotie driving it avvav. MISS PA DMA SjNGH (Hardoii Now ilces the heart break? By dashing a-ainst the iron inside the sou! of i woman. Whv we (your readers) love you so much2 Will vou })!ea*t- disclose the secret5 Pcop'c do love oddities. SIDARSHAN (New Delhi) Mo'ilal is reported to be travelling in an aeroplane nowadavs. Is it a solo flight3 Ye., I often sec him floating 5000 feet above sea level wondering how to pay his racing losses. Is there any mystery about vou5 People think me to be mad. What sort of pictures do you like best? Indian pictures. They give me a quick headache and compel me to take rest. KEMANT L. PATHAK (Amreli) Do vou believe in cheating your readers? I enjoy this pastime. Giv« the life-sketch of "Judas". He made Jesus the greatest martyr of history and on the memory of that martvr a great religion was founded. Judas was a great man. A. P DAYARAMAM (Karachi) Wha; is the effect of your appe.r to Sindhi vouth to join the Film industry? They are writing letters to me asking for jobs. Those Sindhi Johnnies think that all the film studios in India belong to mv grandfather. V RAMAN (Delhi) Can love and art go together? Art needs love to blossom and love needs art to succeed. SITA DEVI (Kalka) Is it a sin to quench your thirst from another's well5 The thirst of desire must be quenched by drawing from the depths of the soul where there is an eternal stream for spiritual healing. DARYEMOMAL L. DUD AN] (Larkanai Are beautiful women mad after vou5 Oh yes! I have them waiting in a aueuc. Come and see. 10 CASH PRIZES FOR 10 QUESTIONS Ihe proprietors of -fiimindia" will award every mcnth 10 cash prizes to tha readers whose questions are considered interesting or elicit interesting replies in the "Editor's Mail." The Editor's d:c:sion shall be absolutely final in awarding the prizes as follows: — 1st Prize Rs. 25 -. 2nd Prize Rs. 20 -. 3rd Prize Rs. 15 -. 4th Prize Rs. 10-. and 6 consolation prizes of Rs. 5 - each. The names of the prize-winners will be announced every month in "fiimindia". and the amounts will be remitted to them by Money Order. No correspondence will be enter- tained. PRIZE WINNERS FOR APRIL 1st prize Rs. 25 . to N. R. Radhakrishnan (Pal- ghat*; 2nd Prize of Rs. 20- to G. T. Alimsingh 1 Karachi': 3'd Prize Rs. 15- to Sudarshan (New Delhi 1 ; 4th Prize Rs. 10- to Sita Devi (Kalka* and 6 consolaticn prizes of Rs. 5 - each to the following: Hukam Chand Gupta (New Delhi i; A. Najmunissa Eegam (Melvisharam I ; Kamala Rani Prashar (Simla); H. S. Venkata Rao 1 Mysore 1 : K. Krishnamutthy 1 Lucknow) and Mifs K. B«?hz:d I Allahabad i. Money Orders are being sent to all the prize winners. 3 3 KANAN DEVI THE NIGHTINGALE OF EAST COMES ONCE AGAIN TO OPEN THE PETALS OF YOUR HEART WITH SWEETESTOF MUSICAL NOTES IN P. R. PRODUCTIONS' ARABIAN NIGHTS WITH NAWAB + MOLINA ROBIN MAZUMDAR - SUNDER DEBI MUKHERJI - HIRALAL Etc. DIRECTED BY : MUSIC : NIREN LAHIRI Y> KAMAL DASGUPTA Pa t iicul at 5 Contact :- SHREE FlbmS, 85, DADAR MAIN ROAD, BOMBAY 14. DULARl— This newcomer will make a very gooj impression on the screen when she appears in " Namak" of A tad Pictures. a social story GHULRMI Direct* A Patriotic song of a suffering nation. NOW creatm box-office history all over the country. MEERRBR1- -Directed by W.Z.Ahmed. The heM rending biography of the Saint, Poetess & Martyr of Mewm PRITHVIRAJ S ANYUKT A - - - - Directed I Najam Naqvi. The soul-stirring romance of medieval Incai Now ready for release. LIFE OF SHRI KRISHNA BHAGWAN Directed by W. /. .Untied. The greatest pieture ever mam STUDIOS:- shainU Vyas. A colourful tale of romantic Rajasthan. * ANDHER NAGRI —Directed by Masud Parvez. A satirical comedy of rare merit. * DO KIN ARE --"Directed by Mohan Wadhwanu A highly emotional drama. * RIM-JHIM Directed by Najam Naqvi. An exquisite musical comedy AND Production Nos. 12, 13 & 14 Directed by W. Z. Ahmed. et road, rnnn a From BENGAL The Cradle of Art and Culture Comes A Supreme Cultural Spark To Kekindle our Ancient History In The Memory of Modern People And ONCE AGAIN The Magic Spell of the Divine Flute Will Thrill Its Millions of Devotees Producer Lnkhmidas Anand PRESENTS TO THE SCREEN KRISHNA-LEELA Our Nations Greatest Spiritual Romance Which Has Become The Altar of Millions Starring : The Inimitable KAN AN with new melodies created by K AM ALD AS GUPTA with his incomparable artistry and directed by DEBAKI BOSE THE PICTURE Hou will weep lo see and see nnd weep with joy. Its spiritual stature will move both the Saints and the Sinners. toxiaL £=/^i^kti :- SOUTH: Sound Film Circuit, Armenian Street, Madras. CP. & C.I. : Popular Films Ltd., Bhusawal. BENGAL: Kapurchand Ltd., Calcutta. BOMBAY & OVERSEAS : Patel & Sons, Parimal Society, Alice Bridge, Ahmedabad. Apply only For NORTH. LRKHmiDRS RNRND PRODUCTIORS SWASTIK HOUSE, LAMINGTON ROAD, BOM BAY 4. Hollywood's Great Director On Direction Hi* Probtems in 6iZola-9 and Pasteur" By i William Dieterle William Dieterle, one of the great directors of Hollywood, is perhaps the most pfrfrular director in India because of his pr gressive work as seen in'1 Tlie Life of Emile Zola", "'Die Story of Louis Pasteur", "juarez"and umpteen other pictures. What Dieterle says should interest out producers who give us historical subjects without either histoiy or realism- "It is always difficult for a man to speak about his own work. Goethe once said: "Bilde Kuenstler — rede nicht!" Which means: Create artist — don't talk! I believe he was right. "What I have to say as a motion picture director — you can best read from the screen. There you find all that the subconscious force — (the only real creator in my opinion) wants to tel. "It is all right for bystanders to en joy a blooming flower without know- ing anyihing about it. theoretically: hut as an expert gardener one should understand the flowering — and to un- derstand one has to know something about the inter-relations of soil and a:r, water and sunlight, which condi- tions the grow'h of plants. To un- derstand is a matter of experience So I shall try to tell you about my experience as a director, with inci- dents from the Pasteur and Zola pictures. "Taking for granted that you a'l have seen the picture of Zola. I will give you a few highlights, from the first conception of the idea, to the fina' showing of the picture. To make The Life of Emile Zola was suggested, not by the studio, but by a European friend, Mr. Heinz Herald, a writer. The studio, quick'y convinc- ed of the great screen possibi'ities of the story, bought it for Paul Muni. As the writing progressed, research on the subject began to embrace, dir- ectly and indirectly, French, German. Austrian and English 'iterature. "I well remember a few years ago. when at my repeated insistence upon historical correctness, I got the custo- mary answer: "Who knows the dif- ference5" Strange as it may seem, studios did not have a very high opinion of people's knowledge of his- tory. "I said did not — because they now do have. Much criticism has been received which proved that the audi- ence did know. So, today, there is a thorough check-up, down to the most minute detail. "But a director should do more than check-up: he should know more than just the principal characters; he should become acquainted with the spirit of the entire period — its social and political set-up — its re'ation to other countries, to the world. This work appears to be a detour, but it is not. It is the perspective of your main characters. Just think of primitive paintings and you know what the 'ack of perspective does. That is exactly how a dramatic character would look, without the perspective of its period. No such figure can live, or will be capable of exciting human interest BEWARE OF ANECDOTES "In this research work your char- aciers already begin to live; from that moment on they wi 1 never let you alone — they demand to be brought to life; they become so insistent that they actua ly hold you up. At this moment, please be careful. Don't let them corner you — Keep out in the open. Too much detai'ed knowledge, as well as too litt'e. would hinder \ou. Don't overrate the value of anecdotes and sayings. They are general s as untrue as the last words of famous men. "There is not a picture of histori- cal character ever announced but what I am flooded with information about ■II the known and unknown anecdotes and episodes relating to the given character. To follow these we'l- meant suggestions would mean almost certain destruction to any story. Anec- do es, wonderfu' as they may be. often destroy the artistic continuity of the composition. "The real fascination of' a picture lies in the suspense with which the Mr. William Dieterle, one of the best directors Hollywood can claim — a pride to any nation. audience follows the hero, eager to find out whether or not he will justify its opinion of him. This relation between our characters and our audi ence we must try to understand, if we are interested in the development of motion picture stories. You will see best what I mean, when I tell you a litt'e about the opening scenes of the Pasteur picture. "In the fir*: script, Pasteur was uitroduced right in the first scene, taking for granted that everybody knew who he was. But when I spoke in the studio or in public about him, I always heard the remark: "Pasteur? Pasteur? Oh yes — the milkman!" and that caused me considerable worry. "For days I pondered, until I came to the conclusion that, when so many people of a good average education didn't know about Pas eur, then I could not expect it from the general motion picture audience, either. So I set out to find a way to combat this ignorance. Then suddenly one night it came to me, right out of the very atmosphere of Pasteur's time. "I opened the picture in this way: A doctor is murdered by a man who considers that his wife was killed through the uncleanliness of the doc- tor. As proof, he shows a leaflet, appealing to all doctors to clean their hands before going from one patient to another, written by certain Pasteur. And this leaflet becomes the high- light of the invesiigation. Nobody 41 VERICHROME 30° Double-coaced for protection against considerable exposure mistakes. Extra sensitivity to Greens and Yellows. SUPER - XX 32° Super-speed, for night and action shots. Fully panchro- matic. Antihalation backing cuts out dazzle. Impt. Consult, if necessary, horoscope or palm- print before the selection of Sapphire (Saturn, Other Varieties : Jupiter, Mars, Amber, Topaz, Alexandra etc. Prices- (Excluding Re. I for V.P. Packing etc. with the order Rs. 5, 9, 13, 19, 28. 37, 48, 70. 110, 185. KODAK LTD .,, ncorporated In England ) Bombay - Calcutta - Lahore - Madras. April. 1946 FILMINDI A knows Pasteur, neither officials nor doctors, and when the matter finally ccmes to the attention of the emperor, he, himself, doesn't know but calls for the unknown scientist, Louis Pas teur. So the audience was led from ignorance to knowledge in a high v dramatic way, without cheating on historical facts. SPIRITUAL TRUTH "Let us take ano.her instance: the finish of the Zola picture. As you may wel' know Zola died several years before Dreyfus was rehabilitat ed. Fearing that the early death of Zola, occurring before the rehabilita- tion of Dreyfus, would check further inlerest for the audience, the authors changed historical facts for a drama- tic climax in this way: after Dreyfus leaves Devil's Isle, he is immediately rehabilitated. Then Zola is shown at home, working, and after going to bed he is suffocated, and then the funeral. "Such a finish wou'd take a great deal from the success, because as 1 saw it, it was not dramatic. It was a finish in a matter of fact way, be- sides being historica'ly incorrect. So, I suggested with the very same facts, the finish you saw: after Dreyfus' re- lease Zo a is working on his last book, in which he intends to tell the world of his recent experiences, and is over- come by poisonous carbonmonoxidc gas. Then follows the Dreyfus re- habi itation and thereafter Zola's funeral at the Pantheon. In this way, we have an ending full of suspense, still building up, holding the audience to the very end, without changing h- story. Zola dies before Dreyfus is reinstated. Minutes or years before, that doesn't matter — the screen has no real time. The spiritual truth, that and that alone matters. So much about the work with the writer. "Now let's visit the art director. Of him the public knows very little, and yet he is of the greatest import- ance in the process of making motion pictures. Naturally, he has to be correct in the style of the period, yet Xo the director, it is just as important that he builds his sets correctly for the dramatic continuity of the pic- lure. DIRECTIONAL CONTINUITY "The law of directional continui'y is one of the most neglected laws of all. Many motion picture peop'e are not even awarc of its existence. They hate to be bothered about directions. And yet it is in this way, that a screen story is properly to'd. "Take, for instance, a thief running away from the police. Let's say our thief runs from right to left and the police follow him. No matter how many cuts the thief runs away from the police, where, or in which direction has the thief to run5 From right to left, as he has started. That is the correct answer. Otherwise, the thief runs right into the hands of his pursuers. But please watch your next picture and you will see. "Now, before we come to the actual making of the picture, one word about casting. The work of finding the necessary actors, conforming to the requirements of the script, is one of the most difficult tasks of the director. In Zo'a, for ins;ance, the actors, had not only to look like the original characters they had to be militaristic too — which means they had to have good figures, and above all, had to know how to walk, some- thing very few actors know; and to make it worse, they all had to look DOLLAR TALKIE fttelentl wit It ptlde P Vhected fy: M. SADIQ (Rattan fame) & K. FAZLI. ^>toty, Scenario & TPialoguei :- S. H. MANTO. in Hi ;i h;i!;lvii hi slurs. For Particulars :- DOLLAR TALKIES 11, Bank Street, Fort, BOMBAY, 43 F I L M I X D I A April. 1946 European. Yet with patience we succeeded. "Now that the picture is an accom plished task, it all seems very simple, but it was not so at the time. Take for examp'e. the part of Dreyfus. After innumerable tests with different ac tors, we tried Mr. Schildkraut. who coming from Broadway where he was a stage-star of first magnitude, had his own ideas of how the part should be played. Just as most actors play- ing an imporcant part, he had the conception that he must show this importance and p'ayed more ihc • monument in honour of Dreyfus, than the humble officer, himself, who. through tragic circumstances, became a word-known figure. ACTOR WITH PERSONALITY ' Yet. ar'ter a little revision, Mr. Schi'dkrau: created something mar vellous. as you most likely have seen. It is important to know 'that, in pic- tures, one cannot "play a part'*: one must possess a sum of rea' qualities ciearlv expressed in the external, in order to obtain the desired effect. This \ RMPIJTANI I MESIMTl VEENA ; »/Kt errs sr ASPt THE EPOCH-MAKING PICTURE OF THE MOST EVENTFUL TIMES IN THE MEMORY OF MAN NOW ON AT ROYAL OPERA HOUSE Recruit P. S. N. Raju of Bomba\ Trading Co.. Rajahmundry. has 'red' complexion, knows Hindi well, dze> horse riding, motor cycling and say* he can act and is just 5' 9". leads to the question: has the screen need of actors, or of personalities? "All I can say now is: the person- ality who is not an actor is to me im- possib e — I prefer the actor with per- sonality. It should never be neces- sary for the director to compel an ac- tor to create something that is not in him: therefore, casting is import- ant. The greatest difficulty for the motion picture actor is to overcome the surrounding conditions under- which he has to work and, above all, to overcome the presence of the camera. "So the director, must achieve a pro- per creative state, which wi'l help ihr actor to the birth of inspiration. The rest will come about subconsciously — by nature. Not the actor alone, but all co-operators, whom I consider as important as the director, himself, give of their best only in a favoura- b'e atmosphere, which is the supreme task of the director to create. How can anyone, not to mention an actor, work, if he is embarrassed, or if he feels a sense of inefficiency, of failure? To create success one has first to crea.e the spirit of enthusiasm; that is. the spirit of success. This works miracles. "The job of the director is, in my opinion, like that of a gardener, who 44 Neena becomes Meera in "Meerabai" produced and directed by Mr. W. Z. Ahmed for Shalimar Pictures puts a stick here, to help a plant to grow straight, and cuts a branch there, that the whole tree may thrive better and a good harvest result. Of course, this way of directing requires in:elligent actors. At this point I would like to mention Mr. Paul Muni, whom I consider one of the most in- telligent actors of our day. Imagine, Zo'a's tremendous scene in the court- room was the first and only take! Contrary to the common opinion, I believe in first takes. When a scene is taken over and over again, the actor is tired and bound to become self- conscious. Then his acting is not at its best. So since intelligence is rare among actors, too, proper casting is one of the main factors of success. CAMERAMAN IN TUNE "Now, I take it you all know the significance of the camera. It is through this medium that the story is told. Since the camera is handled by a specialist, the director has to work closely with that man, which is the cameraman. This relationship can not be too intimate. He is really to the director what the brush is to tin- painter. It is through the technical possibilities of the cameraman that the ideas of the director can be trans- formed from abstract to concrete form. Therefore, director and came- raman should have almost the same phi'osophy of life, but by all means the same artistic viewpoints. Only then, the beautiful unity of conception and form will enchant the audience. ' In order to get this completeness, the camera should always be in the right position and should never move at the wrong time. Camera technique is what diction is to the writer — the director's style of expression. Yet two men never see alike, never react alike, and the tragedy of relativity is fre- quently discovered too late, in the projection room, and not all studios allow retakes, especially not for "technical reasons," That is exactly what the studio calls it when you are artistically not satisfied. That is of minor importance to them. But, if a kiss or a leg is not shown long enough, then you can be sure of retakes. "Only sometimes there are retakes asked for other reasons. For in- stance: the scene when Dreyfus leaves the prison on Devil's Island was at first not so well liked. I was asked to shoot it once more, showing Drey- fus closer and having him leave the prison directly, without going back and forth. I did as I was asked, to prove that the first form of the scene April, 1946 was right, and, in the end, my origi- nal scene was chosen. This proves to you the importance of a definite set up of the camera. The quality of your film depends nol only on what you shoot — but how you shoot it. This must be planned by the director and carried out by the cameraman. How \ou can make or break a scene through a set up, I will show you with another example: "The scene between Zo!a and his wife — so superbly performed by Miss Gloria Holclen — after Cezanne leaves Zola and he tells his wife what Cezanne had said to him and all his reflections on the break of this friend- ship. This scene was written to be p'ayed while walking from one room into another. That would have spoil- ed a beautiful scene, because not only had Zola walked with Cezanne through the rooms a few moments before, but after the tragic break the scene must come to a rest. "Therefore, I decided to play it as you have seen it: Zola with his wife sitting at the fireplace. Only in this way, the value the writer wanted was brought out. Very often, as in the case just mentioned, a scene may in itself read all right, but the picture as a who'e, and not the scene, has to be considered. This leads us to an- other vital point in motion pictures — the rhythm. And with rhythm is connected film cutting. RHYTHM OF A PICTURE "Cutting is not merely a method ot loining separate scenes or pieces, but is actual'y a method of deliberate and compulsory guidance for the specta- tors. It is quite obvious that such an important task should not be done without the director. Visua'ize, it you can. a major operation being per- formed by a first-aid man. He could not help cutting into the life-giving arteries and sinews, which only the surgeon knows how to avoid. The same goes for motion pictures. Only the director can avoid hurting the life of the story, so cutting should be done in consultation with him. "But film art is yet in its childhood. As time goes on, the motion picture artists, not the directors alone, will continue and eventually win their fight for creative freedom, for the benefit of better pictures, to enlighten intelligent audiences." (Cinema Pro- gress). 45 Behind-tbe-Curtain Story of the Most Unusual Romance N?9 A'NAVYUG' PICTURE STARRING: ft GEETA NIZAMI ft SHYAM ft K. N. SINGH it DAR KASHMIRI ft SAROJ BORKAR ft KESARI ft RAJ BISHWAS & RANDHIR. Direction: Screenplay : Songs : Music : VEDI. SHAHID LATIF. NAKHSHAB. RASHID AT« \ Distributors tor SOUTH: J AY ANT FILMS CI ECU 31. GANDHI NAGAR, BANGALORE. FORTHCOMING ATTRACTIONS (i) PAROO (ii) SHIKAYAT Starring : Starring : GEETA NIZAMI, SNEHPRABHA. & SHYAM. WITH A NEW THRILL ; IN HER VOICE KANAN WILL SING HER WAY TO YOUR HEARTS SHOREY DAULTALVI Directed By: SHAHID LATIF. A "Peerless Pictures" Release M. P. Productions' Musical Hit with CHABBI, JAHAR, PURNIMA, NATWAR and IFTIKHAR. ZxxtcuJ % .- PRAMEN MITRA. WATCH FOR ITS RELEASE For CENTRAL PROVINCES:- JAMNADAS LTD. For SOUTH :- SELECT PICTURES CIRCUIT. For BENGAL:- MANSATA FILM DISTRIBUTORS. SHALIMAR PICTURES (Poona) "Ghulami" starring Renuka Devi is still running at the Majestic. A good deal of shooting of "Mira" and "Prithviraj Sanyukta" with Neena in the leading role has been done. Bhara Bhushan has been given the leading role in "Shree Krishna Bhagwan". Not satisfied with three ambitiou . productions in hand, Producer-directo: W. Z. Ahmed has entrusted a picture "Rangila Rajasthan" to Bharat Vyas, who was till recently a lyric-writer. This too promises to be an all-star cast picture, in keeping with W. Z. Ahmed's ideals. JAMUNA PRODUCTIONS (Bom bay) Encouraged by the success of "Rattan" the producers have started another picture "Do Dil" at the Shree Sound Studios. The screen play, dia- logue and songs are by Madhok and the direction by Jagdish Sethi. The picture features Karan Dewan, Badri Prasad, Gulab and Surraiya. FAMOUS FILMS (Bombay) Director K. Asif is taking a lot of pains over his picture "Moghul-e- Azam." Though the progress of the picture is slow, it is reported to be becoming good. It stars Veena, Nar- gis, Sapru, Chandramohan and others. FILMISTAN LTD. (Bombay) "Shikari" is doing good business at the Roxy, where it seems to have settled down for a leisurely run. "Mazdoor" is waiting for release at the same theatre. "Safar" their fourth production featuring Shoba and Kanu Roy will be ready for censor in April. Another picture with a racing background and the popular team of "Shikari" — Ashok Kumar and Veera. has gone on the sets. Their ambitious production "Lokmanya Tilak" will go on the sets shortly, after its ex- tensive research work is completed. ASIATIC PICTURES (Bombay) "Man Sarowar" featuring Nishi Baran nearing completion. NATIONAL STUDIOS (Bombay) "Inqualab" directed by Moti Jan- ghiani is nearly completed. The picture has Sabita Devi in the leading role. "Sarai-ke-Bahar" will soon go on the sets. DIN PICTURES (Bombay) M. Sadiq has nearly finished "Jag Biti" starring Surraiya, Sadiq Ali and others. Ghulam Haider is re- ported to have given good music this time. "Jag Biti" is expected to be ready for release by the middle of April. R. D. PARINJA (Bombay) Producer R. D. Pareenja has com- pleted "Sona Chandi" featuring that new-comer Chandni, and is very optimistic about its box-office success. The picture is likely to be released soon. MURARI PICTURES (Bombay) "Omar Khayyam", with Surraiya and Saigal, has been completed. "1857", a sensational drama of the Mutiny has gone on the sets. Director Mohan Sinha who is a fast worker hopes to finish this picture in three or four months. The picture has a big cast with Surendra, Surraiya and Wasti in the important roles. PEOPLE'S THEATRE (Bombay) "Dharti-ka-Lal" is the maiden film produced by the Indian People's Theatre. The story is said to be purposeful and we can quite believe it the way Journalist K. Ahmed Abbas has been working on it and directing it too. It features all the players of the People's Theatre and Snehaprabha, K. N. Singh and David. The music is givn by Rnvi S^-mkar. Ashok Kumar and Naseem make an ideal romantic team in "Begum", a story of Taj Mahal Pictures. 47 FILM INDIA JIT PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Director K. Nanda has done more than half of "Parwana". The picture features Saigal, Surraiya and others. The music is given by Khurshid Anwar. The picture is produced by Haldia. RANJIT MOVIETONE (Bombay) Ranjit's historical "Rajputani" has been released at the Royal Opera House and the producers are hopeful about its success from the way the picture is drawing crowds. Some of the other pictures in making are "Lekh", "Dadaji", "Balam." The preparations for the Centenary cele- brations are going on in the studios. NAVAYUG CHITRAPAT LTD. (Poona) "Din Raat" is running at the Krishna starring Snehaprabha and Paresh Bannerji. "Room No. 9" star- ring Geeta Nizami is ready for re- lease. "Shikayat" has gone on the sets with Shahid Latif directing. Good progress has been made with "Paroo", a social picture. CHAROLIA PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Producer A. V. Charolia who has already completed "Phir Bhi Apna Hai" and "Nishana", is busy with "Udarchand Shikarpuri" featuring Shamim, A. Shah and others. The picture is being directed by A. Shah. Bipin Gupta acts 'Pratap' in "Raj- putani" a Ranjit hit. P. R. PRODUCTIONS (Calcutta) "Arabian Nights" starring Kanan is expected to be a musical hit and the tunes are given by Kamal Das Gupta. More than half of the picture is completed. LAKHMIDAS ANAND PRODUC- TIONS (Calcutta) Since Lakmidas Anand has not sent us any news, we presume that he is mighty busy with his big picture "Krishna Leela". The picture has taken many months already and is reported to have become good under Director Debaki Bose. VARIETY PICTURES LTD. (Cal- cutta) Madame Alaknanda has a leading role in "Prem-ki-Duniya" and picture goers can look forward to some fine dance numbers in the picture. B. R. Tandon has also an important role. The music is by Subal Das Gupta. NATIONAL PICTURES (Bombay) "Tiger Queen", a picture full of thrills is expected to be released soon. Mr. Garcher is starting another stunt thriller after this one. DUGAL PICTURES (Bombay) Their Muslim social "Haqdar" is awaiting release. It is directed by Rafiq Razvi and features Najma, Harish and Anita Sharma. R. S. PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Producer Surraiya Zulfi has "Kan- goo" ready for release featuring Mahapara. STANDARD PICTURES (Bombay) Director G. Jagirdar is editing "Bairam Khan," the big historical which took so many months to "com- plete. The cast includes Jagirdar himself, Mehtab, Sadiq Ali aod others. AZAD PICTURES (Bombay) Balwant B. Dave is working hard on "Namak", a social picture, featur- ing a new-comer, Miss Dulari. BRIJ PRAKASH PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) The territorial rights of "Pick Pocket" for the South have been pur- chased by the Deccan Film Distribu- tors, Bangalore. The picture features Rajrani and Navin Yagnik. TAJ MAHAL PICTURES (Bombay) "Begum" has already been released in some of the key-cities and has been given a warm welcome by the cine- goers. The picture stars Naseem and Ashok Kumar. Naseem is reported to have done good work. Their next picture is to be directed by M. I. Dharamsey. 43 April I94ti FILM INDIA CENTRAL PICTURES (Bombay) Homi Master is directing a sensa- tional story "Chamakti-Bijli" by Munshi Sagar. The picture features Sulochana and E. Billimoria. "Shahi Khazana" directed by S. Usman is ready for release. NEW INDIA PICTURES (Bombay) -"Hasrat" has been completed. The picture is directed by Mr. Saila Mu- kherjee and has Ranibala, Sadiq and others in the cast. ALMASH PICTURES (Bombay) Sadiq Nizami is directing "Bhatakati Maina" with Surraiya Zulfi in a lead- ing role. Another picture to go on the sets is "Jungle Main Mangal". B P. S. PRODUCTIONS (Poona) Director Kumarsen Samarth who was resting after his work in "Nal Damayanti" has again burst into activity with "Dukhion Ki Kahani" in the Navayug Studios. This com- pany has begun with many good in- tentions of making useful pictures. Let us see how many of them are carried out. MOHAN PICTURES (Bombay) Many slunt pictures are scheduled for release for the year 1946. They are, "Baghdad-ka-Chor," "Ali Baba'" and "Jungle Girl." Others not yet completed are "Nur-e-Baghdad" and "Sinbad the Sailor." GIRDHAR BAHAR PRODUC- TIONS (Bombay) "Rehana" is awaiting release. An- other story "Gulnar" has gone on the sets. GULRAYS PICTURES (Bombay) The well-known Urdu writer. Abid Gulrays, has turned a director and his first assignment is "Doraha". The songs are by Kumari Naheed Mohini and the music is in the hands of G. M. Durrani. VENUS PICTURES (Bombay) Their picture "Phir Bhi Apna Hai" directed by Raja Nene is censored. "Jai Hind" Film Exchange, a new dis- tributing concern, has already made arrangements to release it in all the key cities. DOLLAR FILMS (Bombay) Mr. Sadiq who directed "Rattan" is directing one story for this new com- pany. RATNAKAR PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Their maiden picture, "Utho Jago" has been completed. Shahzadi, Baby Nalini, Ashiq Hussein are featured in the picture. A MAR PICTURES (Bombay) Baburao Patel is busy shooting the outdoor sequences of his social pic- ture, "Gvalan" starring Sushila Rani and supported by Trilok Kapoor. Bipin Gupta, David, Madhuri and others. The picture is likely to be re- leased by the end of April. INDIAN NATIONAL PICTURES LTD. (Bombay) This company is going to produce a social at one of the Bombay Studios. It has some industrial magnates on the Board of Direc;ors, and Nawab Sir Liaqat Hyat Khan is the Chairman of the Board of Directors. MAZHAR ART PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Aslam Nuri has nearly finished, "Naiyya." In the cast are Munnawar Sultana and Ashraf Khan. Two other pictures to go on the sets are "The Gold", and "Bachchon-ka-Khel." READY FOR RELEASE BRU PRAKASH^PPODUCTIONS A Svasalioaal Drama fall of Melodious MUSIC Rhythmic DANCE and Exhilarating COMEDY Directed by: NARI GHADIALI Produced by: BRIJMALA South Territorial Rights with:- DECCAN FILM DISTRIBUTORS, BANGALORE CITY. For Remaining Territorial Rights:- Apphj : BRU PRAKASH PRODUCTIONS. Patanwala Bldg., Wadia St., Tardeo, BOMBAY 7. 49 Aiitsv Celebrutiw SJLVm JH Kltm* AT DELHI, LAHORE, CALCUTTA, SUKKUR (SIND) CAWNPORE, AGRA, LUCKNOW, JUBBULPORE and many other stations in India PRODUCTIONS RATTAN cStaxiincj : SWARNLATA, K A RAN DEWAN, WASTI, BADRI PRASAD, RAJ KUMARI SHUKLA, GULAB Etc. ★ tbitsatLon M . S A D I Q SaiMnfa toiaCogu* ) M A D H O K . //:— RRIIINIKI1HI1 mOHRniiHIi & CO. KHETWADI BOMBAY 4. ft CHANDNI CHOWK DELHI 56 pril, 1946 FILMINDI A Muse has lost her best devotee in ,e late Khan Saheb Alladiya and is millions of admirers cannot do bet- r than perpetuate his memory by a litable national memorial. We may ive to wait a couple of centuries more • get another musician of Khan aheb's calibre. May his soul find rest in heaven and lay his beloved memory inspire our msic lovers through ages. ACADEMY AWARDS "The Lost Week-end", a Paramount cture swept the board in securing »ur Oscars as the best picture of )45. Ray Milland, its lead, as the st actor of 1945 for his ro'e as the runk; Billy Wilder, as the best dir- :tor of 1945; Charles Brackett and illy Wilder for the best screen play : 1945 and the picture, "The Lost Keek-end", as the best picture of ^45- The Academy of Motion Picture rts and Sciences gave other Oscars » Joan Crawford for her performance 'Mildred Pierce"; to Hans Dreir >r colour art direction and Sam omers for interior lecoration in olour. WHAT A PRIDE! Hollywood is proud of a new re- ;>rd broken in that dizzy city. It is kissing record. In a three-day love :ene of "The Lady Objects", to ing realism, Yvonne De Carlo and od Cameron kissed 200 times to cure just six screen kisses for the icture. And they have named the picture lie Lady Objects". Strange people, ally! DIFFERENT WAYS Sam Goldwyn will, it is reported, mble his production programme this :ar and make four pictures at a total >st of Rs. 3]- crores. Indian producers have also qua ruped their production programme id will -in future produce four pic- res in previous cost of one. DIFFERENT COUNTRIES In Mexico, the Banco Cinemato afico S. A. financed the local film dustry last year up to a crore of pees. During the next year the ink proposes to double Us previous ar's investment. Anil Indian hanks run away from our film industry. Perhaps the bank- ers know the producers too well. A CORRECTION There has been a regrettable con- fusion of names in our March issue. Reporting an extract from Nawab Sir Liaqat Hayat Khan's speech, he was described by our reporter as a "Pakis- tan Town-crier". We are now told mat Nawab Sir Liaqat Hayat is the elder brother of the late Sir Sikandar Hayat Khan and does not belong to any party. We regret that Nawab Sir Liaqat Hayat Khan was inadvertently mixed up with Nawabzada Liaqat Ali of the Muslim League and we regret the annoyance caused to Nawab Sir Liaqat Hayat Khan. SOUND PLUS NOISE Recording Engineer P. K. Aurora of Kardar Productions married Miss Damayanti the other day and were felicitated by Producer Kardar on the 31st March '46 at the Kardar Studios. Now old Arora will have to record some domestic noise every day. SO WHAT? Film-actress Ingrid Bergman is re- ported to have formed her own pro- ducing company and will produce three pictures every year starring herself. Our Veena, Meena, Neena, all have their own producing companies. Recruit M. R. Kunwar of 753 Katra, Allahabad, can copy almost any film song, can act, is a sportsman and would like to be given a break- Keep your skin healthy and it is sure to be lovely. Guard specially against pimples and blackheads. Pimples are most easily noticed by every one you meet. They are such traitors and how much they tell everybody of the bad condition ot the skin. PIMPLEX is a specific that takes care of your pimples and blackheads quickly as nothing else can. Its special virtue is that it makes pimples vanish like magic and leaves the skin smooth and lovely and entirely free from blemi- shes. PIMPLEX Rs. 4/11/- per jar. Postage txtra. Available everywhere. BANISHES PIMPLES. PEARLINE PARIS LTD., P. O. Box 493, Bombay. 57 M/oe5 & Echoes ( This is the reader's forum— as and when space permits. From the producer to the lay film-goer, every one can write to the Editor and ventilate his grievance. For every letter published in these columns, the publishers will pay Rs. SI- Letters should be signed and marked "Hoes And Echoes". Photographs of the readers will be published along with theit letters, if convenient. — The Editor.) JUST TAMASHA 'The picture 'Lakharani' has some splendid settings, attractive costumes and eyefilling dances. But what a horing theme it is! "Bhagwan, Bhagwan and Bhagwan they harp on until at last Lord and Lady Bhagwan come out of the tem- ple, give a demonstration of their dancing and put an end to the tamasha. "And what does it teach us? — fana- ticism, superstition, starvation and lamentation, as if India is not already sufficiently imbued with all these maudlin tomfooleries — as if the 194" cine-goers are all ninnies and nitwits. "And what a nonsensical story it is! When the king— who by the way looks like a bumpkin orders Lakha to be tied to horse-back, the prince, her ardent lover, does no: at all make any protest or attempt to prevent this outrage on his beloved. And then he goes laughing to her place and plays with her as if nothing wrong was done to her. And the intoxicated horse, instead of going astray, runs straight to the temple. And when the crowd at the temple see their be- loved young Rani tied to horse-back, thev all simply laugh and rejoice. Not a single person in the crowd, not even her "mother Rani Ma, appears surprised or perturbed at her pitiable plight on the horseback; nor does anyone inquire as to why she was so tied and who did it etc. And when Lakha is married .0 the prince, the atheist king offers to bestow 'Ash;r- vad' (benediction) on the bride! How- can an atheist ever think o! 'Ashir- vad' which is a solemn prayer for divine blessing "What do you think of this crude and preposterous story?" A. Najmunnisa Bellini. MELVISHARAM RACKETEERING "Recently at the local 'Minerva Talkies', we find a regular nuisance of uoondas. During the run of "Panna- dai" goondas entered the Reserve Class and pulled out members of the audience and maltreated them. We had no course except to leave the theatre in the midst of the show. The representative of the Distributor had to shut himself in a room. The same incident has been again repeated during the run of "Rattan." tin- c ar rent attraction at the theatre. People are coerced and maltreated for purchasing tickets from the booking office. Yesterday a free fight ensued. All these things are happening under the very eyes of the management. The manager, for reasons best known to him, does not come out of his room. We fervently believe that you will lend your kind advice in this matter." NAGPUR. Yogishchandra Kamara UNFORTUNATE WE "A few days back, with a great ileal of ballyhoo a film was ushered in at our town with the improbable title: "Chal Chal re Naujawan." I request you to let me know whether we, the hhngoers, whose guide, philosopher and friend you are, cannot seek the Government's protection against this kind of infliction. The Government seem to be ready enough to obs.ruct honest enterprise and discourage ge-i nuine service; why then do they feel diffident to prevent ruch crimes. in. celluloid? Or is it the deliberate policy of the Government to encourage the worst type of Indian enterprise so as to discredit us? I shouldn't won- der. 1 Put what I cannot understand is j why our producers, some of them un- doubtedly of lair intelligence, purvey us this stuff and deliberately throw us into the arms of foreign producers, j Was there no actor born in India since Motilal grew bald nor music ! director after Pankaj Mallick? Mus; I we for ever watch the Motilal grimace and for ever listen to the banalities of | Ghulam Haider? Must we for e\Ter bemoan "the glory that was Saigal and the grandeur that was Pankaj"? MANGALORE. S. R. Kunjoor. OUR MUSIC "It is with regret, sorrow and] remorse that one has sometimes to , hear and listen to unbearable music on the Indian screen. Music as de-i lined by Brougham is 'an art which streng.hens the bonds o! civilized so- Here is a rather humorous situation from "Gvalan", a social story written, produced and directed by Mr. Baburao Patel and starring Sushila Rani. Si April. 1946 FILM INDIA ciety, humanizes and softens the feel- ings and dispositions o£ man, pro- duces a refined pleasure in the mind, and tends to raise up in the soul emo- tions of an exalted nature." "Does music on the Indian Screen, produce any of these things on the mind of a person3 I prefer some- times to close my ears rather than listen to the rubbish and rot which is being sung on the Indian Screen. The gestures ami actions which our heroes and heroines do while singing are simply deplorable. I fail to un- derstand why it is a common practice or thing that we see the hero running after the heroine like a mad he-goat. Why should there be the catching of the hands whilst singing?" POONA. Simon A. Aaron (Rohekar) FOR MALYALI GIRLS "Travancore is said to be a civilized State and industry is being improved there day by day. Still, till now, only 2 or 3 films in Malayalam have been produced. Have they no studios and actors of their own? That is why, perhaps, they are satisfied with the ro.ten Tamil films. Why can't they make a start by producing more in Malayalam?" \ l GAPATAM. N. V. R. Swamy. STILL DOUBTFUL? "Of the fifty six pictures mentioned in the "Refresh Your Memory" page ol January 1046 issue of "filmindia" only one is "Excellent Don't Miss", only one "Very good", and only six "Quite good", while twenty-three are "Tolerable — Entertaining in parts" (which category includes "sob-stuff", "nothing much", "sadly fails", "un interesting", "boring", etc.) and twenty five are "Rotten — Avoid". Is this not a shameful record for the Indian Film Industry2" SING \PORE. N. Mehervan Singh. AH! THE DAILIES! "I rc.nl with delight your weighty editorial io the March issue of "film- india" regarding the sincere efforts of Mr. P. N. Thapar, Secretary to (!ovt. Information Department, to organise a Film Council and a Film Institute for India. It is indeed an intelligent attempt at the re orientation of our film industry and we, the picture goers of India, wholeheartedly Rehana and Moni Chatterjec in "Bridge" a story of Om Pictures. 0/VYOUREQU/PMMT In one of its queer ironies, the war showed the theatre owner the extent he can continue his hold on his equip- ment. Before the war, his first thought was to get replacements or spares. Today, he has learnt to consult the PEL SERVICE Engineer and be guided by him. The introduction of PEL SERVICE as a war-time necessity first proved to him that he could make his existing equipment perform better and last longer. With the PEL SERVICE going into post- war utility, the theatre owner's hold on his equipment can be far better than he ever imagined. PEL SERVICE'S pre- ventive maintenance is a boon to Theatre owners. depend PH0T0PH0NE EQUIPMENTS LTD. BOMBAY DELHI CALCUTTA MADRAS LAHORE KARACHI 59 FILMINDIA April, 1946 Filmindia seems bent on settling accounts with Producer Kardar. The game horse won another mile and half race (Mahaluxmi Plate) on 16th March 1946. Mr. Baburao Patel leads him in looking out for Kardar. On the left is Mr. Selvaratnam, the trainer. support the suggestions, you have so "What pains me much is that t powerfully made, to make the pro- did not see such an important news position a real success. item in any of our daily newspapers, who, I fear, are not treating this de- serving industry fairly. In the heat and storm of political propaganda, they forget to tell their readers about the growth and activities of our na- tional industries, without which, free- dom, which they so loudly demand, would be a mere illusion." N. S. V. Chalam. MALLESWARAM P. O. BE SUBSCRIBERS "Mr. Baburao Patel you deserve cre- dit by inserting "Refresh Your Me- mory" section in your most popular magazine. "But, my dear editor, it is only use- ful to your subscribers and readers because they only can save money from seeing rotten pictures. But about others?" D. L. Dudani. LARKHANA (Sind). HINDI WITH VENGEANCE "The dialogue of Vikramaditya is full of jaw-breaking Sanskrit words which one can hardly understand. The diaogue-writer seems to be a pedan- tic fellow who wants to make a vain show of his knowledge rather than make the dialogue understood by the picture-goers. It is a foolish waste of OUT WITH A PRINCELY MAJESTY. TO OFFER A CHASTE TASTE OF ART INQUILAB CHITRA'S FRQR-E-HIIID eHAlDtBMGrl&c Ao/uc*.. S. M. KODOLIKAR, b. a. sA HAPPY REVOIdII^FIOM. ft ft ft STARRING ft ft ft MASTER VITHAL and Miss CHARULATA (New Find) with VASANT PEHLWAN, JAL KHAMBATTA, OMKAR DEWASKAR, S. BORKAR, MANJULA etc. Out Men #w ^toncA "BAJIRAO the GREAT Story K. S. THACKERAY For Territorial Rights Apply to :- CINE TRIO CORPORATION, 14 Hamam St. FORT. BOMBAY. 60 jpril, 1946 FILM INDIA PEARLINE-PARIS LTD. P. O. Box 4?J, Bombay. PEARLEX BEST SKIN BLEACH :- DUGAL PICTURES, Tinwa'a Bldgs., Tribhuvan Road, BOMBAY 4 63 OUR REVIEW "Prabhu-Ka-Ghar" misses The mark Grave Injustice To Khurshid Next time when the Brain Trust of the Ranjit Studios decides to copy other motion pictures it should make up its mind about its main inspira- tion instead of shuttling between two stories. "Prabhu-Ka-Ghar" is neither the story of "Bernadette" nor the tale of "Bodana". And it is a pity seeing that the subject had enough basic dramatic value to be made into a powerful motion picture. We however congratulate the per- son who coined that happy title "Prabhu-Ka-Ghar". Though the pic- ture does not deserve this title, the name, nevertheless, is so eloquent that a very powerful and philosophic story could have been written under its ins- piration. The present picture is a complete mess of lofty intentions due to erra- tic planning and lack of imagination and therefore it fails to appeal. The story of the picture is a synthe- tic concoction mainly composed of different incidents picked either from "Song of Bernadette" or from '"Bhakta Bodana". The role of Alka is inspired by "Bernadette" while that of Rudrasen takes after the life story of "Bodana", the dacoit-devotee. Bet- Rustomji Poonawalla plays a charac- ter role in "Naiyya" supervised by Mazhar Khan. "PRABHU-KA-GHAR" Producers: Ranjit Movietone Language: Hindustani Story: Gunvantrai Acharya & Munshi Dil Dialogue: Munshi Dil Songs: Pandit Indra Music: Bulo C.Rani & Khem- chand Prakash Photography: D. K. Ambre Audiography: G. K. Mehta Cast: Khurshid, Trilok Kapoor, Sulochana Chatterji. Bipin Gupta, Sheikh Hassan etc. Released At: Royal Opera, Bombay. Date of Release: 12th Jan. 1946. Directed By: VAJAHAT MIRZA ween these two devotional ends there is many an incident stolen from the lives of different saints of India, which are put into the story. A notable one is from the story of "Gora Kum- bhar" who got his hands cut because they had committed an act of sin. The story opens with an unknown village girl A'.ka talking to Nanda, another village girl, some sentimental nonsense about universal love. Throughout the picture we are never told who this Alka is beyond a pass- ing reference in some dialogues that she has a brother in Sarang. We do not even know where she lives, what she does for her living, nor do we know about her instincts and incli- nations in life as a young girl. All that we are told is that she is a de- votee of God but we are not told how and where she is inspired with this devotion. In another scene in the temple wc are shown that she enters the temple with her companion Nanda and stands in the presence of the idol right in- side the inner temple, something that is never done in Hindu temples, the privilege of doing so belonging only to the priests who carry out the daily worship. Throughout the picture we are never told why this girl Alka is Mehtab and Jagirdar get a coy ma ment in "Bairam Khan." trying to build a temple on a distant village hillock when already a good temple existed nearby, where she could go and pray whenever she lik- ed and evrn touch the feet of the Lord without anybody objecting. And yet in the latter part of the picture we are asked to witness the fanatic zeal of this girl in building a ricketv temple and praying for the idol ot Krishna to come there by divin.. miracle. The character of A'ka re mains therefore suspended in thin air throughout the story and fails to be convincing. The other important character in the picture is that of Rudrasen, the dacoit, who has terrorized the village- side and the entire kingdom with his numerous acts of crime. This man has previous history behind him. He is the brother of the ruling chief nur- sing a grievance in his heart. The in- justice done to him, we are told, has made him a ruthless dacoit. But Rudrasen had pursued his rebel des- tiny a 1 alone leaving behind a son in | Arvind. The son does not know who his father is and, for a time, the! father does not know what has be- come of his son As is usual with! such a character, the king declares a reward for his capture and Arvindj picks up the gauntlet. After manyl escapes Arvind and Rudrasen come to blows and Rudrasen runs away to the hill of the rickety temple and in a minute after he meets Alka and shcj gives him some water to drink, the dacoit turns into a devotee. The 64 April. 194G FILM INDIA I transformation is so sudden that the breath of the audience is taken away with it. Between these two characters, the I entire story is written and for a long time the writers seem worried about making up their minds whether to give Aika more importance or whe- ther Rudrasen should be the top-dog. Ultimately Bipin Gupta who plays Rudrasen being more loyal and po'.ite to the producers wins the race of favouritism at the expense of Khur- shid on whom the whole story should have been built. This is an injustice done to Khurshid, the main artiste of the story and whatever personal satis- faction the producers get out of this it must be recorded here that 'Prabhu i Ka-Ghar' has failed as a motion pic- ture because of this stupid decision. Had I he producers developed the rok' of Aika giving it a logical beginning and ending it in a logical manner making the character of Rudrasen only incidental to the story, ihe pic- ture would have looked more like "Song of Bernadette" and as such would have appealed to the audiences more than it does now. With these two main characters run ning in and out of the screen errati- cally, "Prabhu-Ka-Ghar" has become a hotch-potch between a village gin and a dacoit. Rudrasen steals the or- naments from the temple in the pre- sence of Aika and accepts the challenge of Arvind, the Commander of the army to capture him. Before his cap- ture, however, Rudrasen becomes a devotee of God seeking penitence from the Almighty. Now there is some interlude of the villainous ele- ment in the town in the character of Kanchan Seth. This fe:low is a rich Bania who extorts money from the poor and lives on it. After the usual unconvincing incidents, a tame fire is shown in which Kanchan Seth's dau- ghter dies and her dead body is re- covered trom the flames by Rudrasen, now a devotee. That gives Aika a chance to perform her second miracle in which the child is brought back to life. All this time Rudrasen is a silent spectator of the spiritual heights of A'ka. He patiently waits for his own turn to perform miracles which Ranjit writers, in their usual obliging manner, provide towards the end ot the story Did we forget to tell you about the frustrative romance between Arvind and Aika? These two are evidently in love but they can not make up their mind what to do about each other till the end. So both keep pull- ing each other throughout the story with the usual romantic nonsense uttered in the usual sentimental strain. The climax is soon reached when Arvind discovers the fact that in the bearded devotee is not only the per- son of Rudrasen, the dacoit but also of his father After some silly talk all are rushed to the presence of the WE OFFER YOU THE UNDERMENTIONED BOX OFFICE BONANZAS SUITED FOR ALL THEATRES r FOR ALL INDIA RIQHTS ) ALEXANDER KORDA'S PRODUCTIONS 1. ELEPHANT BOY : — A Jungle story comes to life with enchanting little urchin FAMOUS SABU. 2. DARK JOURNEY : The most exciting SPY DRAMA. CONRAD VEIDT teamed with lovely VIVIEN LEIGH plays a doubly dangerous game - Q-Boat's fight! ROBERT T. KANE PRODUCTIONS. 3. UNDER THE RED ROBE : CONRAD VEIDT as duellist & adventurer co-scarring with ANNA3ELLA gives a brilliant performance with thrilling fight. 4. DINNER AT THE RITZ : Lovely ANNABELLA with DAVID NIVEN plays her role most brilliantly in this DETECTIVE STORY - Revolver fight, murder, detection ending in peace and happiness. DAVID O. SELZNICK PRODUCTION : 5. GARDEN OF ALLAH :_( In technicolor) starring MARLENE DIETRICH & CHARLES BOYER - The most thrilling and awakening romance ever screened. For BOOKINGS & TERRITORIAL RIGHTS urite to .-- THE MYSORE CINE CORPORATION, 290, Lamington ROAD, Gram: "MYSORECINE " BOMBAY 7. Phone: 41754. 65 FILMINDIA April, 1946 It seems to be rather a 'catty' situation with so many around Kanan in "Rajlaxmi." king and after some more si ly talk all are brought back again to the tem- ple on the hillock and at the express wish of the dacoit-devotee he is buri- ed in the ground and the final miracle of arrows turning into flowers, is per- formed. Thus ends a good subject which only Indians can spoil and make silly and only Indians can see and believe. NO PRODUCTION VALUES As is usual with many Ranjit pic- tures "Prabhu-Ka-Ghar" also pre sents weak and indifferent production values The photography is far from being uniform or pleasant. The re- cording is more bad than good. Th^ music is common. The songs are pretty well written this time by Pan- dit Indra bar a few twisted words for rhyming purposes. Song No. 10 is a well-written protest in the form of a prayer to Divinity. The dialogue is hardly forceful while parts are definitely wrongly expressed. The orchestration behind the songs is very unhappy and runs away from the words leaving the artiste miserably a' one with her words. The ghost voice chosen for Bipin Gupta's song is from the hostile group. It is dia- metrically against the natural tone of the speaking voice of Bipin Gupta be- sides being too weak and tender for the role of a dacoit. When choosing ghost voices it is essential that only such voices as can be found in sym- pathy with the spirit of the role and in near harmony with the natural voice of the main artiste should be chosen. But in Ranjit there doesn't seem to be any such planning or design in work. It is therefore no wonder that both the songs of Bipin Gupta fail to ap- peal. Imagine the effect on the audi- ence when they find a dacoit that roars and thunders throughout the early parts of the picture, suddenly singing like a cuckoo when he be- comes a devotee in a semi-effeminate voice. The least that people can do is to suppress a laughter. The direction of Vajahat Mirza is in short a misdirection of so much energy. NOTHING TO REMEMBER None of the players gives any out- standing performance which can be remembered even for a day. As is usual, Khurshid does her work in her usual manner in the role of Alka. but from the beginning to the end she fails to convince about the spiri- tual aspect of her role. In parts she actually vamps and at other places when she works there is neither devo tion around nor any spiritual light within. Khurshid plays the role as 'prettily' as she did in 'Pardeshi' with- out realising that the two characters were different. Bipin Gupta makes his maiden ap- pearance in Bombay in this picture. Had they not stripped Bipin and shown his poor flesh it would have been easier to believe his role as a ruthless dacoit. The man has a voice and stern features to match but below the neck he has poor flabby flesh which is never a distinctive feature of hard- boiled dacoits. Whenever, therefore. Bipin thunders he gives an impres- sion of a lamb roaring like a lion, Bipin's dialogues need a lot of polish- ing. From the histrionic point of view, however, Bipin has done his work with some understanding of the spirit of his role. Trilok Kapoor in the role of Arvind walks through the picture like the Commander of the army which he plays. Even in his love scenes with Alka he does not relax his military discipline and remains stiff, true to the military traditions. No wonder Alka could not make up her mind finally. Sheikh Hassan in the role of Sarang becomes conscious of the fact that he has to play up the comedy role with Nanda played by Sulochana Chatter- jee. Between the two they continue a tug of romance constancy looking at the audience for approval and to make sure that they are doing the right thing. Theirs is an obliging perfor mance which needs constant approval from the spectators and it seems that without constant pulling they wou d not have gone to the end of the story. Prakash, a new-comer, does pretty well as Kanchan Seth without being camera-conscious. He is worth con- sidering for future pictures. Munny Aga is the most humorous king we have seen in any motion pic- ture. His pan-painted teeth could be seen from a mi.e away and the way he spoke his dialogues he gave an im- pression that the king was feeling funny somewhere at the end of his spine. From the beginning to the end he behaved like Alice in Wonderland. After a 1 said and done, no one need be very disappointed widi "Prabhu-Ka-Ghar". This picture car- ries further the recent traditions of Ranjit. A slight relief is that this one is a shade better. 66 OUR. REVIEW "Paristaan" Becomes A Frothy Comedy Presents R Cruel Slander On The Bengal Tragedy Producer N. R. Acharya has given some frothy and fantastic entertain- • ment in his new picture "Paristaan". It begins with the hypothetical argu- ment of a woman looking upon a man as her enemy. With ihis basic ' idea, the story writer has created many giggling situations without be- ing serious anywhere during the complete length of the story. The , whole subject has been handled in a I very frivolous and frothy manner and though there is hardly anything to complain about the picture, yet it ' fails to satisfy or even to humour at the end of the experience. It is rather a sad reflection to find i that the story writer has used the re- cent grim Bengal tragedy, in which I millions died, to provide him with i some humorous incidents by creating a motherless orphan as the crux oi: several humorous situations. It is "PARISTAAN" Producers: Acharya Art Produc- tions Ltd. Language: Hindustani Story: Vaju Kotak Dialogue: G. S. Potdar Songs: Rupdas & Ninoo Music: Ninu Muzumdar Photography: Jimmy Kapadia Sound Recording: S. C. Patil Cast: Pahari Sanyal, Anjali Devi, Sunalini Devi, Kamal Zamindar, Master Amrit- lal, Padma Banerjee etc. Released At: Swastik, Bombay. Date of Release: 19th January 1946. Directed By: MAHESH KAUL Mubarak's protruding eyes bulge more when they rove over t*ara in "Soni Mahiwal", a Jayant Dcsai production. Veena becomes a Rajput maiden in "Rajputani," a Ranjit hit. rather a cruel way of doing things and the humour created by the little Bengali baby leaves a bad taste in the mouth. TRANSPARENT STUFF The story is very simple. We are shown a number of girls with a few grown-up cats conducting an insti- tution called "Nari Pratishthan". In this institution man is the common sworn enemy who is abused constantly for one cause or another. The elderly cats try to bring up the girls wkh this poison instilled in them and the girls are not allowed to meet any man. Among the girls there is Chanchal who is already interested in Biren, a city-boy. Chanchal ij often pulled up severely by the matron and by Shyama who acts as the secretary of the institution. Shyama is quite an attractive girl and behaves in a stiff manner believing for a time in the discipline and the sermons of the elders. On the other hand, in the town, we are introduced to Rasik, a musician, who has by coincidence acquired a unit of dancers in Banke and Pyari. After a lot of mix up Rasik comes across Chanchal and a pandemonium is created in the institution where men were not allowed before. Rasik somehow manages to get himself ap- pointed as the music teacher of the girls and thus comes nearer Shyama 67 FILMINDIA April, 1946 his ultimate sweetheart. Now begin a number of romantic interludes in the hit-and-miss manner till things reach a climax in which Rasik takes away Shyama, Chanchal marries Biren and the institution is broken up and turned into a maternity hospital. At the end of it all we find Chanchal having a daughter, Shyama having 2 daughters, and Banke having 3 daughters. The whole story is plan- ned for entertainment and one must admit that it does entertain in pans though very superficially. POOR PRODUCTION As a motion picture "Paristaan". however, is rather a poor production once again proving the cheap commer- cial rush with which Shree Sound Studios seems to be functioning at present. Sound and photography are bo.h erratic and inconsistent. The music is very poor while the song compositions are nothing much to worry about. Vaju Kotak's story idea is quite good. One however wishes that he. had not developed certain se- quences so crudely. The dialogue Recruit Jagdish c'o Narsingh Dass Khurana, Divisional Pay Office, Rawalpindi, has a "lurking desire to adopt the film career." He has 70 inches of frame and 1 maund and seers of personality in moral support. is pretty attractive in parts. With j little better editing, the picture would have become more slick. The direc- tion of Mahesh Kaul is not at all bad seeing that he had to manage a num- ber of stupid things in a sensihle manner. As most of the story is based on incidents and slapstick, there is hardly any scope for anyone to show hist- rionic talent. Anjali Devi, however, attracts a bit of attention by looking quite sweet in parts in the role of Shyama while Master Amritlal gives a good slapstick performance as Banke, the dancer. Pahari Sanyal disappoints in the role of Rasik while Kamal Zamindar must be considered as utterly hopeless in the role of Biren. This boy needs a little more experience. It was surprising to see Sunalini Devi giving a bad perfor- mance in the role of the matron. She speaks a mouthful of words in a very stagy manner and fails to convince everyone about the missionary enthu- siasm which the institution required (o propagate its queer ideals. In line, "Paristaan" can he called not a Inul entertainer if you arc not looking out lor anything intel'ectual in it. SUPPORTED BY 1 * SURAIYA BANU * RASHID * ROSHAN LAL * Photography : N. M. ADHIKARI Audiography : N . S . N A I R Dances : D. BABULAL Music : A R U N ROY & S.ASIF NEXT ATTRACTION AN UPTODATE SOCIAL HIT " PRATHIKS1 1 A." PARTICULARS : NEW INDIA P I C T U R K S , BOTAWALA BLDG. * 8, ELPHIN STONE CIRCLE * FORT. BOMBAY * PHONE ; 32103 OUR REVIEW 'Din Raat' Slanders Our Film Industry Good Theme Poisoned By Rotten Interludes I The box-office success which Nav- Lug Chitrapat achieved in "Panna" t-ecently seems to have gone to their liead, seeing that they have thrown fcood taste and discieUoil to the winds fin their recent production "'Din IRaat". I "Din Raat" had a good theme for L motion picture in so far as it re- lated to the natural conflict between la married couple arising out of their pursuit of different vocation-, in life, pn this aspect of the story ' Din Raat" Is quite a good picture and breaks Inew ground in its screen treatment leven though certain punches in the Ipicturc arc unblushingly borrowed ifrom a couple of foreign stories. I What is however dirty in the story are the sequences between a film producer and the female star of his istudio. After seeing these sequences, lone wonders whether our film indus- Itry is really constituted of such film [producers as shown in "Din Raat". [These sequences constitute a damn- "DIN RAAT" Producers: Navayug Chitrapat Ltd. Hindustani Language: Story & Screenplay: Dialogue: Songs: Music: Rov Kinikar Producer W. Z. Ahmed is one of our very few cultured film craftsmen, whose work commands respect from all. Ahmed has a versatile production programme in hand for the year 1946 Abdul Baqui Santokh Nadeem Dada Chandekar Photography: Balwant Dhavale Audiograph): Bal Chavan Cast: Snehaprabha Pradhan, Paresh Banerjee, Sulo- chana Chatterjee, Vasant Thcngdi, etc. Released At: Krishna, Bombay. Date of Release: 8th Feb. 1946 Directed By: SHOREY DAULTALVI able slander on the Indian film in- dustry which keeps on inviting society girls to take up the film career in larger numbers. After seeing "Din Raat ' no decent girl will be induced to take up the screen as a career because in this picture, produced by a fi'm producer, the most slandered person is the film produce! himsclt who is shown as a drunkard and debauch, taking im- moral liberties uuh his main star. Apart from being untrue, these se- quences are portrayed in a filthy and malicious manner and do not reflect happily on the business morality of the producers. GOOD BASIC THEME Apart from this dirty stuff, the story of "Din Raat" is quite engag- ing. Kamala and Lccla arc two edu- cated girls economically independent in life. Kamala. the elder sister, is shown as a practising doctor attached to a hospital while Lccla, the younger one, is shown as a phlegmatic artiste doing film work. Recruit Prem Suman of Lahore has forgotten to give his address. He should have unless he is a postman. He has five years stage experience, stands 5' 8" and is 25 years old. Kamala meets Paresh, the hero, accidentally and both fall in love with each other. Paresh is from the vil- lages where his father Bikram Pan- dit has already arranged a village girl as his lilc partner. The story now lakes the usual turn in which Paresh objects to his father's arrangement and leaves the village to marry Dr. Kamala. The father excites the hos- tility of the man whose daughter was engaged to Paresh and in consequence becomes miserable and unhappy. Paresh and Dr. Kamala live as husband and wife each doing different work. Dr. kamala goes to thc hos- pital, sometimes during thc day and sometimes at night and Paresh goes to an office always during thc day and stays at home during nights. There arc days when the husband and wife miss each other terribly due to thc duties of their different voca- tions. These interludes of absence put a strain on the love between thc two and ultimately lead to a terrific- quarrel and misunderstanding. Dr. Kamala who works with noble ideals in view finds her husband un- sympathetic anil becomes miserable. The climax is soon reached when Paresh walks out of the home calling his wife numerous names. As film coincidence would have it, Kamala has just performed an operation on Bikram Pandit, the father of her hus- band and saved his life without know- ing that the man saved was her 69 FILMINDIA It is the usual wine-and-woman situation with the wine unnamed but the woman is Kalyani as seen in "Haqdar,"a Dugal picture. father-in-law. Later on Bikram Pan- dit calls on Dr. Kamala to give a small present. He discovers her to be unhappy and identifying her as his daughter-in-'aw, he goes back to Paresh and opens his eyes to the truth of the circumstances and brings him back. All are soon happy. The least said about the film pro- ducer and the film artiste sequences, the better. They are filthy from the beginning to the end. KILLED BY BAD RECORDING While the photography of "Din Raat" is quite pleasant in parts, the same cannot be said about the re- cording of the picture. The record- ing of many important sequ- ences and songs is very bad and cannot be heard inspite of lot of strain. Almost all the songs are very badly recorded and at places even the orchestra behind the songs has completely disappeared. This feature of the picture kills the entertainment va'ue of the story con- siderably. The dialogue is quite good and brilliant in a coup'e of places. The song compositions how- ever are not happy being the rehash of the usual words usual'y written by Punjabi lvric writers. In the 8 songs that we find in the picture, the two words "Jawani" and "Joban" have been repeated several times. To be exact "Jawani" is heard 8 times while "Joban" is echoed 5 times. With so much of "Joban" and "Jawani" thrown about it is not difficult to imagine that the songs are made un- necessarily suggestive and vulgar. The tunes of the songs are far from being happy. In fact, not a single tune is likely to be popular. The story of Roy Kinikar is pretty good in so far as it relates to the sequences between the lady doctor and her husband. Shorey Daultalvi's direction is quite s'ick and promising. His technique, however, of opening a shot on two figures and rushing to the close-up of one, several times in this picture is not quite happy. This method creates an optical strain and we hope he uses the more normal way of go- ing from the close-up to the mid- shot. SNEHAPRABHA SHINES From the players Snehaprabha Pra- dhan gives a very intelligent and charming performance in the role of Dr. Kamala. She acquits herself with the requisite dignity and poise neces- sary for a medico. Throughout the picture her performance is so natural that it is pleasant to see this talented girl back again in old form af:er a Ions: time. One however wishes that Snehaprabha had delivered her dialo- gue with better phonetics. She still sounds a bit provincial. In the role of Paresh, the hero, Paresh Banerjee gives rather a poor performance. In April, 1JM I contrast with the dignity and poise ( | Snehaprabha, Paresh looks very muc an effeminate product. His make-u i is also very unhappy with lipstick an I eye-shade used by women artiste | Paresh should learn a little more aboui his personal make-up if he intends 1 I play the hero in future. Sulochar Chatterjee, in the role of Leela, thj film star, gives some graceful danci j but acts rather clumsily in other s. quences. Vasant Thengdi as Manoharlal, trj film producer, gives a disgusting pe formance and speaks his dialogu< very, very badly. From the rest DJ Kashmiri gives quite a good perfol ma nee, as Bikram Pandit, the fathel of the hero. He shou'd have, hovl ever, shown a little more loyalty fj his beard which begins its career b| being grey in the beginning, becomcfl black on the hospital cot and grcl once again in the end. If the direij tor had not the brains to check u| his continuity, it is high time thJ the artistes look after themselves, jj As a motion picture, "Din RaatJ if entertaining in parts. Though it i nothing to cry about, it is not at all a bad time-killer provided you do nol have to see the filthy sequences aboufl the film producer. Recruit R. G. Qaisar of 210 B Wes! End Road, Meerut Cantt., savs he I an aristocrat being groomed for stuj dies in England. He wants to cu away for films even on fifteen runeel a month. Right snirit. though fool hardy. 70 J^efytesh If out Atemoty The Indian film industry will improve only when film-goers pick and choose their en- tertainment. As long as fools keep on rushing for tickets, there is not the slightest chance of getting better pictures in future. The duty of every intelligent filmgoer is not only to stop see- ing bad pictures himself, but also to stop others from doing so. For ready reference from month to month we shall be grading pictures as follows: — ***★★ (5*) Excellent, Don't miss. **** (4*) Very good. *** (3*) Quite good ** (2*) Tolerable. Entertaining in parts. * (I*) Rotten. Avoid. Pictures reviewed in "filmindia" from January 1945 A (2*) 'Aina' (Hindustani) (D.R.DJ March '45 issue- Social. — "presents the same old story — is a small money-maker." (1*) 'Albeli'— (Hindustani) (Taiwan March '46 — social —"a boring gipsy yarn." (1*) 'Amrapali' (Hindi) (Murli) Jan. '46 issue— histo- rical romance— "proves a terribly boring expe- rience." B (2*) 'Bari Baat' (Hindustani) (Mazhar Art) Jan. '45 issue — Social. — "not at all a bad time-killer if you have nothing particular to do." (1*) 'Bari Ma' (Hindustani) (Prafulla) Sept. '45 issue Propaganda Social. — "year's most rotten show." (3*) 'Bhabi Kal'— (Bengali) (K. B. Pictures > March '46 — social — "every one should see for its high- flown ideology." (1*) 'Bhagya Laxmi' (Hindustani) (Laxmi) May '45 issue — Social. — "proves just so much trash." (2*) «Bhai Jan' (Urdu) (United Films) Dec. '45 issue- Social — "presents the usual sob-stuff." (1*) "Bisvi Sadi" (Hindi) (Bhavnani Feb. '46 issue- social romance — "silly story — presents boredom in celluloid." (2#) 'Bhartruhari' (Hindustani) (Navin) Aug. '45 issue — Mythological. — "nothing much." (2*) 'Bondita' (Bengali) (New Talkies) July '45 issue — Social. — "sob-stuff pure and simple." (1*) 'Burma Rani' (Tamil) (Modern Theatres) May '45 issue — propaganda social. — "a crude war thriller " C (2*) 'Caravan' (Hindustani) (Ranjit) May '45 issue- gipsy social — "interesting story indifferently handled." (2») 'Chal Chal Re Navjawan' (Hindustani) (Filmis- tan) Jan. '45 issue — Social.— "is not worth seeing twice." (1») 'Chand Chakori' (Hindustani) (Ranjit) March '46 — social — "provides headache". (2*) 'Chand* (Hindustani) (Prabhat) Feb. '45 issue- Propaganda Social.— "a light entertainment." (3*) 'Chandragupta' (Hindi) (Jayant Desai) April '45 issue — Historical.— "Historically incorrect but en- tertaining." (3*) 'Chhamia' (Hindustani) (Protima Dasgupta) Oct. '45 issue— Social.— "presents sensible en- tertainment." (1*) 'Chand Tara' (Hindustani) (Asiatic) Dec. '45 issue — Social.— "a stupid time-killer without even * single moment of intelligent relief." D (1*) "Dhamki" (Urdu) (Pancholi) Feb. '46 issue- detective thriller— "a stupid and tiresome (1*) "Dhanna Bhagat" (Hindi) (Ranjit) Feb. '46 issue— devotional social— "just another devo- tional hocus." (1*) 'Dotana' (Bengali) (Eureka) June '45 issue- Social. — "just rotten and disgusting." (2*) 'Dui Purush* (Bengali) (New Theatres) Nov. '45 issue— Social.— "rattles down N. T. Standard- there are spots where the picture proves slight- ly entertaining." E (3*) 'Ek Din-ka-Sultan* (Urdu) (Minerva) Jan. '46 issue — historical romance — "a picture worth see- ing, at least for some good entertainment." G (1*) 'Gaali' (Hindustani) (N. R. Desai Productions) March '45 issue — Social. — "presents disappointing entertainment." (2*) 'Ghar' (Hindustani) (Sunrise) Jan. '46 issue — Social— "a good picture to see though it drags at places." (3*) 'Geet' (Hindustani) (Kardar) Sept. '45 issue- Social. — "a picture worth seeing." H (2#) 'Hamara Sansar' (Hindii (Prakash) March '46 — social — "theme overplayed for screen purposes." (4*) 'Hamrahi' (Hindustani) (New Theatres) Oct. 45 issue. — Social. — "a picture which is worth going a long way to see." (1*) 'Hospital' (Hindustani) (M. P. Productions) April '45 issue — Social. — "presents stupid and boring stuff." (2*) 'Humayun' (Urdu) (Mehboob) July '45 issue- Historical. — "Sadly fails to entertain." I (2») 'Ismat' (Urdu) (Fazli Bros.) April '45 issue- Social — "presents common uninteresting plot." J (2*) 'Jwar Bhata' (Hindustani) (Bombay Talkies) Jan. '45 issue — Social. — "nothing outstanding— yet it is not a bad time-killer." 71 FILMINDI A April, 1946 (1*) (1*) (2*) (2*) (1*) (2*) (2*) (1*) (2*) (1*) (2*) (2*) 'Kalankini' (Bengali) (Indrapuri) March '46— social— "picture should be scrupulously avoided". 'Kiran' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) July "45 issue- Social.— "just a rotten picture." 'Krishnarjun Yuddha' (Hindi) (Murari) Sept. '45 issue— Mythological— "a boring story." 'Raise Kahun' (Hindustani) (Pancholi) Jan. '46 issue— social— "is not such an awful time killer." (Prabhat) Dec. '45 i picture too rotten (1*) (2*) (1*) (3*) (1*) (3*) 'Lakharani' (Hindustani) issue — costume fantasy— for words." 'Lalkar' (Hindustani) (Jayant Desai) Feb. '45 issue— Social.— "not a bad time-killer if you are not looking for anything intellectual in it." ♦Lai Haveli' (Hindustani) (Bombay Cinetone) Feb. '45 issue— Social— "continues to entertain throughout its length." 'Lady Doctor' (Hindustani) (Venus) June '45 issue— social.— "should be considered Ian all round flop." 'Leila Majnu' (Urdu) (Hindi) June '45 issue- folklore.— "proves slightly boring." M 'Maha Maya' (Tamil) (Jupiter) March '45— issue— Mythological.— "moderate stuff without much entertainment." Miss Devi' (Hindustani) (Laxmi) Oct. '45 issue- Propaganda social.— "a pretty cheap production." 'My Sister' (Hindustani) (New Theatres) March '45 issue— Social.— "a common story clumsily done— expected to run well because of its or- thodox theme." "Mumtaz Mahal"— (Urdu) (Ranjit) Dec. '45 issue— Historical— "a disgusting distortion of history" 'Mun-ki-Jeet' (Hindustani) (Shalimar) Nov. '45 issue— Social.— "though travels a bit leisurely before interval, it gathers some tempo ana. drama after the interval." 'Maharathi Kama' (Hindustani) (Prabhakar) Nov. '45 issue— Mythological.— "a ludicrous por- trayal of Mahabharat." N 'Nala Damayanti' (Hindi i (Janak) July '45 issue —Mythological.— "a killing time-killer." P •Pannadai* (Hindi) (Pradeep) May '45 issue- Historical. — "Proves a heart-rending flop." 'Panna' (Hindustani) (Navyug) Aug. '45 issue- Propaganda Social. — "a good time-killer." 'Path Bendhey Dilo' (Bengali) (De-Luxe) July '45 issue — Social.— "a picture better avoided than seen." 'Phool' (Urdu) (Famous) June '45 issue— Social. — "a good picture if you do not mind a bit of morbid entertainment." (1») "Paduka Pattabhishekam" (Tamil) (Gemini) & (Rajarajeshwari) April '45 issue— Mythological. —"proves utterly disappointing." (1*) 'Piya Milan' (Hindustani) (Wadia Movietone) Nov. '45 issue— Social.— "all round rotten and boring show." R (3*) 'Rattan' (Hindustani) (Jamuna) March '46 - social — "not at all a bad entertainment." (1*) "Ratnavali" (Hindi) (Amar) Feb. '46 issue- mythological — "a waste of time and money." S (1*) 'Sawan' (Hindustani) (Sanjiwan Art) June '45 issue— Social.— "waste of celluloid." (1*) 'Seetha Rama Jananam' (Telugu) (Prathibha Pictures). July '45 issue— Mythological.— "all that it can do is to create some disgusting boredom. (5*) 'Shakuntala' (Stage) (Hindustani) (Prithvi Theatres) April '45 issue— Mythological.— "an excellent production." (2*) "Shikari" (Hindustani) (Filmistan) Feb. '46 issue— propaganda social— "thin story material, well framed." (1*) 'Shirin Farhad' (Urdu) (Pancholi) June '45 issue — Folklore. — "intensely boring picture." (2*) 'Son? of Desert'— (Urdu) (Jagriti) March '46— costume phantasy — "speedy thriller for masses." (1*) 'Sri Valli' (Tamil) (Saraswati) July '45 issue- Mythological— "a stupid and boring affair." (1*) 'Subah Sham' (Urdu) (Indrapuri Studio) Dec. '45 issue — Social — "a dead picture. It has nei- ther life nor movement." T (2*) 'Tadbir' (Hindustani) (Jayant Desai) Jan. '46 issue— social — "tolerable in parts." (2*) 'Tahsildar' (Telugu) (Jagdish Films) May '45 issue — Social "a good time-killer." (1*) .'Taramati' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) Nov. '45 issue — Mythological. — "fails to move — is cne long se- quence of boredom." U (1*) 'Uspar' (Hindustani) (Sun Art) May '45 issue- social. — "becomes a spineless stuff." V (3*) 'Veer Kunal' (Hindi) (Kishore Sahu) Jan. '46 issue— historical — "is a picture more for the in- tellectuals than for the masses." (3*) .'Vikramaditya' (Hindi) (Prakash) Aug. '45 issue — Historical. — "becomes an entertaining picture. (1») 'Vish Kanya' (Hindustani) (Ranjit) March '45 issue — Folklore. — "a motion picture poison one would not like to swallow." (2*) 'Village Girl' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) Nov. '45 issue — Social. — "a pleasant picture to see — story misses emotional target." Y (2*) 'Yateem' (Hindustani) (Central Studios) July '45 Issue — Social — "makes good impression." Z (3*) 'Zeenat' (Hindustani) (Eastern Pictures) Jan. '46 issue — social — "a picture worth seeing though presents popular emotional theme." Printed b\ Baburao Patel at New Jack Printing Works. Ltd., 39, Siinkli Street, Byculla, and Published by him for "filmindia" Publications Ltd.. from 55, Phirozshah Mehta Road, Fort. Bombay. Another Biogrnphn Bif STANDARD PICTURES s"Mf[]|-feAMTI&TU" Uhected & Produced J3y : G. J A G I R D A R SWAMI RAMANAND fttoduc Hon - In -cka. t^e : M. HAVEWALA So OH to Be Bel eased "BAIfeAM KHAN" Utected^: G . JAGIRDAR Produced ^y : M . HAVEWALA Cameraman: Y. D. SARPOTDAR &und: K. E D U L J I Puiticidars: STANDARD PICTURES JYOTI STUDIOS. KENNEDY BRIDGE. : : BOMBAY 7. REGD.No.p 3517 IUGHALEAZAM A SHIR A Z PRODUCTION sU.NARGIS.CHANDRAMOHA SAPRU 6r DURGA KHOTE Vput&Jfy. K.ASIF °LO TRODITIQ NS BECOMB TVRANNV KAMAL PICTURES KENNEDY BRIDGE Beautiful Chandni plays the lead opposite Suresh in Sona Chandi produced and directed by R. D. Pareenja. Released through New Bombay Theatres Ltd., 55 Apollo Street, Fort, Bombay, the Northern India rights are with Jigat Talkie Distributors, Chandni Cnowk, Delhi. R. D. Pareenja's Sona Chandi is bidding for box-office honours of 1946 on the merits of its screenplay, songs, music and excellent performances of many new-comers in the cast. Co— 133 SUBSCRIPTION RATESi The annuel subscription, for 12 Issues of "fllmlndla", from tny month Is I INLAND Rs. 24/- FOREIGN i Shillings SO/- Subscription Is accepted only for i collective period of 12 months and not for ■ small period. Subscription money should be remitted only by Money Order or by Postal Order but not by cheques. V.P.P.s will not be sent. filmindia FROPRI ETORS FILMINDIA PUBLICATIONS LTD. 55. SIR PHIROZESHAH MEHTA ROAD, FORT, BOMBAY Telephone: 267S2 Editor: BAB U RAO PATEL Vol. XII. MAY 1946 ADVERTISEMENT RATESi The advertisement rates are as follows! Per Insertion Pull Pace Inside Rs. 400 Half Page Inside Rs. 210 i Pate Inside Rs. 120 i Pa(e Inside Ra. 150 2nd & 3rd Cover Rs. 500 4th Cover Rs. 600 1st Cover Rs. 1,000 The cost of the advertisement should be submitted In advance with the order. The advertise- ment will be subject to the terms and conditions of our usual contract. Salute to Ken/tt A hundred motion pictures are not made every day. \. producer, like V. Shantaram who took two years to produce "Dr. Kotnis", will require two hundred years to broduce a hundred pictures. Sardar Chandulal Shah o£ Ranjit has done it within , 5 years (1931-1946) of unceasing production activity. \nd in producing a hundred pictures, under, a single rade-mark, Sardar Chandulal has done something which 10 one has been able to do during the last 30 years of ilm-making in India. Producing motion pictures is a very flimsy business in 'ndia. Usually the uneconomic experience of producing only a couple of pictures chases the producer out of the ndustry. Many producers with studios of their own are in debts up to their necks. Many change the trade-labels ,:rorri picture to picture either to escape the creditors or to |;ecure new loans. Film business is a flimsy affair, the |:hanges being many and sudden. The Bombay Talkies Ltd. was on the top of the world with five successive hits, lit tumbled from the top and went out of sigh: within a bay. The Prabhat Film Company trumpeted to the world (heir "Panch-Pandav" brotherhood in business. The five partners were sworn to one another through thick and thin, through sun and rain and what not. For a time the Prabhat Trade-mark Trumpet blew high above the horizon giving to 1 he industry several quality pictures. Prabhat 'stood for qualify, grandeur, excellence and ideals. Then one day a delicate female shadow cut the sky of triumph and took with it one "Pandav". The second shadow took lanother. Death claimed the ihird. Today Prabhat has neither quality nor amity. The partners are quarrelling and producing trash. Yes, the film industry is a very flimsy business. Like the cellulo:d it uses to capture its art, this business can become just so much smoke any minute. These instances are quoted to show how difficult it is for any one to pro- duce a hundred pictures under a single trade-mark in our film industry. And yet Sardar Chandulal Shah and Miss Gohar — partners in business for 17 years — have done it and while doing it, both have shared the smiles and the sighs of life alike without a complaint. They never thought of break ing the- beautiful partnership which has given to the indus try a hundred pictures within 15 years. They never quar- relled. Thev never disagreed. Though the Sardar spoke to the world of business, his decisions always belonged to both the partners. That was great team work, which was never before seen in the Indian film industry. On the day the 101st Ranjit picture went to the floor, over 2000 people of the industry congratulated the Ranjit partners. Some eulogized Ranjit's unique achievement in sugary words of politeness. "Filmindia" also congratu- lates Sardar Chandulal and Miss Gohar on their unique success but it is also our duty to point out the lesson of this achievement to others by referring to the prevalent trends that are corroding the future stability of our industry. Ours cannot be a conventional compliment given in res- ponse to a well-decorated invitation card. Sardar Chandulal Shah scored a triumph by producing a hundred talkies within 15 years, something which no one did before. 3 EAGLE-LION'S The Eagle-Lion group of "film production units have in the very brief span of two years won recognition from audiences throughout the world as purveyors of quality entertainment. Their pictures both in cost and design are meant for the markets of the world. BRITISH DISTRIBUTORS (INDIA) LTD. whose privi- lege it is to distribute these films in India renew their pledge to Indian audiences to provide abundantly of the good and healthy entertainment for which Eagle-Lion pictures are famed throughout the world. r— * HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK ★ — | SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY RELEASES : "Brief Encounter"., the film of Noel Coward's poignant drama of home life ; "Seventh Veil", starring James Mason and Ann Todd. 2oo simultaneous showings of Eagle-Lion films throughout India, Burma and Ceylon. ray, 1946 FILM INDIA .liss Gohar, partner of Ranjit Movietone, attracted more rowds in her time than any one else ever did. She has worked in 16 talkies. The unique record of producing 100 talkies and 36 ilent pictures, within a small period of 17 years, in the nidst of often unhealthy competition, is no: attained with- >ut s:rxt principles of business or without shrewd and areful planning. In this industry in which paying salaries to the staff s considered the most unpleasant and irregular duty of he producer, let us tell the world that during 17 years of heir crowded career as producers, the Ranjit did not miss 1 single pay day. Not one person from the staff can say hat his or her payment was delayed by even an hour. On he contrary Ranjits have advanced money to stars to pay heir gambling debts of the racecourse. It is a time-honoured practice amongst film producers 0 run up the arrears of advertisement bills. Apart from heir patronizing pose of giving alms in the shape of idver.isements to the newspapers and the film periodicals >ve have seen film producers red with offended dignity :ven when payments are being beggingly asked. During 17 years, the Ranjit paid their advertisement Jills on fixed dates without the bill collectors calling. Like- wise all business bills had their fixed dates of payment and lot one complaint can be placed at the door of Ranjit iuring i heir crowded career of 17 years. This record of business integrity is much greater than he production record of 100 pictures. While, what people Awaiting Immediate Release ALL 0VE& INDIA! REHANA A Song and Dance Shot? I STARRING : ft Manorama ft Salim Raza & Pran ft Roofy Ramesh ft Majnu & Begum Parveen ft Fareeda Music QADER FARIDI Dialogues : AH SAN RIZVI Direction H A R B A N S Produce,! by: G. A. THAKUR NOW OX THE SETS CULNAR Directed by : Mahmood Hussain Dialogues Tufail Hoshiarpuri FOR BOMBAY & C. P. C. I. Rights Apply : GIRDHAR BAHAR PRODUCTIONS Tinwalla Building, Tribhuvan Road, BOMBAY 4. 5 The advantage of dealing with a firm like Gaumont- Kalee is that they sell EVERYTHING for the Cinema. From Projectors to chair-covers ---from screens to tickets — from Mercury Art Rectifiers to sound-proofing, your problems can be intelligently studied and solved by the very wide resources of this experienced firm. With many years of practical experience — with a close and intimate knowledge of the film business — Gaumont-Kalee give you an unbeatable all round service, extending even to the design and cons- truction of cinemas. GAUMONT-KALEE FORBES BUILDING - HOME STREET - BOMBAY DJK ay, 1946 FILM INDIA |j) is quite important in life, how they do it is certainly ore important. The Ranjits have spent over Rs. 1,78,00,805 on their > oduction business from 193 1 to 1945. Out of this they 1 ive paid Rs. 1,06,80,480 to artistes; Rs. 35,60,000 were >ent on settings; Rs. 8,90,400 were used for out-door enes and Rs. 18,00,800 went in purchasing raw film. . hey employ on an average 650 persons every month and I ly over a lakh of rupees every month in salaries. Sardar Chandulal Shah and Miss Gohar have not only oduced 100 talkies and set up an all-time record in mo- ran picture production in India but they have also estab- ;hed great traditions of business worthy of emulation by I 1 those who aim high in the career of commerce. ( And yet in 1926 just 20 years ago, Sardar Chandulal j |as but a struggling story-writer for the none-too wosperous Laxmi Film Company of Bombay. But the liorld which is cruel enough is not strong enough to put Itwn an intelligent man who has decided to rise above lis fellow men. Within three years, in 1929, the Sardar llunded the Ranjit Film Company in partnership with liiss Gohar, who was soon destined to take the crown .I'- ll e most emotional artiste of the screen. Sardar Chandulal and Miss Gohar made a rare team 21 artists who gave some great motion pictures to the film I azy people of India. We still remember pictures like I fish w a Mohini", "Gunsundari". "Miss 1933", "Barris U r's Wife'" etc., pictures that made history in their own I nes. Sardar Chandulal directed twenty two pictures before I settled down to enjoy the fruit of his hard struggle in I c" It must be recorded here that since the Sardar"s retire I ent from the active life of a producer and director, not I ie Ranjit picture has ever attained the quality or the I' indard ot production so often found in the previous } injit pictures. With his own labour Sardar Chandulal had taken the m injit trade name to the top, expecting others to nurse it U that position in future. And it has again to be regretfully recorded here I at not one man who succeeded the Sardar as a director of I injit pictures has come within even a striking distance j the intelligence of the founder of Ranjit. Ranjit has lost its great name gradually because ot a I iwd of unintelligent and unimaginative people who don't I Xi to have even the horse-sense to follow the Sardar's Hkelligent instructions when given. These people have i ither the zeal nor the initiative to be different and enter Rising. They seek their guarantee of employment in their ■ flity in soothsaying and in the Sardar's affectionate I Valty to his workers. For, no man has yet been sacked ■im the Ranjit staff. They either die or leave for their ■en reasons. But they are never asked to go, because to I War Chandulal and Miss Gohar, their workers, be they Brn rotters, constitute just so many members of the big Ijnjit Family. And a majority of the members of the [jnjit Family are too old to be useful for modern pro- liction purposes and it is no wonder that the Ranjit trade- name today is far away from the top where it used to be once. And yet after all said and done, a hundred pictures, good or bad, are not produced every day by a single pro- ducer. No producer in the world can produce a quality picture every time. Quality pictures take a lot of hard work ind time and their success is often a speculative factor. While quality should be the ideal of every producer, the film business needs a lot of quantity also to be called an industry. The thousand and odd theatres in India need pictures trcm month to month for picturegoers of various tastes and it is essential that a certain amount of quantity must be produced to meet this demand. The most happy com- promise would be to produce quantity with a reasonably ;^ood standard of quality. A product like this would meet 1 he expectations of both the filmgoers and the critics. The previous Ranjit product, in the days when the Sardar himself directed pictures, met all the requirements of a happy compromise between quality and quantity. With a thorough reorganization of the present production methods, the Ranjit can once again attain their old positron. We wish they do so as quickly as possible. But in the meanwhile. Sardar Chandulal and Miss Gohar take our salute for their unique achievement in pro- ducing a hundred talkies in just 15 years and under a single irademark. 7 STRAND ELECTRIC FOR FILM STUDIO, STA6E OR CINEMA FOOTLIGHTS & FOCUS LANTERNS BATTENS, STAGE FLOODS & SPOTLIGHTS CYCLORAMA LIGHTING & DIMMERS OPTICAL EFFECTS & CONTROLS AUDITORIUM LIGHTING- SHIPMENTS IMMEDIATE" We Specialise in Acoustic Treatment and Heat Insulation for Cinemas STRAND ELECTRIC & ENGINEERING Co. Ltd. LONDON Sole Agents i?i India INDO-BRITISH GENERAL EXCHANGE NEW OPERA _ BANGALORE vm This section is the monopoly of "JUDAS" and he writes what he likes and about things which he likes. The views expressed here are not necessarily ours, but they carry weight because they are written by a man who knows his job. THINK OF THE TECHNICIANS! The war has come and gone and though it has left behind famine and pestilence all over the country, it has inade the film producers rich beyond their expectations. Our producers evidently have a lot of money to spend the way we find them buying extensive lands for studios lit Chembur (India's future Jollywood) and ordering new rnachinery and equipment for post-war production. The number of producers has also multiplied beyond easy cal- culation. Government contractors, furniture merchants lind even street pedlars have become film producers these pays. There are at least two hundred pictures under pro- duction at the moment in Bombay. Add to this number [mother 150 from Calcutta, Lahore and Madras and wc |>hall have over 350 pictures in hand at the end of 1946, with the same number of release theatres we had before ihe war. During six years of war, producers reaped a rich har- dest because any trash they produced turned into gold Lvith an ease that surprised them. They didn't bother ibout quality in production. They were just worried about Keeping the profits in hand and not letting them slip into the income-tax coffers. Numerous black-market rackets helped them to keep the profit intact. All this money is how coming out slowly to buy properties, studios and Equipment. But our producers seem to have forgotten some of hose film workers, without whose unstinted co-operation, o many pictures, be they even trash, would not have been iroduced. Our technicians worked night and day to give mr producers pictures after pictures which they turned nto gold. Quite a good quantity of that gold bought a number )f motor cars and a lot of property for some favourite itars, but the level of salaries paid to our technicians never mproved over the pre-war standard. Almost every one in the film industry, bar technicians ind studio workers, has made money during the war. Rut a good recordist still gets between five and six hundred upees a month and so does the cameraman. This is pre- isely what they got before the war, when the cost of iving was much cheaper than it is today. And all techni- ians, without a single exception, have worked almost 18 ™t of the 24 hours of the day to multiply the producers' noney-spinncrs. Our technicians have had no rest, no holidays, no xtra bonuses, no presents, no medical relief, no overtime payments and no thanks even. They have been mercilessly :xploited night and day without even an appreciation of heir work and contribution to the prosperity of the fib" ndustry. While others are rolling in their illegitimate profits, the technicians arc still poor-drcadfully poor. May ■ve know why? We can point out at least a dozen instances where amorous producers have purchased property for their favourite actresses paying fancy prices and in the same breath refused to pay overtime charges to their technicians. We know producers who have lost millions in mad gambling but haven't the heart to give a month's salary as a bonus to the technicians and the studio workers. As a rule our technicians are the best behaved folks in our film studios. During the last 30 years' of our film industry there has not been one incident of any technician having held up work for one reason or other. We have seen technicians, ill in body and bone and running up a temperature of 104 degrees, still doing their work without grumbling because their producers wanted the picture- ready by a certain date. Like some of our directors and producers our technicians have never got themselves mixed up with the sex aspect of the industry. They have always shown uniform character in their work and behaviour. And yet these people who have given so much for the prosperity of our industry and its producers are still kept dreadfully poor and on wages which keep them only a little away from the starvation line. Is this fair? "40 CRORES" AND 400 MILLIONS Poor Pandit Indra! Little did he know the unrea- sonable temper of our countrymen when he wrote the Usha Dutt and Shombhu Mitra give a pathetic performance in "Dharti-ke-Lal" of People's Theatres. ■0. P. S. Pattkk Production NIRUPA ROY MAYADEVI & MAJID AND MASOOD TPitecteJ. J^y mRDHUKumnR prteu 'CPkotocjXa.fifiij D. D. BAROT AHSAN RIZVI KHAN MASTANA. AHSAN RIZVI ALAM SHIYAPOSH SHEVAN CHITRA BHARATI LIMITED. 164-A. VINCENT ROAD, DADAR. BOMBAY-1 4. May, 1946 story and the dialogue of "40 Crores" for Chandra Art Productions. With all the best intentions in the world Panditji believed, like millions of his countrymen, that only Hindu-Muslim unity could win for his country the freedom it has been wanting for the last sixty years. So he put all his wits together and turned out some burning dialogue on Hindu-Muslim unity and even threatened those who dared to come in the way of this unity. Having done this the honest Panditji waited for the producers to do their bit. The producers turned out to be more honest. They brought out a map of India and round it made a Muslim and a Hindu deliver the strong dialogue of Panditji on unity. They went further in this good plan and borrowed from the News Parade, a film shot of the famous Gandhi-Jinnah meeting at Malabar Hill and put that into the picture as a further illustration of their good intentions about unity. The Hindus liked the idea when "40 Crores" was released during the month at the Krishna Talkies in Bombay. But the Muslims lost their humour. On Sun- day, the 14th April, during the 4 p.m. show, they fired a few crackers and stood up shouting. One of them ran up to the screen and cut the screen across with a six-inch knife blade. Very soon there was a general pandemonium and people ran about in panic. The show was stopped and it still remains stopped. The theatre man refuses to run the picture and the handful of Muslims, who kicked up the row, refuse to let it run. The Censors saw the picture again and found nothing objectionable in it. The Hon. Mr. Morarji Desai, the Home Member, also saw the picture and wondered why the Muslims objected. Every one wonders but the Muslims still object. They don't believe in the Hindu-Muslim unity. They don't believe- in Gandhi and Jinnah meeting though these two did meet to be photographed together. The Hindus want an undivid- ed, united India and the Muslims want only Pakistan. Pakistan is available only after cutting India into several parts. That is the main quarrel between the Hindus and the Muslims. And this quarrel, which was so long only in the field of politics, has now encroached upon our indus- try of entertainment. The intolerance of some Muslims is going to dictate to the rest of India what they should or should not have for entertainment. Very shortly these people will tell the rest of India what they should have for their daily meals. :We shall have to get everything ok'd by the Muslims. If we 'see the wrong entertainment they will tear our screen, if we eat the wrong food they will tear open our stomachs. It seems that the destiny of 400 million people has been handed over to the tender mercies of a few rowdv Muslims who are going to tell us what to do, what to see, what to eat, what to wear and what to talk. The Muslim rowdies have become the Censors of 400 millions and incidentally the masters, because some of them can whip out a knife quickly without worrying about human life. The knife is not the sole monopoly of the Muslims The Hindus can handle it equally well. The Gurkhas art- experts at it and the Sikhs don't lag behind. But the use of the knife is the privilege of the goondas whatever the community. The problem before us is whether we are to permit the goondas, whatever their religion or community, to dictate to us a new way of living. SMUJTIES ■k BEST SOUND RECORDING "BELLS OF ST. MARY'S" RAINBOW PICTURES' PRO- DUCTION R. K. O. RELEASE ★ BEST ACTING JOAN CRAWFORD WARNER BROS' MILDRED PIERCE * BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY "HITLER LIVES" WARNER BROS' * BEST TWO - REEL SHORT STAR IN THE NIGHT WARNER BROS" ACHIEVEMENT IN NEW SCORING AUDITORIUM VOCAL ROOM AND REVERBERATION CHAMBER & MAIN SCORING STAGE ( RCA ASSISTED IN THIS DESIGN.) ALL THESE FILMS EQUIPMENTS. RECORDED ON RCA PH0T0PH0NE EQUIPMENTS LTD. BOMBAY DELHI CALCUTTA MADRAS LAHORE KARACHI ASIATIC PICTURES DEEPAK. KAPOOR Hay, 1946 frlLMINDI A It the illiterate Muslim doesn't understand a problem Ind flares up, it is necessary tor the educated Muslim to Ixplain the same to him and get him to understand it. B'he same is true of every community, wherever the goonda llement is found. We are getting used to fireworks in politics. All the karties are exhausting themselves in uttering threats and lounter-threats. Now the poison is spreading to our day- K-day life. If it spreads further we are a doomed people, the Muslim knife will bring out the Hindu knife and l-om the clash of these two knives will flow blood that Kill strengthen the growth of alien rule. Hindus and Kfuslims will have given their lives to give a comfortable Iving to the wily Englishman. Freedom that is now on lie horizon of our hopes will have disappeared quickly Ike a summer cloud. Knives can't be constantly bathed li blood, they will be sheathed someday but the sheathed Inives will be the peeved blades of slaves under the pres- lire of bullets and not the arms of freedom's fighters. Ind at the post-mortem of such conflicts there will be liore Hindus and Muslims with bullets than with kmlc lirusts. That is our grim future if we allow a few goondas I13 go their own way without pulling them up. There is nothing objectionable in "40 Crores". There I nothing in it to offend or hurt our Muslims. The lieme of the picture is a plea for Hindu-Muslim unity. Kindu-Muslim unity is not a strange or a new thing. It I a familiar phase of Indian life, hundreds of years old. IR'hat is new in it that scares either the Hindus or the lluslims? What is in it that needs the knife to settle the Brgument? The Muslims, who are quicker with the knife, must Ihink this over dispassionately and so must the Hindus Ihose overwhelming numbers might lull them into secu- ■ty. Let the political differences be confined to the field If politics. Let politicians wangle over Pakistan, Akhand Hindustan and all other Stans. The masses have given Bieir votes to their politicians. There is no necessity ot tiding knives to them now. The politicians don't know low to use the knives, they are jugglers in words. It is no II se frightening the politicians and the people by brandish Ihg knives over trifling matters. If Pakistan is rightfully lue to the Muslims, they will get it without knives. The ■nife on the other hand, might delay the advent of Pakis An, by becoming a victim of the British bullet. In the meanwhile before we get Pakistan or Freedom, mi us show towards one another a little more forbearance Ind let us permit one another to present one's way of life without any one having to cut it short with a six-inch knife ■lade. I This land of 40 crores can only be peaceful and happy Arhen we sheathe the knife and switch on the smile. 1- Bie smile too much of an effort to the usually gay Mus- l|Jm: We don't think so. •REAK THE SLIDES-RACKET. Our theatre owners never seem to be satisfied with the (luge profits they make by showing good and bad pictures. ■They must get some extra income out of their theatre Business ami they get it by showing the filmgoers a num- ■er of slides, before the show and during the interval. One wonders whether this slide-showing is morally ■Street for a showman who advertises and invites his patrons to pay to see an entertainment picture. No men- tion is made in the advertisements that fifty slides will bt shown in addition to the entertainment programme, nor are we told that these slides will be thrust on us when we least expect them and right in the midst of the story proper. And the filmgoers are compelled to notice, entirely , against their wishes, that Narottam Bhau Jewellers have put up a new wristlet on the market to compete with Nanubhai Jewellers who had recently made a sensation with an anklet of rubies; that Saridon stops all pains within just five minutes including the pain of seeing the slide, that some Nicholson presents his name in different colours to prove to the world that he sells paints which, probably no one wants; that the "Bombay Chronicle" is the only paper people love to read in India — goodness knows when and why; that some ghee merchant has the right stuff to cook everything including everyone's goose and so on till the filmgoers are told that Metro's Tees, | Regal's candies or Eros' cakes are the last things in the world to enjoy during the interval and before departing Irom this sordid world. Each slide, which yields between Rs. 7^'- and Rs. iooj- per month to the theatre-man, adds to the headache of the innocent filmgoer who has been lured to pay to see some popular star or entertainment. This is not honest business. The theatre-man has no excuse to impose on us the painful penalty of seeing 50 stupid slides when our bargain with him is only to see a motion picture. By showing us the slides, the showman For Import and Export between India and U.S.A. License Holders Please Contact Cable : "INDCO" WATUMULL BROS. Phone Tucker 2684 Limited Partner INDIA-AMERICA PRODUCTS CO. IMPORTERS - EXPORTERS MANUFACTURERS AGENTS ABNASHI RAM 453 South Spring Street Managing Partner Los Angeles 13, Calif., U.S.A. Enquiries must be with complete Specifications also Trade References For Motion Picture ( films, Equipment And Accessories ) Department— Please Refer To : RAM BAGAI 13 Out Commy Cl/-fi.ac/AAa: SULTANA CHANO BIBlK. WfGAL PICTURES T/nwa/a Btdgs Tt/bhovan Ro*d,BOftBJX< 4. »lay, 1946 FILM INDIA s breaking faith with us. He cannot make extra money )y giving us a headache. People must shout these slides down someday till the [bowmen stop showing them. Unless filmgoers become owdy about this immoral intrusion on their goodness, here is no hope of the greedy theatre-owners stopping the llides. Or in the alternative, the theatre chappie must nention in his trade advertisements the exact number )£ slides he is going to show to us and at what time. Well, this slide-racket must stop as soon as possible md it is for the filmgoers to stop it — not by requests but )y being rowdy. If the filmgoers give hall-a-dozen gooJ )erformances of rowdiness, there won't be a single slide m the screen. The theatre-owners are not very tough >eople. DUR THEATRES AND ENTERTAINMENT Talking of slides, we are reminded of other nuisances |n our theatres — especially in those theatres where the ndian pictures are shown. There is usually a world ot lifferente between a theatre showing an English talkie ind the one showing an Indian picture— though very often he same man owns bo'.h the theatres. Even the audience, •cry oi\en the same people, behaves differently in the afferent theatres. People are shades better behaved while •eeing an English taikie, but all their inner crudeness is on >arade during an Indian picture. To find reasons for this, one must study the psycho- ogy of slaves and that is a two-hundred-year old subject, oo long for our present purpose. The Indian theatres are as a rule filthy spots tor many easons. Taking Bombay as the first city of the Indian impire and the most important release centre for motion jictures, the theatres of Bombay ought to be the best in he country. While the city has some very good theatres or foreign pictures, there is hardly a good theatre in the pity for Indian pictures, bar the Roxy Talkies. Indian theatres never have enough lavatories and what they have are dirty, disease-ridden spots which even die Municipal authorities don't visit for fear of infection. The theatres are ill-ventilated and usually more chairs are squeezed in than actual space can permit. The chairs pro- vide a haven to bugs and fleas to feast upon the constantly Scratching buttocks of the filmgoers. From the beginning of its career, to provide comfort to the filmgoers, right up !to the end, when its pieces are used as firewood by the ilavatory man, the chair is never dusted, cleaned or fumi- gated— all these processes being unknown to the average Indian showman. The curtains tell the same story. There is more dust on them than on the streets and every time they are push- ed about, people sitting near inhale the dust dislodged in the process. In Indian theatres, there is no time between the two shows, because the audience of the next show usually push out the audience of the previous one. The problem of cleaning the theatre between the shows therefore, never arises. The dust and dirt of thousands is carried from show to show, day to day, month to month and year to year. Before the show, during the interval and very often during the show itself, hawkers provide their own anno yance to the audience by offering pan, bidi, lemon, nuts and what not. They present the stuff by pushing it undci your nose and collect the money dangerously near your hip-pocket in the dark. They also add to the sounds of the talkies by occasional shoutings of "Pan-bidi-matches" and throw their huge shadows on the screen at regular intervals. To this general atmosphere of filth and indiscipline, the riimgoers also contribute their quota. Many of them leave the lavatories alone and use the wash-basin and its surroundings for urgent needs. Pan-chewing is a colourful curse of the Indian nation. Its disadvantages are no where so prominent as in a picture-house, where everything from the floor to the ceiling is obligingly painted red by the pan-eaters. Smoking ugly smelling bidis turns the cinema into an opium den. Then there are new couples and the male partners always try to explain the story of the screen to the female ones and people round about understand it better than the dull-headed females. There are crying babies who refuse to shut up even with the nipples of their mothers between their little lips. At times you hear the mother screaming because the little one, excited by the sight of the screen villain, has given mummy a vicious bite. Then there are the musical ones, descendants of the great Tansen, who insist on singing with the hero or the heroine and if you stop them they keep rhythm with their shoes which usually have horse-shoes on their soles. Then in this colourful country of many races and laces, there are many with huge turbans in all shades and shapes. You don't mind the shades in the darkness of a theatre, but when a turban starts rocking from side to side in tune with a song, you do mind this turban as in India it is often a symbol of some religion or other. So the tur- ban rocks before your eyes and you duck it by adopting counter -rhythm and in doing so the man behind you wonders whether you are getting crazy or being purposely rude. If the man behind you happens to be a hefty type he gives you a rap on the head and stops your counter- rhythm. There are many other things that make Indian pictures worth seeing once. Seeing Indian pictures is fun all right, but is this all entertainment? YOU'LL HARDLY BELIEVE That after seeing "Dr. Kotnis", Sardar Chandulal re- pented bitterly for not securing the services of V. Shan- taram to act in "Pagli Duniya". Shantaram's natural act- ing would have made "Pagli Duniya-' a hit of the season. That the only defect in 'Dr. Kotnis", of course accord- ing to the great Shantaram, should be the excellent acting of Jayashree who beats her funny-looking husband from shot to shot. It's lucky there is no divorce among the Hindus. That Bhal Pendharkar wants to erect a statue of Cousin Shantaram in Papa's Square of Kolhapur with the following inscription: "The man who spoke Hindustani .ind won back the Indian Empire for the Kolhapuris." That with his Hindustani approved by all the Kolha- puris, V. Shantaram will now open an Academy for teach- ing Hindustani to people from the United Provinces. That a short course will be taken in this peculiar language by i'andit Jawaharlal Nehru. That Shantaram proved that "Dr. Kotnis" was a Chinese story by tossing the laddoo in the air like a Chinese luggler but swallowing it like a Kolhapuri glutton. That laddoo was the symbol of Shantaram's youth. 15 Ylow- Running R OX Y VEEEA & PARC MEET THESE IRRESISTI— BELLES IN "fllmUtans SHIKARI Starting: /1SHDK KUMAR Director: SAVAK VACHA Story: GYAN MUKERJI {Next Change at ROXY ) Starring: INDUMATI : VEERA : NASIR KHAN Director: NITIN BOSE 1/et anotket £ta.t ^Finl ! SHOBHA S A # A C ( Nearing Completion ) with KANU ROY Director: B. MITRA Production No. 5 Starring : ASHOK KUMAR & VEERA Producer : ASHOK KUMAR Production No. 6 Starring: INDUMATI : PARO : NASIR KHAN Director : SANTOSHI ,lay, 1946 FILMINDI A "Only Pandit CfitUk could urtite luclt a itottf" Was the opinion of M. Sadiq famous director of 'Ratan.' HE WAS MUCH IMPRESSED SO ARE WE AND SO SHALL YOU BE Await For This Year's Most Enter- taining Musical Mammoth DOLAR TALKIES' PROUD PRESENTATION Direction bu : M. SADIQ RAT AN Fame M K. FAZLA ■zStozu Uru : PANDIT GIRISH TANVIR NAQVI ^ProducEcl fry : ISMAIL M. DEVJEE For Further Particulars;. DOLAR TALKIES II, BANK STREET, FORT. BOMBAY. That "Dr. Ko'nis" has become so popular at the studio, that Rajkamal people keep on crowding at the Swastik in turns at every show and depriving the public of their rightful privilege of seeing the picture. That Dewan Sharar, the poet laureate at the court of V. Shantaram, has decided to return to England in disgust, because Indians in general don't accept him as a poet. That Rai Bahadur Chuni Lall wants Dewan Sharar to work on the Film Council to write a poem or two at the Council Meetings, just as Dewan Saheb did when K. M. Mody was entertained for his Ordeal of the British Empire. That after every shot which Master Winayak ( father of six children) takes during the shooting of "Subhadra". his seven assistants sit like the seven dwarfs of Snow White, completely extinguished at the flash of genius shown by the Master. Net result: Winayak looks more like a Ceylon buffalo these days with gas inside the head. That Raja Pandit, who was once in charge of recruit- ing girls at Rajkamal, can no longer enlist the sympathy of his wife Ratnamala as she has cancelled his Power of Attorney all round. Wonder whom she has given the power now! That Baburao Pendharkar will now start production making Ratnamala the heroine of his picture. Getting stars for pictures has always been a ticklish job. That Professor N. S. Phadke of Kolhapur and "Jhan- kar" will be tried in the Rajkamal courtyard for the heinous offence of criticising "Dr. Kotnis". He will be hanged by the neck till life is extinct. That after the second death of "Dr. Kotnis" at Swastik. Tamsu and Hilla Wadia are churning the idea of sending "Sharbati Ankhen" to Americj. High time "The Court Dancer" got some company. That the release of Dr. Ko'nis" in America has to he reluctantly postponed for some time till a special theatre is built in New York and the same is opened by Shantaram followed bv Dewan Sharar. Dada Vankudre. Keshav Date. Baburao Pendharkar, Master Winayak and Vasant Desai. It will be Anna's Pavlova night. That Sadhona Bose is reported to have completed her first "Ajanta" with her first set of financiers. Now she begins the second "Ajanta" with the second set of finan- ciers. That Kanan wants to do her own film production without a director and with herself as a director. Are we going back to Fascism5 That since Ram Gogtay went out of the IMPPA, the producers are finding it difficult to collect enough blokes to make an Executive Committee meeting. They have therefore issued a national appeal to one and all. That Vijoo Bhatt of Prakash is reported to have pro- duced "Nai Ma" merely to prove in domestic circles that Ranjana won't make a bad stepmother if given the job We agree with the argument. That the honour of directing the ioist picture at Ranjit goes to Manibhai Vyas and not to H.M.V. Chatur- bhuj. Let us repeat with the aged Cardinal Wolsey: "Had I but served my God with half the zeal I serv'd my king, he would not in mine age Have left me naked to mine enemies." That people went to Shivaji Park to see "Subhadra" but they found the demon Ghatotkach coming out with Pandit Indra. 17 CHAROLIA PRODUCTIONS' Romantic Social § H II IK A E> IP U C II A NOVEL THEME FULL OF JOY AND ENTERTAINMENT With t his Keautiful young wife? Suspecting a beautiful wife is like smelling again a beautiful flower to see whether the intensity of the fragrance is still as of old. But suspecting is a gentle art which must be practised in a sooth- ing manner. M. P. Productions' Musical Hit with CHABBI, JAHAR, PURNIMA, NATWAR and IFTIKHAR. ZbixseuJ £«, .- PRAMEN MITRA. WATCH FOR ITS RELEASE For CENTRAL PROVINCES :- JAMNADAS LTD. For SOUTH:- SELECT PICTURES CIRCUIT. For BENGAL :- MANSATA FILM DISTRIBUTORS. 31 LONG AFTER THIS PICTURE HAS BEEN SEEN Hon Will tell the Story lo your Children I I I ! Punjab Film Corporation ft te tent 5 *mumTRz shmiti* IN ■0 3ocUL ftoty Tail Ol LILTING TUNES ! RIOTOUS ROMANCE !! EXQUISITE DANCES !!! HILARIOUS COMEDY !!!! * NEX T- SHERAZI MUMTAZ SHANTI # ANJUM W A L L I SHYAM SUNDAR DEKHC I ft ANJUM ft SHAHZADI # CHANDRIKA ft KHATOON & A. SHAH. «j This new method of shooting is called "Camera Writing." And what- ever Hollywood may think of John Farrow, the originality of this tech- nique we place at the door of H.M.V. Chaturbhuj who goes round and round with the trolley with his artistes in the centre till everyone in the world gets fed up, including the trolley. No one can "Write" with the camera as well as H.M.V. Chaturbhuj of Ranjit. STILL ANOTHER? Piqued by the killing payments which have to be made to Techni- color, Hollywood has been searching for a long time for a cheaper colour system which would not cost so much and yet give the same results. The latest adventure in this field is called Thomascolor. Evidently some Thomas is in it. It is claimed that this is a simpler system which requires only the conventional black and white negative and the cameras. There is a catch in it, however, as a special lens is needed for the camera and an iden- tical one has to be fitted to the pro- jector. Irritated by the monopoly of Tech- nicolor, Hollywood people are doing a lot of wishful thinking ahout Thomascolor. LANGUAGE OF ULTIMATUMS The British people are showing a lot of sporting spirit these days. Their chief sportsman in the film industry is J. Arthur Rank. He is developing international sportsmanship, the way HAMAM May also be called the big soap at small cost. The reputation for quality, its standard weight and low cost in these days of soaring prices and its rich and fragrant lather has made it the leading soap of India. Stocks are available everywhere— Ask your dealer for Hamam. THE TATA OIL MILLS COMPANY LIMITED 60 May, 1946 FILMINDI A Is Sushila Rani giving an assurance to Trilok in "Gvalan", a picture directed by Baburao Patel? he displays his affection for foreign films to be shown in Great Britain. He has recently completed arrange- ments whereby he will be showing French and Russian films in London. All this love, for the foreigner how- ever, is not so altruistic as it looks because in their characteristic, blunt and honest manner, the French and Russian producers once blurted out: "If you want to show British films in our country, then you must give us a break in your cinemas." As an international sportsman of business, Arthur Rank unders'ands this Franco-Russian language belter than the other British producers. Why can't the Indians speak the same words to the Yankees and the Bu!l Dogs overseas if they want their Ram Rajyas and Bharat Milaps to be shown in London and New York: WE COUNT OUR DEAD Dr. George Gallup, the counting wonder of Yankee land who can tell you how many grey hair American women have in their wigged tops, tells us that 66,000,000 paid full ad- mission prices at the Nations Thea- tres every week according to a recent assessment. That is an increase of 22% over 1940. We can tell you, without the help of Dr. Gallup 35,00,000 died of star- vation within 4 months in Bengal. In India polls are taken in the crema- toriums and graveyards. PASSING OF A PIONEER Mr. Shamji Kalidas We regret to announce the sudden death of Mr. Shamji Kalidas on 1 8th April '46 at Rajkot from heart failure at the age of 58. Popularly known as the "Film King of Africa", the late Shamji Seth was a real trade pioneer in every sense of the word. At the young age of 16 when he crossed the seas in searcb of fortune, he had not a copper to his name in the wide world. For years he struggled in a strange and none- too-sympathetic country and if suc- cess is to be measured with the yard- stick of money. Shamji Seth ended h:s career as a multi-millionaire. Though the late Shamji Seth's principle business was piecegoods, he took great pioneering interest in the Indian film industry and took the Indian films to the different Africas for the first time. At the time of his death he controlled the biggest theatre chain for Indian pictures in the face of severe White opposition. Born in the same town as Mahatma Gandhi, Rajkot, this tough son of Kaihiawar fought many a year with the White competition to introduce and establish the Indian films. To- day, the Indian producers look upon the African income as a substantial contribution to their production plans. Thanks to the late Shamji Seth. But Shamji Seth's activities on be- half of the Indian did not restrict themselves to the exhibition of films in the different Africas. He gene- rously financed many a struggling film production company in India and at the time of his death over 50 lakhs of rupees were engaged on the production side of the industry. With the others in the film industry we mourn the death of a great pioneer and pray for peace to his soul in heaven. ONCE AGAIN Even at forty, Miriam Hopkins be- lieves in keeping her bed warm. News comes to us that she was re- cently married to Raymond B. Brock, eight years younger War Correspond ent and Lecturer. And with this marriage she inherits a ready-made child from Brock's first marriage. This is Miriam's fourth adventure and little Raymon's second. HIS LAST ACT Lionel Atwill, the well-known Hollywood actor, is no more. He died of pneumonia at his Hollywood home on the night of April 22nd. He had been ill for sometime. 1 1tumbnalL JQwiew* NAI MA This social picture, produced by Prakash Pictures, is a boring story seeking to prove, in a spineless and unimaginative manner, a hypothetical theme that step-mothers are not neces- sarily bad as traditionally understood. The production values are very poor and so are the performances by Ran- jana, Jeewan and others. The direc- tion of the picture is just so much waste of time. * * * AMEEREE This is another Barua flop released with a lot of tom-tom, pulling in innocent political leaders like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sarat Chandra to endorse its invisible greatness. The theme is suspected of a social con- science and is intended to help the slum residents by shaking up the rich. As the story painfully unfolds on the screen it turns out to be a romance between Jamuna and Barua with the poor as onlookers. Jamuna is too des- potic for a slum girl and Barua too emaciated as the rich man. Between the two the story becomes so boring that we have neither anger against the rich nor sympathy for the poor at the end of it. The production is the maiden effort of Associated Pictures of Calcutta. * * * SOHNI MAHTWAL This picture of Jayant Desai Pro- ductions is a rehash of "Leila Majnu" with the names changed. It has the traditional romance which has bored us through ages. Tshwarlal acts 'Mahiwal', the romantic hero, and in doing so gives a terrific frost bite to our heart. Para gives an improved performance as 'Sohni.' The best performance is given by Dixit in the continuously humorous role of the potter. The dialogue is familiar and the lyric composition is cheap. The music is cheap and imitative. As a maiden effort of Ishwarlal and his rompanion, the direction of the fami- liar sequences is not at all bad. The picture entertains in parts and drags at other times. * * * GHULAMT This is a propaganda story about the bad Japanese who are now in the hands of virtuous Yankees. Produ- ced by Shalimar Pictures of Poona, the picture has come on the screen after the war went off the world canvas. The subject has therefore no topical appeal. Technically, the story is well pre- sented but the story has become a familiar hotch-potch. The shadow- play interludes are beautifully taken. The patriotic fervour of the hero (Masud Parvez) and the heroine (Renuka Devi) looks very detachecj and lukewarm. The heroine present: a dehydrated appearance and look: far from presentable while the hen has a face of bones with skin drawr drum-wise across every bone. BotJ don't act. The direction is pretty poor anc fails to make full use of the stor) material. "Ghulami" entertains ir parts without offending. DHARTR LAL MM/ THE VOICE OF INDIA'S DUMB MILLIONS IS HEARD IN INDIAN PEOPLE'S THEATRE'S DHARTI KE LAL [CHILDREN OF THE EARTH) For Territorial Rights Apply to : PEERLESS PICTURES, 116, Charni Road, Bombay. For Bengal: CALCUTTA PICTURES CORPORATION. 62 Woe* & £ch OQ5 ( This is the reader's forum— as and when space permits. From the producer to the lay film-goer, every one can write to the Editor and ventilate his grievance. For every letter published in these columns, the publishers will pay Rs. 51- Letters should be signed and marked "Woes And Echoes". Photographs of the readers will be published along with theit letters, if convenient. — The Editor.) SUGGESTING THE IMPOSSIBLE i "Seeing his recent successive failures as a music director, I would request Ghulam Haider very kindly to retire from the industry even though it might mean to him a premature re- tirement. I am afraid he would out- live his fame and popularity if he ventures to make any more such con- tributions to the film industry. Mak- ing money is no art worth the name. He can sing to himself one or two songs daily to keep his art alive and pulsating." ALLAHABAD. Shafqat Ullah. AND DEAF TOO "I am really tired of seeing the hackneyed theme of the despotic- father commanding the docile and unwilling daughter to marry a man of his own choice on the screen in almost every picture and very recently in Prabhat's "Chand". I wonder how stone-blind our producers are to the fact that modern girls are emancipated j and marry men of their choice only ' and that they are repeatedlv portrav- i ing only a bygone age. When will their eyes open to the realities of ■ present-day life and make them hold a mirror up to the realities of life?" BANGALORE. A.N. Narayana Rao THANKS "Editor Patel, thank you for saving my one and a half rupee which, I had i made up my mind to spend in seeing "Piya Milan". In fact the title is so I sweet that every one would like to , see it. But now, when I have read the I review in "filmindia" I will not only see it, but ask my friends too to miss I it, even though they may be given a 1 free pass plus a packet of Aspro." M. Lai D. Butani. 1 HYDERABAD SIND. INDEED, WHEN? j "After "Hamrahi's" brilliant suc- cess it is plain even to the illiterate that new faces, whether they are ' beautiful or not, bring variety to the , audience than the same old Motilals and Ishvarlals. Can't our producers take this hint and select some of ! those handsome faces, appearing in "filmindia" and use them to advan- tage? When will our producers get some commonsense, Mr. Patel? V. K. Fazlur Rahman. BANGALORE. CONGRATULATIONS "'Vauhini Pictures of Madras, true to their excellent tradition of produc- ing the best picture of the year, have given us another delightful entertain- er. "Swarga Seema" is not only the best picture produced in South India, but it is also one of the three best pictures produced in India in 1945." BANGALORE. N. K. Swamy. FOR POLICE CHIEF "Last evening I went to see the picture 'Piya Milan' of Wadia Movie- tone in Nigar, the local cinema house which is being run under the mana- gement of Messrs. General Talkies Ltd., Delhi. I found there no rush in the first show but the tickets were being sold in black market before the Policemen. I noted the numbers of the policemen. 1101 and 539 were the numbers on their belts. Will Mr. Patel take anv action?" CAWNPORE. K. P. Shukla. Recruit R. D. Dhoble of Kazi Sayed Str. Mandvi, Bombay, can sing and dance well and lias had acting expe- rience. THE GREAT SHANTARAM "V. Shantaram's "Dr. Kotnis" is a third class picture with all its glaring defects including the flat face of the hero. Jayashree never appears like a Chinese. Why has the director chosen himself and his out-and-out Maha- rashtrian wife for these roles? Does the art of a director lie in choosing appropriate faces for the roles or in making anv damn face suit the role' POONA. Y. G. Joshi B.A . (Hons) TRAVELLING THUGS "Have you ever been to a "Tour- ing Cinema", Mr. Editor? I hope you have not been; otherwise, this "disgraceful business" would have got its condemnation from your powerful pen. "We have a lot of them in South India and barring a couple of big towns in every district, the rural folks entirely depend on these for their "entertainment." Unscrupulous businessmen, who control this form of "Cinemas" go to the rural areas in the summer, pitch tents and with the aid of 'broken machines' and "rotten pictures" carry a lot of money from the poor people. Suffice it to say, they create a very bad impres- sion among our people about this deserving industry. "It is time that this "business" is stopped." BANGALORE. N. S. V Chalam NO REMEDY "It is a common habit even among refined people to spit on the floor in the cinema theatre and speak vulgar things while the show is on. Don't you think it is most disappointing to a cultured man who goes to the theatre for relaxation? Can you sug- gest a remedy for this? H. S. Guruswamy. BANGALORE CITY IDIOTIC, EH? "After my three years rigorous im- prisonment at Singapore in Jap pri- sons, which was full of torture, irony and callous treatment, I returned to India last month, and the first picture that I saw after my return was 'P. P. A. Dera'. I was under the 63 FILMINDIA May, 1946 impression that my favourite Director Shantaram was still the most out standing figure of our film industry hut to my utter disappointment, the picture was the average idiotic pro- duction, replete with the usual un- imaginative "torrodu" lorrodil, torrol' with no sense of consistency in it. 1 still doubt very much if Shantaram is the same man who once gave us pictures like, 'Padosi' and 'Admi.' CAWNPORE. S. D. Shukla. PITY THE LORD "( )f numerous boring factors in many of the films of recent days, the worship of Lord Krishna stands as the most prominent. The moment I he hero or the heroine meets with some trouble, the director cuts short the speed of the drama by presenting an idol — never a be!autiful one — of Krishna before which the distressed person prays and kneels. Even in 'Phool', we see the same story re- peated although the Muslim environ- ments least permit such an occur- rence. To crown this all. we often find a deep resemblance among the songs of this type. One is the copy of another in a different form. Bore- dom is precipitated when the form, the meter and the words too, come to resemble one another. Two songs- one of 'Kismet' and the other of 'Manorama' — can be chosen as in- stances." ALLAHABAD. Shri Lall Shukla. STOLEN ALREADY "In American pictures we find many stories based on famous novels, but our Indian producers are running after historical and mythological pic- tures. Why don't they base their themes on our novels which can bring more realism and life to our screen?" CALCUTTA. Chand Kumari. AGREED "Shalimar's "Ghulami" is the latest addition to the long list of those pictures that fail because of their wrong cast. The picture has quite a pleasant story with pretty good music .ind yet it fails to entertain. "Masud Parvez who is not only an.icmu hut effeminate and ugly has **-en given the role of thc hero. Similarly the age-worn Rcnuka. whese face has never attracted so far is thrust into the picture as the young heroine of 18. What a wail! With these two ugly ducklings in the top roles, one finds it rather difficult to be entertained, however interesting the story." SIALKOT K. P. Paul Singh. TIME LONG AGO "We have heard a lot recently about the plans for the better films, but no- thing seems to have been done for the improvement of conditions under which patrons will see them. The condition of the local theatres, gene- rally speaking, is not much to write home about. The projection is often very bad, seats dilapidated and sani- tary conditions leave much to be desired. Admitted, present conditions will not allow for much repair, but conditions in general could greatly be improved by the exhibitors. Surely it is time the patron was entitled to a little more comfort, so that a visit to a cinema is pleasure instead of something to be just endured. RAWALPINDI G. G. Ray PHONE 22 2 3 B: 353 KALBADEVI ROAD, BOMBAY. 64 Reviewed In New York %. P. S. HARRISON (Editor; HARRISON'S REPORTS) "PILLOW OF DEATH" (Universal, Dec. 14; time, 66 min.) Ordinary program fare. It may serve as a supporting feature in theatres whose audiences :ike chilling murder mystery stories, regardless of whether or not they make sense. Those who demand some semblance of logic in stories wi.l be either amused or bored by ihe lack of it in this tale about a psychopathic murderer. The action is filled with mysterious happenings, aimed at directing sus- picion on the different characters, and these should keep the followers of "chiller" melodramas in suspense. The usual eerie effects are employed, such as sliding doors, secret passages, sudden screams, and even the disappear- ance of the corpse, but none of these make much of an impression since the story itself is a muddled affair: — When his wife is murdered mysteriously, Lon Cha- ney, admittedly in love with Brenda Joyce, his secretary, is accused of the murder by Clara Blandick, Brenda s aunt, and Rosalind Ivan, her cousin. The police arrest Chaney, but release him for lack of evidence. Chaney, seeking to prove his innocence, and to find his wife's murderer, finds reason to suspect J. Edward Brom- berg, a fake spiritualist, with whom his wife had been friendly; Bernard Thomas, who, too, was in love with Brenda; and Clara and Rosalind, who disapproved of his love for Brenda. Chaney felt that each had a desire to see him behind bars to keep him away from Brenda. He broods over his predicament and experiences a night- mare in which he is haunted by his wife's voice accusing him of her murder. He follows the voice to the cemetery, where he finds his wife's body missing from the crypt. Meanwhile two more murders are committed; that of Clara, and of George Cleveland, Clara's elderly brother. Later, Chaney and Brenda dis- cover his wife's body in the cellar of C'ara's home, but Thomas admits that he had placed it there to frighten Chaney into a confession. Chaney, worried over Brenda'-; safety, decides to s:and guard in her home. During the night, his wife's voice lures him to Cleveland's room and compels him to re-enact the slaying of the o'd man. Brenda, awakened by Chaney 's ravings, enters the room and soon realizes that he was a psychopathic murderer when he attempts to add her to his list of victims. The timely arrival of Thomas and the police save her from a violent death, and Chaney, heeding his wife's voice, plunges to his death through an open window. George Bricker wrote the screen play, Ben Pivar produced it, and Wal'ace Fox directed it. Adult entertainment. "THEY WERE EXPENDABLE" (MGM, no release date set; time, 135 min.) Based on William L White's widely-read book of the same title, "They Were Expendable" is a high-rating war melodrama, and a stirring tribute to the valiant officers and crews of the Navy's P T. boats, which played an all-important part in harassing the Japanese in- vasions at the start of the war. The production, direction, and acting are first rate. Void of "Hollywood heroics", the story is a cheerless but sincere account of the courage- ous exploits of a squadron of P. T. boats, based in the Philippines. It is a realistic depiction of hardships, dis- couragements, and sudden death, as the brave crews carry out their assignments against insurmountable odds. The action is particularly thrilling in the scenes that show the boats slipping into Jap-infested, mine-filled harbours to attack and sink enemy warships. The miniature work in these scenes is most impressive. There are many dramatic moments, too, such as the evacuation of Gene- ral MacArthur and his family from beleagured Bataan. A pleasant, heart-warming romance between an army nurse and an officer has been worked into the plot. Al- though the picture deserves top rating as a war drama, the fact remains that the story it tells is dated. Accord- ingly, this fact, coupled with the fact that many picture- goers have had their fill of war pictures, makes the ex- tent of its box-office possibilities questionable: — Despite the complacency of their commanding officers, who regarded P. T. boats as little more than pleasure crafts, Lieutenants Robert Montgomery and John Wayne There is a slight misunderstanding between Anwar and Munnawar Sultana in "Naiyya," a social story produced by Mazhar Khan. 65 FILMINDIA May, 1946 Here is a smart girl, Dulari, smartly turned out in "Namak", an Azad picture. maintain their faith in the boats as fighting craft. They are given an opportunity to prove this theory when the Philippines are blockaded after the Pearl Harbor attack. Before long, their courageous raids account for many Jap vessels, and they become a most important factor in the stalling of the Jap invasion. With but four boats remain- ing of their squadron, Montgomery and Wayne receive their most important assignment — the evacuation of Gene- ral MacArthur and other high-ranking officers from Bataan. They complete the hazardous journey at the cost of two of their ships, but they succeed in delivering their human cargo to its destination. Their mission completed, Montgomery and Wayne continue their raids on Jap shipping. Eventually, both crews are separated during a desperate encounter, with Wayne losing his ship when it is bombed by a Jap plane, and with Montgomery beach- ing his ship, which had been crippled. With his few re- maining men, Wayne treks through the jungle and suc- ceeds in finding Montgomery. As both leaders prepare to join the fleeing army, they receive orders to board the last plane out of the Philippines, and to return to the United States to train new P. T. crews. Frank Wead, Comdr. U.S.N. (Ret.) wrote the screen play, and John Ford, Captain, U.S.N.R. produc- ed and directed it Cliff Reid was associate producer. The cast includes Donna Reed, Jack Holt, Ward Bond, Marshall Thompson and many others. "LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN" (20th Century-Fox, January; time, no min.) This is a powerful dramatic entertainment. The story, which is based on Ben Ames Williams' best-selling novel, of the same title, concerns a beautiful woman whose vici- ousness affects many lives. It is not a cheerful entertain- ment— as a matter of fact, extremely sensitive persons may find some of the situations highly distasteful and even sickening; but audiences that seek originality in story, tastefulness in production values, and perfection in direc- tion and acting will find it fascinating. There is no doubt that it will be an outstanding box-office attraction, parti- cularly in large cities. Gene Tierney, as the jealous wife, whose possessive love for her husband drives her to extre- mes, including murder and se'f-destruction, is a most un- sympathetic character, but her portrayal is outstanding. Cornel Wilde, as the husband, gives an extraordinarily good performance; the spectator feels deeply the tragedy his selfish wife brings into his life. The entire supporting cast is fine. Not the least of the picture's assets is the superior Technicolor photography: — Gene falls in love with Wilde when both visit the New Mexico ranch of a mutua' friend. She breaks her engage- ment to Vincent Price, a Massachusetts attorney, and, employing her womanly wi'es rushes Wilde in.o marriage. Her love for him becomes so possessive that she determines that no one, not even Wilde's young crippled brother Hickman , to whom he was devoted, sha'l invade their privacy. When the boy accompanies them to a Maine- mountain resort, Gene, resentful, permits the lad to drown, making it appear like an accident Wilde, despondent keeps to himself. To renew his interest in her, Gene de- cides to have a baby. But, when she realizes that she would have to share Wilde with the child, she deliberately throws herself down a staircase, killing the unborn baby. Wilde, having grown suspicious of her actions, goads her into con- fessing both murders. He leaves her, but Gene, deter- mined that no one else shall have him, particularly Jeanne Crain, her adopted sister, of whom Wilde was fond, con- cocts a plan: she kills herself by placing arsenic in her sugar, but before dying arranges circumstantial evidence indicating that Jeanne, in league with Wilde had "mur- dered" her. Jeanne is indicted, and during the trial Vincent Price, Gene's discarded lover, now prosecuting attorney, convinces all of her guilt until Wilde takes the stand and reveals that Gene had murdered both his baby and brother, and states that she had killed herself in a way that was designed to hold him from the grave. Jeanne is acquitted, but Wilde is given a two-year sentence for concealing evidence from the state. Released from jail, Wilde re- joins Jeanne to start life anew. Jo Swerling wrote the screen play, William A. Bacher produced it, and John M. Stahl directed it. The cast in- cludes Ray Collins, Mary Philips, and others. Adult en- tertainment. "THE SPIRAL STAIRCASE" (RKO, no release date set; time, 83 min.) Very good! Produced with care, directed with intelli- gence, and acted competently by an impressive cast, this gripping murder-mystery melodrama offers thrills and sus- pense in a manner that is sure to hold mass as well as class audiences engrossed. The settings, lighting, photography and music are of considerable aid in creating a tense atmos- phere, putting the spectator in a receptive mood for a story of this type. The central figure in the plot, which revolves around a mysterious, maniacal murderer, whose victims are women with physical handicaps, is Dorothy McGuire, who enacts the role of a mute housemaid. She gives an excep- 66 May, 1946 F1LMINDIA tionally good performance, succeeding in making the audience understand her every thought, although she does not utter a single word until the final scene, where she re- gains her voice. The closing situations, where Miss Mc- Guire is pursued by the murderer, narrowly escaping death, are terrorizing. The setting is a small New Eng- land town in 1906: — Following the murder of a crippled girl, the third un- solved killing in town, Dorothy is warned by Ethel Barry- more, her aged invalid mistress, to leave the house. The croche.y old woman spoke often of her late husband, who admired strength and despised weakness, claiming that he would have been disappointed in his two sons, Profes sor George Brent and Gordon Oliver, both occupants ol the house. Oliver, who was infatuated with Rhonda Fleming, Brent's seductive secretary, quarrels with her, and later, when she goes to the cellar to get her suitcase 10 leave the house, she is strangled to death. Dorothy finds her body under circumstances that convince her of Oliver's guik and. through a ruse, she succeeds in locking him in a closet. She rushes to Brent for aid, but the professor, coolly revealing himself to the murderer, informs her that there was no room in the world for the weak and imperfect, and prepares to kill her. Terror-stricken, Dorothy manages to elude him tor a time, but he eventual y corner, her. Miss Barrymore, having overheard the commotion, comes out of her room and shoots him dead, only to collapse and die herself. The shock causes Dorothy to regain her voice, enabling her to go away with Kent Smith, a young doctor, who had long been in love with her. Rased on the novel "Some Must Watch," the screen play was written by Mel Dinelli. Dore Schary produced it, and Robert Siodmak directed it. The cast includes Elsa Lanchester, Sara Allgood, Rhys Williams, James Bell and others. Too terrifying for children. "ADVENTURE" (MGM, no release date set; time, 130 min.) Fortified with the combined drawing power of Clark Gable and Greer Garson, "Adventure", a romantic melo drama, is sure to bring the masses to the theatres, and they will probably enjoy it because of the many emotional situations. But the story itself is antiquated and episodic, and at times too lalky. Occasionally the different charac ters spout dialogue in which each expounds his own philo sophy of life, but their meaningful words will probably re- main vague to most spectators. Gable plays the part of a swaggering merchant-marine sailor, handy with his fists, and with a cynical outlook on life. It is a virile role, the sort his admirers will enjoy. Miss Garson, as a diminu- tive librarian who finds in Gable the adventuresome spirit she had been missing in life, is very effective, and always sympathetic. Though Gable displays tender characteristics, he is just fairly sympathetic; his constant cynicism begins to wear on one's nerves, and his easy way with women does not endear him to the audience. Some of the situation^ provide good comedy, while others, particularly the closing scenes, where Gable instills life into his still-born baby, are highly dramatic. The supporting cast headed by Thomas Mitchell and Joan Blondell, is very good: — Arriving in San Francisco after his ship had been torpedoed, Gable, to humor his friend, Mitchell, who had Surraiya looks attractive in "Parwana" produced by Jit Productions. become convinced that he had lost his soul because he broke a pledge to lead a cleaner life, accompanies him to a library to obtain information on his state of mind. There Greer, the librarian, treats Mitchell sympathetically, but Gable scoffs at the philosophy presented by her books. While he argues with her, Joan Blondell, Greer's room- mate, arrives. Joan, attracted to Gable, accepts his invita- tion to a night-club date but insists that Greer come along. At the club, Gable riles Greer by constant reference to his unworldly ways, and goads her into starting a free-for-all brawl. On the following day, he accompanies both girls to Greer's home in the country, where, after constant quar- rels with Greer, both realize that they were in love. Greer, fascinated by his adventuresome spirit, agrees to an imme- diate marriage. After an idyllic three-day honeymoon, Gable announces his intention to go off to sea. Crushed, because she felt that their marriage would make him settle down, Greer, in keeping with his philosophy that both should feel free, decides to divorce him. Gable accepts her decision and sails away. His voyage is marked by a conflict with Mitchell, who accuses him of marrying Greer for a lark. Meanwhile Greer, expecting a baby, secures her divorce. When Gable returns, he learns from Joan that Greer expected to give birth that day. He rushes to Greer's bedside and, after helping to bring his still-born baby to life, reunites with her. Frederick Hazlitt Brennan and Vincent Lawrence wrote the screen play, Sam Zimbalist produced it, and Victor Fleming directed it. The cast includes Lina Romay, Tom Tully, John Qualen. Philip Merivale and others. Unobjectionable morally. 67 FILMISTAN LTD. (Bombay) "Safar" featuring Shobha and Kanu Roy and directed by Mr. B. Mitra is getting the finishing touches. Another picture with Ashok Kumar and charming Veera, who made her debut in that popular picture "Shikari" is under production. This picture has a racing background and is expected to have an exciting story. In the meantime, S. Mukherjee is using all his brains and energy to make "Lok- manya Tilak" a box-office screen play. SHALIMAR PICTURES (Poona) Najam Naqvi has at last completed that big historical picture, "Prithviraj Sanyukta". Producer W. Z. Ahmed tells us that special care was taken to give authentic settings, jewellery, and costumes to the picture. "Mira Bai" and "Shri Krishna Bhagwan" are half- way through. The music of both these pictures is reported to be attrac- tive. FAMOUS FILMS (Bombay) Director K. Asif is progressing slowly but steadily with "Moghal-e- Azam". The picture has many stars like Veena, Nargis, Sapru and Durga Khote. Another picture which has gone into production is "Milan." Nitin liose is expected to make the picture in two versions, Bengali and Hindus- tani. MAZHAR ART PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Mazhar Khan has made good pro- gress with his social "Sona" featuring Munnawar Sultana, Madhuri and him- self. "Naiyya," another social, is near- ly completed by Director Aslam Nuri. STANDARD PICTURES (Bombay) "Bairam Khan" has been censored and is awaiting release at one of the leading picture houses in Bombay. Director Jagirdar is very hopeful about its box-office success. Another new picture, the script of which is getting reading, is "Swami Ramtirth". This will be again directed by Jagirdar. BOMBAY CINETONE LTD. (Bom bay) Producer K. B. Lall is one of those Dulari is being groomed for stardom in "Namak" a social story of Azad Pictures. 63 who believes in more work and less talk. The result is "Samrat Ashok", which is reported to have become not only spectacular but interesting as well. With Veena, Shamim, Sapru and others in the leading roles, the picture is likely to draw well at the box- offices. KAMAL PICTURES (Bombay) "Hirni" a social story with attractive music has gone on the sets. Directors Rajendra Sharma and Harshad Barot are working enthusiastically on this picture, featuring Monica Desai, Kanai- yalal, Sunetra and S. Nazir. AZAD PICTURES (Bombay) Balwant Dave has nearly completed his social thriller "Namak" featuring an attractive newcomer Dulari. ASIATIC PICTURES (Bombay) "Mansarovar" featuring David, Gulab, Kanhaiyalal and a new pair, Nishin Baran and Mazhar Haq has been completed. The rights for North India have already been bought by Kalyan Pictures Ltd., Lahore. The music of the picture is given by S. N. Tripathi. DUGAL PICTURES (Bombay) "Haqdar" is ready for release. "Do Naina" a social story has gone on the sets featuring Jyoti, Sunetra etc. A third one which is being planned is "Sultana Chandbi." CHAROLIA PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) A Shah, the well-known comedian, is directing "Shikarpuri" starring himself and Shamim. The picture is expected to be a roaring comedy. MURARI PICTURES (Bombay) Director Mohan Sinha has com- pleted "Omar Khayyam" starring Saigal, Wasti and Surraiya. Another "1857" featuring Surendra, Surraiya and Wasti is nearly completed. RAJA MOVIETONE (Bombay) "Dharkan" a romantic love story, which will set many young hearts bea.ing, has gone on the sets. The picture has Zahur Raja as the hero and Jyoti as the heroine and many May. 1946 FILMINDIA Recruit Salam U. Khan c o No. 6, Forces Broadcasting Unit, Basra, Iraq, speaks Hindustani very well and be- lieves that he would do well in the films. important artistes in the supporting cast. G. M. Durrani is responsible fo: the musical score. SHREE RAJ PICTURES (Calcutta) Producer B. R. Tandon is himselt looking after every derail of "Baap." In the cast are Paresh Bannerjee and Radha Rani. The picture is bein« directed by S. Shamsuddin. JIT PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Encouraged by the success of "Rattan", Madhok has written many more screen plays, one of them being "Parwana". With an able director like Nanda, it is quite likely that the picture might do well at the box- office. It stars Saigal, Surraiya. K. N. Singh and others. D. R. D. PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Director S. M. Yusuf hopes to re- gain his laurels in "Nek Pervin" as a director which he lost in "Piya Milan". The dreamy-eyed Ragini has a lead- ing role in this picture. The picture is censored and will be released short- ly in Bombay. PUNJAB FILM CORPORATION (Bombay) This is evidently a Punjabi com- pany with everything about it Pun- jabi. This Punjabi company has engaged the services of Director Waili and the ever-graceful Mum'az Shanti. The story is called "Dekhoji" and half of it is already finished. Not satisfied with directing one picture. Director Walli wants to do yet an- other. "Sherazi." CHITRA BHARATI LIMITED (Bombay) Singing-idol Saigal performed the muhurt ceremony of their maiden picture "Bhanvar" featuring Shamim. Producer Parshuram Parikh has en- gaged Mr. M.uiheokumar Patel to direct this picture for him. LAKHMIDAS ANAND PRODUC TIONS (Calcutta) "Krishna Leela" has taken more than a year in making and Director Debaki Bose is reported to have made the pic.ure good. The picture stars Kanan and the music is given bv Kamal Das Gupta. All the territorial rights, except that of the North of this picture have been sold. FOR THl m$7 TIME OH THE HINDI SCREEN MODHU BOSE f KAMAL DASGUPTA ®*s*^, 4 J.S.CASSHYAP * WORLD RIGHTS * H.F.CURRIM BHOY £ €0. MEHTA BUILDING, MEADOWS ST., FORT, BOMBAY 1. 69 FILMINDI A May, 1946 RANJIT MOVIETONE (Bombay) "Rajputani" seems to have been liked by the picture-goers and the picture is doing good business. Other pictures which are expected to be released soon are, "Dharii," "Phool- wari" and "Moorti" starring Khur- shid. The Centenary Celebrations were held at the Ran] it Studios on the 19th April in which over 1500 people of the industry participated. TRIUMPH PICTURES (Bombay) This company has framed an ex- tensive programme of serials for the Indian public. The first of these is "Raiders of Ghost City", a Universal serial, which will be shown in Bom- bay this month. NAVYUG CHITRAPAT (Poona) "Room No. 9" featuring Geeta Nizami and Shyam is ready to be cen- sored. Director Shorey Daultalvi is making good progress with "Paroo" a social story with Geeta Nizami in the leading role. Two more pictures which have gone on the sets are "Shikayat" and "Moti." MANSATA FILM DISTRIBUTORS (Calcutta) M. P. Productions "Rajlakshmi" starring Kanan is awaiting release in Bombay. PEOPLE'S THEATRE (Bombay) "Dharti ke Lai" is a story of the poor, and me story, therefore, con- tains many a tragic situation. Direc- tor-journalist Ahmed Abbas is report- ed to have made a touching motion picture out of this material. The picture will be censored shortly. MODHU BOSE PRODUCTIONS (Calcutta) Producer Modhu Bose with his wide experience of the stage and screen has selected "Giribala" as the subject of his motion picture. It is based on a popular Bengali story called "Maha- bhanjan" written by Rabindranath Tagore. Kamal Das Gupta is the music director and J. S. Casshyap is writing the dialogue. AMAR PICTURES (Bombay) Having completed the outdoor se- uiences, Producer-director Baburao Patel is concentrating on an impor- tant dance sequence for his social picture "Gvalan." The picture is likely to be ready for the Censors in a month's time. RAMNIK PRODUCTIONS (Bom- bay) "Bachchon Ka-Khel" has been com pleted by Director Raja Nene. The picture has two youngsters in im- portant roles — Baby Shakuntala and N. Kabir. GIRDAR BAHAR PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) "Gulnar" a social story has gone into production. "Gem" is being directed by Moti Gidwani. R. S. PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) "Kangoo" a jungle thriller is near- ing completion. The cast is headed by Mahapara, Sadiq, S. Bhaka etc. NEW INDIA PICTURES (Bombay) The Bengal rights for "Hasrat" have been purchased by Messrs. Me- tropolitan Distributors Ltd. "Prati- ksha" a social story is expected to go into production shortly. BRIJ PRAKASH PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) "Pick Pocket" is awaiting release — ■ "Bhul Xa Tana" a gypsy story has Brijmala in the leading role. A third one "Naukarani" will go on the sets very soon. R. M. V. PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) "Qayamat" a stunt thriller and fea- turing many old favourites will go on the floor. 14TH CENTURY PICTURES (Bom- bay) Director Haidar Shah is working hard on his social thriller, "Itbar," featuring Rehana, Sadiq and others. CENTRAL PICTURES (Bombay) Homi Master has compleled "Cha- makti Bijli" featuring Sulochana and E. Billimoria. Another "Shahi Kha- zana" has also been completed. RUPBANI CHITRA (Bombay) Mr. Nanek and D. Upadhayaya have chosen "Apni Izzat" a social story for their picture. The cast will be an- nounced later. R. D. PAREENJA (Bombay) Final finishing touches are being given by Producer-director R. D. Pareenja to his "Sona Chandi" fea- turing a new-comer Chandni and Suresh in leading roles. The picture is expected to be on the screen in a month's time. 70 teefrtelk If out Memory The Indian film Industry will improve only when film-goers pick and choose their en- tertainment. As long as fools keep on rushing for tickets, there is not the slightest chance of getting better pictures in future. The duty of every intelligent filmgoer is not only to stop see- ing bad pictures himself, but also to stop others from doing so. For ready reference from month to month we shall be grading pictures as follows: — ***** (5*) Excellent, Don't miss. **** (4*) Very good. *** (3*) Quite good ** (2*) Tolerable. Entertaining in parts. * (I*) Rotten. Avoid. Pictures reviewed in "filmindia" from April 1945 B (1*) 'Bari Ma' (Hindustani) (Prafulla) Sept. '45 issue Propaganda Social.— "year's most rotten show." (1*) 'Bhagya Laxmi' (Hindustani) (Laxmi) May '45 issue — Social. — "proves just so much trash." (2*) 'Bhai Jan' (Urdu) (United Films) Dec. '45 issue- Social— "presents the usual sob-stuff." (1*) "Bisvi Sadi" (Hindi)(Bhavnani) Feb. '46 issue- social romance— "silly story— presents boredom in celluloid." (2») 'Bhartruhari' (Hindustani) (Navin) Aug. '45 issue — Mythological.— "nothing much." (2*) 'Bondita' (Bengali) (New Talkies) July '45 issue —Social.— "sob-stuff pure and simple." (1*) 'Burma Rani' (Tamil) (Modern Theatres) May '45 issue— propaganda social.— "a crude war thriller." C (2*) 'Caravan' (Hindustani) (Ranjit) May '45 issue- gipsy social— "interesting story indifferently handled." (1») 'Chand Chakori' (Hindustani) (Ranjit) March '46 social— "provides headache". (3*) 'Chandragupta' (Hindi) (Jayant Desai) April '45 issue— Historical.— "Historically incorrect but en- tertaining." (3*) 'Chhamia' (Hindustani) (Protima Dasgupta) Oct. '45 issue— Social.— "presents sensible en- tertainment." (1*) 'Chand Tara' (Hindustani) (Asiatic) Dec. '45 issue— Social.— "a stupid time-killer without even * single moment of intelligent relief." D (1*) "Dhamki" (Urdu) (Pancholi) Feb. '46 issue- detective thriller— "a stupid and tiresome." (1*) "Dhanna Bhagat" (Hindi) (Ranjit) Feb. '46 '' issue— devotional social— "just another devo- tional hocus." (2*) 'Din Raat' (Hindustani) (Navyug) April '46 issue— Social— "not at all a bad time-killer." (1*) 'Dotana' (Bengali) (Eureka) June '45 issue — Social. — "just rotten and disgusting." (2*) 'Dui Punish' (Bengali) (New Theatres) Nov. '45 issue— Social.— "rattles down N. T. Standard- there are spots where the picture proves slight- ly entertaining." E (3*) 'Ek Din-ka-Sultan* (Urdu) (Minerva) Jan. '46 issue — historical romance — "a picture worth see- ing, at least for some good entertainment." G (2*) 'Ghar' (Hindustani) (Sunrise) Jan. '46 issue- Social — "a good picture to see though it drags at places." (3*) 'Geet' (Hindustani) (Kardar) Sept. '45 issue- Social. — "a picture worth seeing." (1*) 'Gouri' (Hindustani) (Ranjit) April '46 issue — Social — "is boredom in celluloid". H (2*) 'Hamara Sansar' (Hindi) (Prakash) March '46 — social — "theme overplayed for screen purposes." (4*) 'Hamrahi' (Hindustani) (New Theatres) Oct. 45 issue. — Social. — "a picture which is worth going a long way to see." (1*) 'Hospital' (Hindustani) (M. P. Productions) April '45 issue — Social. — "presents stupid and boring stuff." (2*) 'Humayun' (Urdu) (Mehboob) July '45 issue- Historical. — "Sadly fails to entertain." I (2*) 'Ismat' (Urdu) (Fazli Bros.) April '45 issue- Social — "presents common uninteresting plot." K (1*) 'Kalankini' (Bengali) (Indrapuri) March '46— social — "picture should be scrupulously avoided". (1*) 'Kiran' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) July '45 issue- Social. — "just a rotten picture." (2*) 'Krishnarjun Yuddha' (Hindi) (Murari) Sept. '45 issue — Mythological — "a boring story." (2*) 'Kaise Kahun' (Hindustani) (Pancholi) Jan. '46 issue — social — "is not such an awful time killer." 71 FILMINDIA May, 1946 L (1*) 'Lakharani' (Hindustani) (Prabhat) Dec. '45 issue — costume fantasy— "a picture too rotten for words." (1*) 'Lady Doctor' (Hindustani) (Venus) June '45 issue— Social.— "should be considered an all round flop." (2*) 'Leila Majnu' (Urdu) (Hindi) June '45 issue- folklore.— "proves slightly boring." M (2*) 'Miss Devi' (Hindustani) (Laxmi) Oct. '45 issue- Propaganda social.— "a pretty cheap production." (1*) "Mumtaz Mahal"— (Urdu) (Ranjit) Dec. '45 issue— Historical— "a disgusting distortion of history." (2*) 'Mun-ki-Jeet' (Hindustani) (Shalimar) Nov. '45 issue — Social. — "though travels a bit leisurely before interval, it gathers some tempo and drama after the interval." (1*) 'Maharathi Kama' (Hindustani) (Prabhakan Nov. '45 issue— Mythological.— "a ludicrous por- trayal of Mahabharat." N (2*) 'Nala Damayanti' (Hindi) (Janak) July '45 issue —Mythological. — "a killing time-killer." P (1*) 'Pannadai' (Hindi) (Pradeep) May '45 issue- Historical. — "Proves a heart-rending flop." (2*) 'Paristaan' (Hindustani) (Acharya) April '46 issue — Social comedy — "not a bad entertainer — frothy comedy." (3*) 'Panna' (Hindustani) (Navyug) Aug. '45 issue- Propaganda Social. — "a good time-killer." (1*) 'Path Bendhey Dilo' (Bengali) (De-Luxe) July '45 issue— Social.— "a picture better avoided than seen." (1*) "Paduka Pattabhishekam" (Tamil) (Gemini) & (Rajarajeshwari) April '45 issue— ^Mythological. — "proves utterly disappointing." (2*) Prabhu-Ka-Ghar' (Hindustani) (Ranjit) April issue — Social — "carries further Ranjit traditions." (3*) 'Phool' (Urdu) (Famous) June '45 issue— Social. — "a good picture if you do not mind a bit of morbid entertainment." (1*) 'Piya Milan' (Hindustani) (Wadia Movietone) Nov. '45 issue — Social.— "all round rotten and boring show." R t3*) 'Rattan' (Hindustani) (Jamuna) March '46 — social — "not at all a bad entertainment." (1*) "Ratnavali" (Hindi) (Amar) Feb. '46 issue- mythological — "a waste of time and money." S (1*) 'Sawan' (Hindustani) (Sanjiwan Art) June '45 issue — Social. — "waste of celluloid." (1*) 'Seetha Rama Jananam' (Telugu) (Prathibha Pictures). July '45 issue — Mythological. — "all that it can do is to create some disgusting boredom. (5*) 'Shakuntala' (Stage) (Hindustani) (Prithvi Theatres) April '45 issue— Mythological.— "an excellent production." (2*) "Shikari" (Hindustani) (Filmistan) Feb. '46 issue— propaganda social — "thin story material, well framed." (1*) 'Shirin Farhad' (Urdu) (Pancholi) June '45 issue — Folklore. — "intensely boring picture." (2*) 'Song of Desert'— (Urdu) (Jagriti) March '46— costume phantasy — "speedy thriller for masses." (1*) 'Sri Valli' (Tamil) (Saraswati) July '45 issue- Mythological. — "a stupid and boring affair." (1*) 'Subah Sham' (Urdu) (Indrapuri Studio) Dec. '45 issue — Social — "a dead picture. It has nei- ther life nor movement." T (2*) 'Tadbir' (Hindustani) (Jayant Desai) Jan. '46 issue — social — "tolerable in parts." (2*) 'Tahsildar' (Telugu) (Jagdish Films) May '45 issue — Social "a good time-killer." (1*) .'Taramati' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) Nov. '45 issue —Mythological.— "fails to move— is cne long, se- quence of boredom." U (1*) 'Uspar' (Hindustani) (Sun Art) May '45 issue- social.— "becomes a spineless stuff." V (3*) 'Veer Kunal' (Hindi) (Kishore Sahu) Jan. '46 issue — historical — "is a picture more for the in- tellectuals than for the masses." (3*) .'Vikramaditya' (Hindi) (Prakash) Aug. '45 issue — Historical. — "becomes an entertaining picture." (2*) 'Village Girl' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) Nov. '45 issue — Social.— "a pleasant picture to see — story misses emotional target." Y (2*) 'Yateem' (Hindustani) (Central studios) July '45 issue— Social.— "makes good impression." Z (3*) 'Zeenat' (Hindustani) (Eastern Pictures) Jan. '46 issue^social— "a picture worth seeing though presents popular emotional theme." Printed by Baburao Patel at New Jack Printing Works, Ltd., 39, Sankli Street, Byculla, and Published by him for "filmindia" Publications Ltd.. from 55, Phirozshah Mehta Road, Fort, Bombay. il II fill 'RESENT MAZHARKHAN.MUNNAWER SULTANA . DIKSI ,w U MADHURI.HAVIMYACIIIK,MADAMPURI6S0I JVi HARY MAZHAR KHAN f I KECD.No B 3517 klmindia INLAND Rs.2/- FOREIGN Sh.4/6 <"■' THaOITIOttS BECOME TVRANNV HIBNI KAMAL PICTURES ENNEpy BRIDGE A PERPETUAL PROBLEM OE OUR PEOPLE TODAY Starring : SHEIKH MUKHTAR KANH AIYALAL DR HUSNA (a new find) ABUBAKAR (Courtesy Minerva) GULAM HUSAIN LUDDEN, AGA JAN KIRAN, DULARE NARBADA SHANKAR Out AJex.t -fltttactioni :- ★ (ii) HAIDER-ALI Producer- TPitectot : SAFDAR 'AH' Muiic : Anil Biswas (i) KISAN-KI-GAY For Particulars Apply :- RANGMAHAL L 37/41, Abdul Rehman St., :: BOMBAY, 3 NORMANDY The Vinten "Normandy" is named after its famous predecessor the Model " K*' which accompanied our troops to Normandy and was used so extensively for filming the battle news from D-Day to V-Day. Mr. W. J. Moylan, Director of Indian News Parade and Mr. Roop Shorey, Proprietor of Shorey Studio, Lahore, who made a world-tour as a member of the Indian Film Delegation, were the first to recognise the special features of "Normandy"' Cameras. They were specially sent by Air for use in their film work. This new " Normandy " cine-camera is, of course, a greatly improved version and cameramen everywhere will instantly recognise it for what it is the ideal all-pur- pose camera. Some important features are: ft Alternative drives, Spring Battery or Synchronous Motors ft Three Lens Turret ft Direct Look Through ft Parallax Corrected Viewfinder ft Register Pin Gate ft Footage Counter ft 200 ft. Magazines VINTEN SOUND STUDIOS (INDIA) LTD.. 45-47. MAHATMA GANDHI ROAD, FLORA FOUNTAIN. FORT. BOMBAY SUBSCRIPTION RATESi The tnnutl subscription, for 12 Issues of ''fllmlndla", from ■ny month Isi INLAND Ri. 24/. FOREIGN) Shilling! 50/- Subscription Is accepted only for i collective period of 12 months and not for a small period. Subscription money should be remitted only by Money Order or by Postal Order but not by cheaues. V P P.s will not be sent. filmindia PROPRI ETORS FILMINDIA PUBLICATIONS LTD. 55. SIR PHIROZESHAH MEHTA ROAD, FORT, BOMBAY Telephone : 26752 Editor: BAB U RAO PAT EL Vol. XII. JUNE 1946 ADVERTISEMENT RATESi The advertisement ratea are as (ollowu Per Insertion Pull Pai to such dangerously free people? MISS INDU SETHI (Karachi) You should always write "Jai Hind" on the top of "Editor's Mail" Section ? / don't believe in these slogans. "Jai Hind" is a slogan very much in advance of reality and im mediately you raise it. it is drowned by the clank- of chains of our bondage. Till we become free, "Jai Hind" must remain the rosiest dream of a slave. Kr. RAJENDRA SINGH (Agra) Suppose all your readers slop reading "fihnindia" what will you do? / have yet to come across a smgle person with that stiff backbone. Reading "filmindia" is like eating opium. Which is sweeter in a woman: her heart or her kiss? When a woman is in love she brings her heart on her lips. But when she is not, there is only art on them. MISS S BABY (Bangalore) Do stars suffer from love-sickness? If so, when? They get occasional attacks and you see the symptoms on the race-course or in joint pro- ductions. TJte malady is not yet known to be fatal, the period of incubation being the time required for the first picture, and the duration of the active stage lasting about two pictures. Your answers to certain questions in the April issue would make young ladies blush. Is it the same with men. I wonder? But they wear trousers. If all the world was Eden and all the women angels, what would the men do? Neena will be seen on the screen in the title role of "Mira- bai," a Shalimar picture. 1: The Rew versatile "building block" recording be combine d to make the finest sound system for units as partially illustrated below. We hope any studio. New units can be added ... old units to have them in India very shortly now. can be re-arranged ... in short, the entire system Remember these new standardised packages can is adaptable to an almost infinite variety of uses. STANDARD RECORDER. Records area or density SUPER PORTABLE. Amplifier unit above includes noise reduction track on 35 or 16 mm. film. and peak limiting features. Power supply and modulator at right. Write for full particulars to:' Western Eketrie Ccmpanyoftndia P. O. Box 1232, Bombay. June 1946 f renting A Mw Voym in Poputarifij ! (i) "TaLwat Ptoductioni ' TAMTAI IZIMG SOCIAL ALBELI Starring : R A M O L A Directed by: R. C. Talwar. (ii) ■Associated Picture* TOPICAL SOCIAL HIT AMEEREE Starring : Barua, Direct at by: Ramola, Jamuna, P. C. Barua. Maya Bannerji, Ahindra Chowdhary. (iii) l/nity Productions SOCIO-MYTHOLOGICAL KURUKSHETRR Produced & Starring : Directed by: Saigal, Shyamli, Rameshwar Biman Bannerji, Sharma. Radharani. Now Running to Croivded Houses At NEW WEST END flur 3orthcominq Release ZID St a rrtng RAMOLA For Boohing Apply to: Empire Talkies Distributors, Dhan Nur, Sir Pherojshah Merita Road, BOMBAY. FILM INDIA They would become plants in the Garden. What is a kiss ? It is a bubble on the lips of the 'soap-cakes' inside. What time is the best suited to read "filmindia"? People usually like to read "filmindia* when others are pulling and pushing to read it. ASHAKAM CHATTERJEE (Bankura) What is the difference between a widow's love and a maiden's? A maiden's love is warm and emotional, the widow's should be synthetic and hot. The first should thrill, the second may be only satisfying. Love itself is always a maiden emotion. V. KAMASWAMY (Robertsonpet) When does a bud fade ? A bud never fades. It either dies or blos- soms. It is the flower that fades. M. HASAN ABBAS (Lucknow) Beautiful faces of the fair sex always attract my attention and I have an inclination to keep on star- ing at such faces. Can you say why ? Probably you see divinity in those beautiful faces. Which is the most attractive part in a woman ? Our knowledge of her sex. S. SHANKER NAIK (Sambalpur) Why don't the British films earn all the money that Hollywood films do ? While the British dig only into your ribs, the Yankees tickle while they rob you' CHUNNILAL BAJPAI (Cawnpore) What remedy do you suggest to a 'over who ha? been neglected by his beloved? In olden times, they poisoned themselves. Xowadays they put on a new suit and go to the club again. Why is the art of producing pictures deteriorat- ing day by day? We never had enougli art to deteriorate. All we have is artifice. D. NATARAJAN (Matunga) Please compare our stars with the Hollywood stars? Iii Hollywood, stars biuld estates for their producers. In India, producers get broke buying buildings for their stars. K. T KESHAVA MURTHY (Davangere) My friend is married to a lady whom he doesn't love. But yet he has got a son of his own. What do you call this? The son is a biological fact while love is an emotional truth. To get a son, one doesn't necessarily love. It only needs a clash of sex. All the sons are not products of harmony. 19 HATCH FOR THE RELEASE DATE Particulars : — AZ AD PICTURES DINAZ MANSION, New Charni Road. BOMBAY4. June, 1946 Zahur Raja is evidently at it in "Dharkhan," with Jyoti as company R. S. AGRAWAL (Agra) I wonder how you could have allowed the pro- ducer to advertise Chandni's photo with so many adjectives in your April issue? It was a "beUeve-it-or-not" advertisement and I can sturt Producer Pareenja himself does not believe all that he wrote about Chandni. Mil ASHRAJ ALI CHOHAN (Lucknow) Why and when do you smile ? When I see Chandulol Shah in the midst of his courtiers anil watch his struggles to be free. Vultures eat a deed body — flatterers carve a living one. S. A MALIK (New Delhi) I read somewhere that Dorothy 1. amour who was recently chosen the favourite pin-up girl of the American Army, was congratulated personally by General Eisenhower. But why do our leader- hesi- tate to honour the Indian stars ? Because ire hare no soldiers' sweethearts and our stars don't pin-up anything exa pi their , expression while acting. The only thing not controlled these days i> a woman's tongue. Why? Because by wagging it constantly, it pro- J claims thi superiority of man. Why should man control such a good advertisement of himself? M. L. ARORA (Bankipur) Why is the birth of a female child not received with acclamation in India'.' FILMINDIA Because in this country a woman is a liabi- lity on the man be he the father, the husband or the son. She has been denied economic indepen- dence for centuries artd now she is not welcome even as a baby in a childless home. R. ANNAJI RAO (Mangalore) Mahatmaji advises to replace flower gardens with vegetable cultivation. Is this within the know- ledge of our studio owners? Our studios were never flower gardens ichere even vegetables can be grown. They have been only sausage factories. SYED SHAFIULLA (Mysore) What is the difference between a film star and a common bitch? The same between you and a bastard, if you see the difference. M. K. PILLAI (Simla) The faces of Durga Khote. Rajkumari Shukla. David and a host of others not to mention their names, have become quite disgusting and boring, and one is really scared of them. In order to keep them off from the screen, suppose I start a benevolent fund out of which they can be paid a reasonable sum throughout their lives, what will you contribute? / won't contribute to this fund as I feel that the persons mentioned by you are good artistes often given the wrong roles. Why not start a fund for Motilal. Chandramohan, Ish- warlal, Leela Chitnis, Shantcram and others? Shantaram has beaten us in his very first burst. What is your reaction when you are flattered? / hate the person because he insults my in- telligence. People can flatter me only once. Next time, I kick them out. A man with some character can't stand an insult twice. R M. GOSWAMI (Gauhati) The frocks of the civilised American and Euro- pean dames are shortening gradually. Can you pre- dict the time when they will disappear completely? They have colonies in the West where the frocks have disappeared completely and they have stage revues where they play hide-and- seek with the fig leaf. Don't be in a hurry, wait for c while. If not you, your son will see the glory of a naked Western Civilization. M. P RAMAKRISHNAN (New Delhi) I> Begum Para still a 'Miss'? Luckily, yes. Her address is Worli. Sea Face, Bombay, in case you feel like writing. MAC AN LAL BEDI (Cawnpore) What do you think, when you find Kedar Sharma still directing pictures? That Sardar Chandulal has the patience of Job and the generosity of Raja Harishchandra. Does your criticism produce any effect on the producers ? 21 Remember /ILM/IS PICTURES |f^C- SURfllYfl ZULFI G«' (GUJARATWALI) New Find) IN Bhatahti aina ■£) (?tunt tlitillet full of homely, Trances, Muiic and Wonletful iupeiiot to -Qmetlcdn figkting. 2w«/%- SADIK NIZAMI c#*.a*t .- S. P. DIXIT & i t&ory:- KULSOOM BANU b.a. IMAMUDDIN KHAN HYDERABADI \j ^Uo^&Son^ SADIK LAKHNAVI Cameraman :- M. R. BHATI \ \ ^{uUc : S. Khan Ashraf Khan 2W* JWaiUx-. R. N. MANDLOI (a Well known singer of India) Starring : - * SARDAR MANSOOR * SAYANI * MANNAN * RAM RATAN ( Ma-Baap Fame) * * AMIRALI (Kardar Fame) * ARUNA AKHTAR * AHMED DILAWAR * * AMERICAN * MAQBOOL ( Laila Majnu fame) ^Production - in - Cftax^:- |V| % |-| < A Z A M I . Apply :- ALMAS PICTURES, Saboo Siddik Building, 1st Floor, SANDHURST ROAD, BOMBAY 4. Coming Attraction:- "JUNGLE ME MANGA!/' A Jungle thriller full of MAGIC & Stunts. June, 1946 FILMIND1A None. They have bullet-proof heads. What advice would you like to give to Mehboob. who these days, is being attacked by every maga- zine? Mehboob is safe. He cannot read English. What would you like to do, if Saigal, Motilal and Charlie form a triple alliance against you? / Would bring out a bottle of Scotch and turn it into a foursome. B. N. GANESH RAO (Secunderabad) I have noticed your demand of sex appeal on the Indian screen; then what is your opinion about the following Hollywood actresses in the above sense, who are still playing the heroines: Katherine Hep- burn, Judy Garland and Bette Davis? They have talent greater than sex-appeal. For screen acting, sex-appeal is the minimum re- quirement if there is no outstanding talent. HANS RAJ (Ferozepur) What changes are likely to occur in the film world if "Pakistan" is granted"? Pakistan can't change the ways of Paris- taan. MRS. A. V. PUSHPA (Secunderabad) In my fancy, I imagine Mr. Patel to be a sober, selfless and saintly type of person. Is it a fact or a mere fiction? A fact, old girl, a fact. Sober, selfless, saintly.' It is a beautiful fancy. I think, I shall go to heaven after this. But, wait a bit! Is heaven worth all this dieting and self-denial? J AIR AM G MASSAND (Karachi) People say that you smile only when you meet a fair-looking girl ? 1^ it true? That may be one of the reasons why no one found me smiling all the four days I was in Karachi. K M SINGH (Cuttack) Chandni looks very much like my wife. Will you provide me with her address? Why do you want Chondrites address? Has your wife been kidnapped? S. R. BANERJI (Bombay) "Dr. Kotnis" is not so impressive as we expected it. Why? Because the hero is too aged to be impres- sive and Kotnis is a hero-story. MOHAMMED HANEEF M. JAMADAR (Belgaum) Which is the best and the worst thing in the Avorld? The best is yourself and the worst is the neighbour, >K. NARAYANAN (Trichur) Music, beauty or talent, which of them is con- sidered to he the most essential for a film star? .4// three are badly needed in India bid most of &wr girls lack all the three. ON THE MARCH WITH BETTER & BIGGER FILMS FOR 1946-47 P4CCC Directed by SHOREY DAULATALVI Whose 'DIN RAAT was declared as one of the ten best films of '45. Starring GEETA NIZAMI (The award winner best acting in '45) & RANDHIR (ii) SHIKAYAT The First Romance Behind The Four -Walls of A House! Directed by SHAHID LATIF Starring ; Snehprabha SHYAM, RamaShukal & Nisar Sultana. (Mi) M € T I Directed by Chandrashekhar Bose Starring : GEETA NIZAMI BIMAN BAN NERJI & others. AJoiv ^eadij fool ?2ele Room no. a PEERLESS PICTURES 116, CHARNI ROAD, BOMBAY 4. 23 June, 1946 F1LMIND1 A T. S. MURTHY (Bangalore) Which is preferable: Love at first sight or gra- dual growth of love? Love is not a cancerous tumour to grow gradually. P. K. TANDON (Lucknowj Mj' friend intends to spend his honeymoon in a film studio. Do you approve of it ? Your friend will lose his "honey" and will be left only with a "moan" in his head. PROF. NARAYAX AGRAWAL (Wardha) Why is it that a girl gains in weight after mar- riage, while a man loses it ? With marriage ft man secures liability while the woman gains security. Weight has a lot to do with the peace of mind. PARSRAM M. BHATiA (Karachi) What is a •close-up"? In India, the big face of a big favourite. K. U KAMATH (Mangalore) Who will be directing Ranjit's 101st picture? Manibhai Vyas and "Joiion" will smell a bit. MISS INDU SETHI (Karachi) Please may 1 know if Sushila Rani has pen friendship with her fans? That is the other pet Mumtaz Shanti has and she gives it scope in "Dekhoji," a social story of the Punjab Film Corporation. Xo. She has to write a lot of stuff for ''ftlmindia" every month and in the remaining time pursue her intellectual hostility with me. A. H. BAIG (Trichinopoly) In spite of your advice in the shape of criticisms, the film industry in India does not seem to be im- proving. Why can't you resort to "a fast unto death" as a protest? None of these Johnnies is worth even the sacrifice of a church mouse. Why do you then want to kill a sir-footer like me? ATIQUZZAMAN KHAN (Calcutta) In American pictures, photographers have the letters A. S. C. after their names. Can you tell me what does A. S. C. signify? American Society of Cinematographers. R. M. EBRAHIM (Bombay) What is the average income of an Indian in India per day? 3 annas a day per head. M. P RAMACHANDRA SHARMA (Bangalore) If a Hindu actor gets a baby through a Muslim actress, how is the babe named? In India, except in some parts of Malabar, the sign-board of the family is the father. Names, customs and religions all follow the man. A. VEDAMURTHI (Madras) In a Free India, what would be the language of your paper? Free English. M P. RAMAKRISHNAN (New Delhi) What is your object of living? Just to serve you all my life. I believe in Gandhiji's .slogan of service. Now don't get des- perate and ask me to come over to Delhi for you. V R KRISHNA IYE3 (Delhi) When is a minority not a minority'.' When it gets drunk and starts counting four for every one. HALAJI RAO (Hyderabad Dn.) Why do you call Mehtab a versatile actress? She owns a big building on the Churchgate Reclamation and four years ago she hardly had a flat. H. S. RAO (Poona) A friend of mine suggests that since Dr. Kotnis was a resident of Sholapur, Shantaram should allow every resident of Sholapur to see the picture free? I like the idea very much and Shantaram also wouldn't mind it as Ju wouldn't be losing much, but Sholapurts must agree to erect a statue of the Kolhapuri in Sholapur. T J SATYANATHAN (Jalna) Do the following actresses sing in the pictures in which they act: Xeena. Veena, Ragini, Mehtab, Swarnalata, Mumtaz Shanti and Xargis? 25 DIN PICTURES 25, LAMINGTON ROAD, BOMBAY. June. l94fi FILMINDIA They are all nightingales without the gale of harmony. SNEHALATTA MEHTA (Karachi) What part is the film industry going to play in an indf pendent India? 77/ privileged part of begging for different protections end incidentally degenerating fur- ther. H s VENKATA RAO (Mysore) Who is more romantic — boy or a girl? Their age, their hopes and their dreams. V H SHAM SHUDIN (Dar-es.Salaam) What at present is engaging A. R. Kardar's at- tention? The progress of Mehboob's picture. BEMANT L. PATHAK (Amreli) You arc good at the Urdu language, then why don't you translate some Urdu short stories and pub- lish then, in your magazine? // / had time I would writt my own stuff. I don't hare to read Urdu stories to get ideas. P SREEDHARA MENON (Bombay) Which is a nice picture among the following: "Hnmrahi". "Chand", or "Dr. Kotnis"? "Himrahi" is the best of the Int. SAVITRJ] DEVI SHL'KLA (Cawnpore) Who its the best character actor of Indian screen at present? There is a new man called Bipin Gupta Watch him in "Gvalan". This fellow will make us forget many old stagers. ISHWAR MAHBUBANI (Bombay) Is it advisable to wail for the dead person, whom \<>u loved enormously when alive? Wailing either for the dead or the living is waste of time. The better thing is to remember thr dead kindly. MISS ZARINA B SHERIFF (Gondia) According to the Russians: "Profit is legalised robbery". What is your opinion? The Russians hare legalised robbery and called it Communism. MISS SHARDA DEVI (Bina) Is it a fact that Shanta Apte once observed a hunger strike. What was the cause? Chronic constipation, perhaps. SANTOSH KUMAR (Cawnpore) Criticise the suitability of Sabita Devi as a star in "Amrapalli"? She cost less to the producer than the suita- ble one. Which hearts are called black ones? Those that are hitched to filthy minds, A H SIDDIQUI (Delhi) Suppose you chance to find a purse containing Rs. 1000. what will you do'' Will you return it to its rightful owner or — ? It might make a good newsreel to have the horse that was taken off a hackney-carriage win a classic race event. But it just does not nappen that way! Champions are the result of applying known principles of selection to established blood lines running back many years. Heredity Counts ! Your latest RCA equipment will also be the result of the background and experience of its makers. Can you think of any better sound engineering background in the world than that of Radio Corporation of America. The latest RCA equipments will include many great improvements - the Result of experi- ence gained in building 350 different types of war equipments none of it ever manu- factured by anyone before. 6. A. A. 27 AWAiTIlSG RELEASE Soon To Be Released A GLORIOUS TALE OF AN IMMORTAL POET MAI ^tatting :- GSE/1T SAIGAL&SURAIYYA^SHAKIR BENJAHIN&IIUZ/iniUr M/TO/1NPURI LIL/I & WASTI Directed by: MOHAN SINHA MURARI PICTURES. Ahmed Chambers, Lamington Road, BOMBAY 4. June 1946 FILMINDI A There is no "or". I shall hand it over at the nearest police station. But I have not yet seen a tenner lying on the road and I have lived forty years. If money coidd be found in the streets, our producers would not build studios to give us rotten stuff. S. ASHRAFUL IMAM (Patna) I want to learn film direction. What shall I do? Join Director Winayak's troupe of assistants and look puzzled and surprised every time Winayak takes a 'shot.' Why do girls fear darkness? Not experienced girls. K. N. RAIZADA (Cawnpore) What are the feelings of a pregnant woman? Pride of prospective motherhood. M SINGH (Nepal) As I appreciate film beauty, I like to marry a film star. Shall I be happy that way? Film beauties are as brittle and inflamma- ble as the celluloid on which the pictures are taken. Besides if you are marrying for beauty, you won't be happy for long. Half the beauty in Beauty is its illusion at a distance. Marriage is a close intimacy which destroys the illusion. If Sushila Rani goes away like Devika Rani, what will you do Baburao? I will follow her like Roerich. J A DHANRAJ (Cochin) When there are more women than men in this world, why have men to chase women? Woman is passive by nature. She waits for the aggression of man and enjoys it. This chase is called romance. MRS. SAYEEDA AKHTAR (Calcutta) What is your conception of a "paradise on earth9" .4 world in which human blood is used to forge ties of friendship and not traded-in for gold and greed. How can a lady keep her husband constantly devoted to her? By forgetting the marriage tie and its obligations and remaining a sweetheart to him always. Are children at all necessary to ensure happiness in married life? Good children become a happy punctuation of a happy married life. In a cat-and-dog life, they only add to the noise. But modern child- ren are often like the lamps that set fire to the house they are supposed to lighten up. N". S. PABBI (Simla) Do you think that an honest criticism of a film is an open invitation to trouble, slander and abuse? And social and commercial boycott in addi- tion . Suresh has grown into a man now and plays the lead in "Sona Chandi" produced and directed by R. D. Pareenja. How is it that rape scenes are becoming so popu- lar now-a-days with most of the film directors? They rape their brains for new ideas and produce these morbid distortions. Has there ever been a clash of opinion between you and Sushila Rani in the matter of honest criti- cism of a film? Several times. Sushila Rani is a New Thea- tres' fan and fans don't make good critics. She likes Kanan, Khurshid and many others and likes their performances every time. I agree with her often, but sometimes I don't. MISS RAMDULARI DEVI (Dumka) What stage of love do you prefer and which stage of love is most enjoyable? The stage where the play is enacted with- out an audience. "Love is God", hence vou should help those who fall in love9 Not college-love. It is calf — not God. N. S. V. CHALAM (Malleshwaram) What will make Saigals and Motilals "quit" the screen. An invitation from above. 70 ^ Wote aila I ih an etfe $y jtJiteaih -faking /y W^beaut/fu// June, 1946 PILMINDIA Standi fat BEST QUALITY & EFFICIENT SERVICE AJour of)f)eM the vety J?atelt SOUND SYSTEM Acclaimed the world's BEST in Mo- tion Picture Sound Reproducing Sys- tems with Amplifiers incorporating the very latest improvements like Noise Suppression, Cathod Follower, and other new developments in Electro- nics. INTERNATIONAL TALKIE EQUIPMENT CO. LTD., 17, NEW QUEEN'S ROAD, BOMBAY TELEPHONE : 20892 TELE : SOUNDHEAD. MADRAS: 18, Mount Road, MADRAS. LONDON: NEW YORK: 18, Albert Street. 20, Pine Street LONDON. N„ W. I. N. Y., 5: Are our film stars directly getting into terms with the producers or have they got any 'brokers'? They employ directors. Can a man be the 'real master' of a woman, at any stage in his life? No one can stop him from fancying himself as such and often the woman conspires to feed this male vanity. Do women, too, go to hell — I mean after their death? Directly? No. I don't think so. They have a half-way cleaning house where they sort out the good and the bad and after a lot of quarrels and indecisions, pack off the wrong ones to the wrong place. M E. DINKAR RAO (Madras) Which is the costliest film that, has ever been produced in India? "Dr. Kotnis". It didn't cost much but it is perhaps the costliest enterprise. Is Paro who acted in Filmistan's "Shikari" from Bengal or Benares, Punjab or Kashmir? She is only from Delhi and was once a popu- lar dancer there. In how many pictures have Ashok Kumar and Leela Chitnia acted together? Why bother? MISS V . K MEHERUNNISA BEGUM (Bangalore) What has happened to Pandit Indra, the "Japan of film songs''? He seems to have retired from the Him industry after your review of "Murutaz Mahal"? Oh no! He has tightened his stranglehold on his victim with words of soothe. KAMLA KANT SRIVASTAVA (Oudh) Do you take into account the sex of your readers while answering them in "Editor's Mail"? / look for their sex in their purse. If it contains two rupees, I don't ask further ques- tions. How is it that the journalists of your tribe do not figure in the functions of the A. I. N. E. C? We don't contribute to a nations woes and misfortunes. We cater for its entertainment. We art nice- people. N. BHATTACHARYYA (Katni) How is it that though women dress themselves resplendently to evoke attraction chiefly of the op- posite sex, they (1 mean most of them) recoil like shrinking snails when actually stared at by some fascinated passer-by? Like the average male you think a lot o) yourself. Where did you get the notion that women dress to attract male attention? They don't. They dress only to attract the at- tention of their own sex and expect jealous ap- preciation from their own community. Primarily, a woman must like her own dress, then her June, 1946 Neena looks a charming Rajput maiden in "Prithviraj Sanyukta" a picture of Shalimar. world of women must salute the dress and finally she expects her man to describe how jealous the other women became at the sight of that dress. She icants women to stare and not men. S. R. SEN GUPTA (Lucknow) Is popularity the criterion of merit? It is of -popular merit but not necessarily of artistic merit. Notwithstanding the defect in her front teeth, what is it that actually makes Suraiyya adorable? Who adores her? ANJINI DEVI (Ahmedabad) Men become old, but they never become good. Is it true? When they become old enough, they become harmless and others charitably call them good. At some time or other, a human being has to become good, for, isn't man made in the image of God? CHANDRA PRABHA RAIZADA (Cawnpore) I propose to preserve your pen in the National Museum of Independent India. Will you please agree to part with it? Let me know the epitaph on it before I sur- render the tool icith which I carve a living. F I L M I N D I A MISS UBAIDA BEGUM (Allahabad) Is there any 'hen' in the film industry who lays golden eggs? In the film industry "hens" have stopped laying eggs and 'roosters' have begun doing the impossible. Director Sailajananda Mukherjee of Calcutta has been giving a golden egg every time so far. B. YESHWANTHA RAO (Vizagapatam) When beauty begins to bloom in a woman who is the first to be conscious of it? The neighbour who throws glances and makes the woman wonder what could be wrona with her. P. BHASKARAN (Quilon) Please tell me what is the difference between the kiss of a village girl and that of a college girl? A kiss is honeydew in the village but a postal stamp in the college. RS. 500 - IN 25 PRIZES EVERY MONTH The following prizes will be awarded every month for questions which are considered in- teresting or elicit interesting replies in the "Editor's Mail:" 1st prize: Rs. 100|-; 2nd Prize: Rs. 801- • 3rd Prize: Rs. 50|-; 4th Prize: Rs. 40,'-; fifth' prize: Rs. 30 -; and 20 Consolation Prizes of Rs 10' each. Questions must be submitted with the Entry Token (printed below without which no ques- tions will be considered. Each Entry Token en- titles the reader to ask a maximum of 10 ques- tions and can be used only by one person. The Editor's decision shall be final and abso- lutely binding and no correspondence will be entertained. The names of the prize-winners will be announced in "filmindia" every month and the prize money will be remitted by Money Order. As the May issue could not be circulated all over India in time, the prizes for June are awarded according to the old plan. From July issue onwards the new prize plan will be adopt- ed. PRIZE WINNERS FOR JUNE 1st Prize Rs. 25|- to Miss Ramdulari Devi (Dumka); 2nd Prize Rs. 20 - to Miss S. Baby (Bangalore). 3rd Prize Rs. 15|- to Madan Lai Bedi (Cawnpore); 4th Prize Rs. 10|- to N. S. V. Chalam (Bangalore) and 6 consolation prizes of Rs. 5|-each to N. S. pabbi (Simla); Miss Zarina B. sheriff (Gondia); Miss Sharda Devi (Bina); S. Ashraful Imam (Patna); p. k. Tandon (Luck- now) and Hans Raj (Ferozepur). Money Orders are being sent to all the prize winners. 33 ***** PICTURES JDEN RELEASE MODERN SOCIAL LOV£, L/Ff t-SACRfF/l f' MOO m.sadiq* djImadhok Producer • MOHANLAL KAP0( Story ; CHETAN ANANC Dialogue : KAMIL RASH ID ★ For Territorial Rights : J. M. R, PICTURES, 293A, Beiiasis rome bet that Kanan, Khurshid or any other female star cannot sing with the same easy mastery some of Sushila Rani's classical gramo- phone songs. Some of the musi- cal phrases would, indeed, be be- yond them, and some of the Tans 43 FILMINDI A June, 1946 they cannot execute with the same facility and felicity. I have sometimes wondered how a young girl could have acquired all that musical art which must be the envy of grey-haired musi- cians. What heroic and super- human effort must have been ap- plied by Sushila Rani to smooth articulation of some of the seem- ingly easy touches! And what Veena-like voice to give expres- sion to all that art! You may well ask then why Sujshila Rani hasn't become all the rage among Indian masses., why her songs are not on the lips of street-singers. Why, in short, is she not the Kanan of to-day? The answer is simple enough. Su- shila Rani has not as yet sung any tunes composed by Boral or Kamal Das Gupta. In "Draupadi" the theme demanded more or less clas- sical songs, and as such they were not what could catch the fancy of street-singers and the lower stalls. For mass-appeal fast "Dadras" and "Kaharvas" are just the things, not slow-treading "Tin-Tal" or "Ek-Tal". And in addition, simple catchy melodies, not solemn Ragas. How, for in- stance, could an average picture- goer take to a song like "Suno Ab Shyam Behari" (Draupadi)? This song is in Tin-Tal and is a mixture of Puriya, Basant and Marva, all solemn Ragas of notes unfamiliar to the ordinary ear. It is true that the particular situation in "Drau- padi" required a sombre pathetic song, and the song in question is that. Take another of Sushila Rani's songs of "Draupadi", "Chamkat Hai Ung-Ung". This is Dadra and the Rag is Desh. All sweet and nice, classically speak- ing! But the Dadra here moves slowly and the Desh is not quite popularly composed, besides the words are more Brijbhasha than Hindustani. All this is singularly appropriate in the picture, but is not quite the thing to make the masses go wild. It is for this reason that Su- shila Rani hasn't become the craze of general picture-goers for her songs. But let me assert with all the emphasis at my command that Sushila Rani is a greater Kanan and directly she sings on the screen some light swingy songs of lyrical appeal, she is going to sky-rocket to the height of popu- larity not yet achieved by any star. Let us hope she gets such romantic songs in "Gvalan". Her greatest advantage is that her voice not only caresses the soul and kisses away the tears with a sweetness all its own, but it is far more facile than other voices, hav- ing been trained to perfection by execution of classical complexities and subtleties. It is an irrefu- table fact that a classical singer when he or she sings a light song will always sing it more beauti- fully and movingly than a singer of light music. Punkaj Mullick and K. C. Dey are clear instances. For a song is nothing but notes and rhythm which the classical singer has already mastered. As for the power of a great voice to express the dimmest and minutest shades of emotion, the radio-drama demonstrates how without the help of face and eyes, feelings can be conveyed by ordi- nary voices. What wonders then are within the reach of a superb cultivated voice like that of Su- shila Rani! She has a voice that ranges through the whole spect- rum of human emotions, and in perfect alignment with it she has a most mobile face responding to the lightest ripple of feeling. What is more, her beautiful face is like a diamond with many brilliant facets, always charming in every phase. EDUCATION AND CULTURE Mobility of face may be a gift from heaven but the ability of experiencing finer shades of feel- ing (as a great star should) comes from breadth of sympathy and width of imagination. All Art whether that of a poet or a sculp- tor in its last analysis is imagina- tive sympathy, and an actor's art more so. An actor has to sympa- thise so much with his role, and imagine himself to be one with it to the extent that he becomes another person. Unless he or she has the power of understanding the subtle gradations of charac- ter and niceties of sentiment, all that is well-nigh impossible. For the histrionic art, therefore, edu- cation and culture are indispens- ably needed. These alone can make an actor probe to the depths of an individuality, enter into its very spirit, sympathise with its idiosyncracies and faults, and per- "Gvalan", the picture produced and directed by Mr. Baburao Patel, has some interesting dances led by Sushila Rani. The picture is a musical entertainment. 44 June. 1946 Camera-craftsman B. M. Naresh refuses to consider the camera as a dead mechanism. For him the camera lives, breathes and sym- pathizes with the situations in "Gvalan," an art rarely known to our film cameramen. One of our fastest technicians, it is a rare pleasure to work with Mr Naresh sonate it to perfection. It is for- tunate that Sushila Rani in addi- tion to her God-given gifts, pos- sesses intellectual and cultural attainments in a far higher degree than any other Indian star has. Mark that I have coupled culture and education to- gether! For education without culture is a tinkling symbol, mak- ing so much noise without achiev- ing the requisite symphony. I am afraid that the above para- graph may be somewhat abstruse as it is a compressed tablet of cer- tain abstractions. But I hope the main drift of my argument must be clear. I have tried to illust- rate many of my points by dis- cussing Sushila Rani, for the sim- ple reason that without a perfect concrete example generalisations cannot be made objective But why Sushila Rani, it may be ask- ed. Just because she happens to be the Morning Star of the Indian screen, her potentialities have not been fully realised and her arrival on our screen appears to usher in a new era where education and culture and true art would be in ascendance, superseding the un- educated and the illiterate, thr half -educated and the uncultured. And then because she is the only female star who possesses all the attributes that, according to me. a great star should have. Let me demonstrate another point by referring to her. Sushila Rani is a talented dancer, and her acquisition of the art of dancing has given her a graceful poise. That is why in her most ordinary movements she seems to "snatch a grace beyond the reach of art." That is why her gestures are art- lessly artistic. Her lovely limbs become far more beautiful in motion. THE FACETS OF A STAR Now allow me to string to- gether the attributes that I con- sider necessary for a truely great female-star. It is obvious that she should have good looks. But this is not everything. A good- looking face may not be expres- sive. A star's face is only a me- dium, and it should without a doubt be attractive but if it is opaque and does not transpar- ently >how you the emotions of the heart, it is without utility and purpose in film or on stage. In the same way her body should have fair proportions, hut it should also essentially have grace of deportment and movement. Above all. the face and figure should like a stringed instrument respond to the lightest touch of emotion it should be able to arti- culate beautifully feelings, fancies and fleeting thoughts. Together with such a figure and face she should have a voice so well modulated as to denote every little thing that the heart experi- ences, it should be able to give a meaning far beyond the words. The voice should certainly be sweet and appealing. And it should also be able to pronounce words rightly. Other adjuncts that I consider necessary for a star are education and culture. These alone could give her nice perception of the subtle points of a character, and make her sympathetically as- sume a different personality with all its faults and foibles. These would ensure her vivid visualisa- tion and imagination along with a sympathy as wide as the world FILM INDIA HOPELESS HOPE FOR SENSE So these briefly are the qualities of a great star. Would that our producers put them in a pipe and smoke in a quiet moment. If they want our films to shoot up to Hollywood level they would have to shift their slant on man}' things, chief among them are the stars. Up to the time stars hold sway over our film-industry, and their dethronement seems a remote pos- sibility, the calibre of our stars will spell success or failure. Edu- cated Indian girls are beginning to lose their shyness and distant disdain for the films, and shortly W.A.C.I.s would be knocking at the gates of the Industry. The selection would no longer be rest- ricted and there wouldn't be any Hobson's choice as up till now. Why then all this hurry and scurry? Why all this scramble for mere good looks and youthful charms0 Why shouldn't they exer- cise patience and discrimination to pick out something on the lines of Sushila Rani, some one-in-a- million girl pre-eminently suitable for becoming the heart-throb, the dream-girl of the nation. But with the amount of educa- tion and sense our producers pos- sess, it would't be surprising if all this goes clean over their wooden heads. Recruit K K. Chopra of 114 75 Montgomery Park, Lahore, is a graduate of science. He has talent for acting but is willing to take any job. 45 rt HomE mid abroad FIVE MILES OF SEPARATION Recently Fihr. actress Sadhona Bose denied reports of her reunion with her husband. Director Modhu Bose. and in doing so. incidentally confirmed previous reports of their separation. Though Modhu and Sadhona are in Calcutta now. Modhu lives in the Great Eastern Hotel and Sadhona lives five miles away. AT LAST! Raj Kapoor, the talented and versatile son of Prithviraj Kapoor ended his career of wild oats by marrying Miss Krishna Khanna in the second week of May at Rewa and like millions of others in his country, will now settle down to a quiet domestic life, contributing substantially to the population of his nation. We hope the new Kapoors arrive in twins. GANDHIAN FAST Believe it or not, it was a gastric ulcer tor wasn't it?) that has com- pelled Editor Baburao Patel to go on a Gandhian fast of 4o days. Living on tasteless liquids these days, the once-hefty editor looks a small man and strangely enough people around think that he is growing younger in the teeth. It's a pity that when he has the whole industry to feed him Baburao can't even swallow ordinary food! CLEVER FELLOW Director Sailajananda Mukher- jee of Calcutta was reported to have done a bit of mud slinging at the local film critics. The critics went mad and demanded an apo- logy and the director, who has been laying the golden egg so far, submitted an apology in a gene- rous mood and stopped the pen- boys yelping. GOOD GOING Whether Director Debaki Bose brings home the bacon or not. he exploits his past reputation pretty smartly. The latest report about liiin is that he has accepted an assignment to direct two pictures for a sum of Rs. 2.2o.000|-. SONS-IN-LAW LTD The Kapurchand Brothers of Bombay and Calcutta, financiers, multi-millionaires and what not, are gradually turning their "Bro- thers Ltd." into "Sons-In-Law Ltd.". the way we find all the ENTRY TOKEN To meet popular demand the Entry Token has been separately printed and past- ed on the first page of the editorial article, which pro- cedure will be followed till further notice. The Entry Tokens have been very carefully checked by examining all the copies before dispatch and readers are requested not to pay for the copy if it has no Entry Token. * Probably the stall- keeper has removed the Tok- en and sold it separately. As Tokens are introduced merely to regulate the sales of "filmindia", the month on the Token has no particular significance and a Token can be used even six months alter the month printed on it. latest family acquisitions planted in different departments. That is one advantage of having daughters. INCREASE IN STATURE Confrere Khwaja Ahmed Abbas scored a personal triumph on the 9th of May in Simla, when a hun- dred international journalists and some public leaders saw a special preview of his picture "Dharti Ke Lai" produced for the Indian People's Theatre. Mrs. Sarojini Xaidu. (he old nightingale, couldn't help but express: "It's a remark- able achievement. I congratulate you ami your colleagues." Abbas' height is now five feet two inches, the inches having been added after the 9th. CARRIED HORIZONTAL It was a strange sight for the studio people to see a motion pic- ture director brought on an easy chair to direct a huge dance num- ber consisting of fifty girls creat- ing a terrific din with their bells in front of a stupendous set. erect- ed after days of labour. But this is what actually hap- pened on the sets of "Gvalan'' in mid May when the fasting and the fast-reducing Baburao Patel was brought to the sets to direct his final dance sequence in his ••Gvalan" which threatens to be a spectacular picture in addition to its being entertaining. The girls seem to have enjoyed the sight of a sick lion in pain. BUT WHY? Eric A. Johnston, President of the Motion Picture Association of America, approves of the loan of 4 million dollars to the British film industry for its post-war ex- pansion. So the Yankees have decided to nurse the British film industry and goodness knows why. BE WARNED M.G.M/s "Bathing Beauty' called "Escuela de Sirenas" for the benefit of the Argentinians, is making long-run history in Argentina. Dubbed in Spanish, the picture was released in Janu- ary and was reported running strong in the last week of Febr- uary with outstanding success. In the Hindustani language they ought to do equally well in India. WHO REMEAD3ERS WHOM "HIMANSU RAI— Pioneer in Indian film industry a friend, guide and philosopher to all, died on 19th May 1940. Love and memory live for ever. S. RAM ASWAMY" This appeared in the columns of the "Tin es of India" on the 20th of May 1940. Ramaswamy was Hai's accountant. INDIA'S 1ST CRANE The "Victory" Crane To Goverdhanbhai Patel, the chief of the Cinematographic Ef- fects Service. Main road. Dadar. Bombay, belongs the unique dist- inction of building India's first really serviceable camera crane. <7 FILMINDIA June, 1946 Priced at Rs. 15,000|- the Vic- tory Crane is a semi-portable af- fair mounted on a light dolly and can be operated by one man with remarkable ease. The Victory Crane was used for the first time in India by Mr. Baburao Patel for shooting a group dance in "Gvalan" and is reported to have won the admira- tion of our country's sternest cri- tic. While achieving complete ease of operation, the general stability of the camera is fully maintained in all the operations from the floor level to a height of 14 feet. In these days of shortages the construction of the Victory Cranes is naturally a limited activity though Mr. Goverdhanbhai is said to be constructing half-a-dozen of these to meet urgent studio orders. In the meanwhile, with an idea to get studio technicians acquain- ted with the operation of a crane, the first Victory Crane is available on hire at Rs. 100]- per day within the city of Bombay. WHAT PRICE A DOG'S TAIL? The Maharaja of Pithapuram is reported to have purchased a dog, a fox-terrier, in England for ,£1000 (Rs. 14,000— more price than the Maharaja would fetch for himself if put on the auction block.) His son-in-law, the Maharaja Gaekwar of Baroda, specialises in (expensive horse-flesh. And ex-President Herbert Hoover says that over 10 million people in India are likely to die of starvation during 1946. Some- thing must be done about these fellows in Free India. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN The Army Authorities have writ- ten to Editor Patel as follows: — "May I draw your attention to a report published in the "film- india" of April, 1946 on page 53 regarding Joginder Singh an elect- rician in the Indian Army who was sentenced to transportation for life on a charge of shooting dead a British Corp. and your editorial note under the heading "Gunga Din and Joginder Singh." The court martial proceedings recently received from G. H. Q. Central Mediterranean forces show that sepoy Joginder Singh and five other sepoys of 7 Indian Infantry Brigade transport com- pany, RIASC, took exception to the fact that the Attikon Cinema in Kawalla and advertised the film "Gunga Din" which they con- sidered "Bad" film. "On the evening of June 1st, 1945, they proceeded from their lines to the cinema where "Marie Walewska" a film about Napoleon was being shown. Armed, some with tommy guns and other with rifles, they entered the hall where approximately 50 people were pre- sent, and opened fire indiscrimi- nately. L-Cpl. Curtis of the CMP (I) who was on duty in the cinema at the time was fatally wounded by two bullets. There was no dis- pute between Cpl. Curtis and the Indian Sepoys and he neither fired at them nor there was any oppor- tunity to fire. "The six Indian soldiers were convicted on a joint charge of murder and each sentenced to transportation for life. "The film "Gunga Din" is an American film produced long be- fore the war. It was booked com- mercially by the Greek proprie- tor of the Attikon Cinema and the local Military Authorities had no power to prevent its being shown. FOrl SUPERIOR 35mm SOUND FILM PROJECTION 48 June, 1946 FILM INDIA "All the above facts can be esta- blished from the Court Martial proceedings and evidf nee of Greek Civilian witnesses. I shall be much obliged if you kindly publish these facts in your next issue. Thanking you, Yours sincerely, Sd. Capt. F. S. JAFRI, Staff Captain Public Relations. ACID TESTS Believe it or not, marriages and divorces among Hollywood's lead- ing film stars provide headaches to the producers from the box-office point of view. When it was re- ported that Bing Crosby and his wife Dixie Fee were likely to break their hitherto happy union, the news was suppressed till Crosby's film '-The Bells of St. Mary" proved a success. Product is in Hollywood always nurse the fans and they wire wor- ried when fans expressed their resentment against Frrol Flynn who was involved in an usavoury law suit four years ago. Hollywood was alarmed about Robert Taylor's popularity when Taylor indulged in the moral and old-fashioned act of marriage. But Robot survived the test and Hollywood thinks Ming Crosby will also live to tell the story. PRICE OF CAMOUFLAGE Hollywood has -tailed paying the penalty of streamlining mo- dern homes on camouflage lines. The shocking news that the charming Mrs. David Niven. 27 year-old wife of the British film star, died on May 21st from head injuries, ought to set Hollywood's fashion folks think- ing hard. It seems that the Nivens were at a party at the home of Tyrone Power on Sunday. She was look- ing for a garment to wear in a game of charades and opened the door leading to the cellar nustak- ing it for a cupboard. She fell 20 feet to the basement and fractur- ed h*r skull. Only two months ago Mrs. Ni- ven, with her two little children, had,come from Fngland to Holly- wood to join her husband. DEATH OF A PHILANTHROPIST Seth Govindram Seksaria, mul- timillionaire, industrialist and cot- ton magnate, died of heart attack. at the age of 65, on Wednesday morning. May 22nd. at his resi- dence in Bombay. Only a few minutes before his death, Seth Govindram had given away 50 lakhs of rupees for cha- rity, bringing his total charities to over a crore of rupees. A self-made man, Seth Govind- ram hailed from Xavalgad in Mar- war and within a few years of his arrival in Bombay, his unique genius for handling huge deals in the cotton and share markets of the world became the outstanding topic among his rivals. Though not educated in English Seth Govindram's pioneering spirit Seth Govindram Seksaria helped him to apply his versatile genius to different industries and at the time ol his death he WAS deeply interested in textiles, cot- ton, shares, steel, _-ugar, linseed, films, printing, lithography am! many other commercial and indus- trial pursuits. The film department of Seth Govindram has already extended financial accommodation to the dif- ferent film concerns to the extent of nearly a crore of rupees, Bom- bay Talkies Ltd. being the prin- cipal beneficiary. Setli Govindram was considered to be one of the richest men of In- dia, but he was not merely a coin collector considering his stagger- ing list of ..charities. Many an educational and charitable institu- tion was benefited by the profuse generosity of this great money- maker. The Wardha College of Commerce, the Parvati Devi Col- lege at Savantwadi, and another college at Xagpur, to mention only a few, will always remind us of a man who, in the midst of his uni- que success, did not forget his fellowmen. May his soul rest in peace. The offices of "filmindia" were closed on 22nd and 23rd May as a mark of respect for a departed friend. LUCKY ESCAPE "Durga Khote, the flying star with a flying man for husband, crashed at Juhu airfield, Bombay, on Sunday. May 26th. Though the well-known star fortunately escaped death, she received con- siderable head injuries and bruises "She and Mr. J. R. Talyarkhan, Secretary of the Bombay Flving Club, took off and had hardly been in the air for 10 minutes before the engine failed and the plane crashed to the ground. The plane was completely wrecked though both of them fortunately escaped with injuries. MAHARAJ-KI-JAI "Srinagar is almost a city of the dead, where movement is difficult and large members of people are practically interned in their own houses apart from the many hun- dred who have been put in prison. "Clashes occur daily and even women have been shot down — I understand that people are made to crawl in some of the streets, (of Kashmir i that sometimes they are made to take oft' their turbans to clean the streets and pavements and that they are made to shout at the point of the bayonet. "Ma- haraj-ki-.Iai". This is an extract from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's statement on Kashmir disturban- ces. But what Panditji says can't possibly interest Sardar Chandu- tal Shah of Ranjit who may give another grand party and 'Jalsa' when Hari Singh of Kashmir comes down for the Poona season shouting, of course, "Maharaj-ki- Jai". Ghandramohan and Motilal are expected to supply the chorus. One wonders whether, in 1946. our film industry still suffers from this feudal inferiority complex and a man like the Sardar at that. 49 PRODUCTION ftenumtie Smlaf SHIKARPURI SHAMIM, KAMAL 2AMINDAR A.SHAH, NAZIR KASHMIRI, N.KABtf^ 6ITA BOSE, KAMRUNNISSA KHAN MASTANA, SAOIQ oauS BUTTKASAR^ A. SHAH MOHAMED SHAFI TO Particulars CHAROLIA PRODUCTIONS JYOTI STUDIOS, KENNEDY BRIDGE, BOMBAY ( This is the reader's forum—as and when space permits. From the producer to the lay film-goer, every one can write to the Editor and ventilate his grievance. For every letter published in these columns, the publishers will pay Rs. Si- Letters should be signed and marked "Woes And Echoes". Photographs of the readers will be published along with theit letters, if convenient. — The Editor. ) LEAVE ME ALONE! 'May I take the liberty of con- gratulating you on your frank and outspoken review of the much-talked-of Shantaram's "Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani." "Almost all the film journals of India have declared I some even before the release of the picture!) that "Dr. Kotnis" is one of the greatest and most wonderful pro- ductions (and advised their read- ers to see it till they die! I, but your bold and spirited review lias given us a timely warning about the 'unholy' tactics adopted by Mr. Shantaram and his tribe. 'When we achieve our long- deserved independence, we would force the Govt, of the day to honour you as our National Film Advisor, but. till then. Mr. Patel. you carry with you the good- wishes and confidence of thou- sands of admirers in your sincere efforts to promote the industry." BANGALORE. N. S. V. Chalam. SENTIMENTAL AWARD "Mr. Patel, can anybody ever dream of voting "Parbat Pe Apna Dera" as the best Hindustani pic- ture of 194o° Yet the Bengal Film Journalists have made that award. Have the Bengalis lost their artistic instinct for which they were noted or have they stooped to satisfy their baser in- stinct leaving aside their cultural traditions? In my opinion, it is nothing short of a slander on our film industry. What opinion will a foreigner form of our films if he is misled by this report, into see- ing that rotten and immoral pic- ture "Parbat Pe Apna Dera?" V. K. Fazlur Rahman BANGALORE. SHOWMANSHIP, EH? "Almost all the cinema halls here at Delhi, whether with a royal hall or a third-rate dungeon have been repainted and over- hauled with the exception of one and that is "Majestic." "It can brieflv be described as a "Hall of Pillars". Instead of facing the screen one faces the pillars on 1-12 seats. "Advance booking is ridiculous too. If you get a ticket three days in advance you are not guaranteed a particular seat at all because neither the seats nor the tickets are numbered. And, hence you get a seat opposite to a pillar. "I wonder why a picture house in the Capital of India and of a good repute is jeopardizing its re- putation deliberately. "The authorities have already been requested, though in vain, to either remove the pillars or if this is costly to at least remove the chairs from the places where one feels uncomfortable in seeing a picture due to these pillars." NEW DELHI. S. A. Malik. WAIT A LITTLE "I think it is time that the war- time exorbitant rates of admissions to picture houses are brought down to the normal pre-war scale. A serious economic depression has overtaken our country due to large-scale unemployment and a terrible famine is on its way, if not really in our midst. A dele- gation of "brains" has recently left India to beg food for our people and we have yet to see how far they succeed. "Will you kindly take up the cause of the poor film-goers and urge for an immediate revision of rates?" N. S. V. Chalam BANGALORE. ONCE BITTEN TWICE SHY "Inspite of your adverse criti- cism of the picture 'Chand' I went to see it as my niece was very in- sistent but on seeing the picture I came back utterly dejected. The picture is really a hopeless affair. There is not the slightest proba- bility in the picture from begin- ning to end. The humour is not civilized. An actor like Prem Adib who acted marvellously in other pictures like 'Ram Rajya' seems to have lost his talent. MEERUT. Rajendra Kumar. Shobha and Kanu Roy get a light moment together picture of Filmistan Ltd. 'Safar' 51 June. 1946 FILMINDIA WORTH pitying: "Now a days I see magazines copying something or other from •filmindia'. For instance ''Artist" an Urdu magazine published from Delhi in its March 1946 issue has copied the section "Refresh Your Memory" in Urdu under the head- ing "1945*8 Films" while this is a word to word copy even of the name of the month in which the picture was reviewed in "Film- india" being the same. I am re- producing the true copy of both: "In 'filmindia' Vish Kanya' (Hindustani! (Ranjiti March '4n issue — folklore — "A motion pic- ture poison one would not like to swallow." "In 'Artist' (Urdu)*Vish Kanya' l Ranjiti March "4o Kissa Kahani Ek Chalti Phirti Tasweer Ka Zahar .Tisko Pine Ke Lie Koi Taiyar Nahi Ho Sakta." "For reference and as a proo*" for the old man Mr. Baburao Patel (who always wants proofs! I am enclosing herewith the said cutting from the magazine toge- ther with this letter. I wonder why these Delhiwalas bluff peo- ple, and how long will this non- sense continue?" CALCUTTA. Abdool Kader Adam ISN'T IT A PITY? "We Indians in ?.Ialaya read with immense pleasure in 1941 your review of "The Court Dancer"', the first English picture to be produced in India by Indians. We had high hopes of seeing not only that one but many other English picture- bo produced when the war in the East cut us off. "Now in 1946 we find no sign in "filmindia" of any English pic- ture already produced or in the course of production. Must we believe that "The Court Dancer" was the first and the last English picture to be produced in India? Must wo believe that the experi- ment proved a failure <>r was it merely not as paying as the Hin- dustani pictures. "If "filmindia" published in English can be "the most excitine film paper in the world", is it not possible to produce English pic- tures of a similar standard in India." N. Me her van Singh. SINGAPORE. GOLD DIGGERS "In spite of good box-office col- lections the two exhibitors over here do not care to look after the comforts of the cinema-goers. By comforts I mean choice of good pictures, clean lavatories and good seating arrangement. The people over here have become very much film-minded during the war days and do not grudge spending a bit of money for some type of entertainment. I presume this is the plight of most of the people of small towns." CDTTACK Pravat Mahapatrr. PICKET THE SHOW "It has become a habit in one of our theatres to enhance the admission rates by 25% if a de- cent picture is shown. And good pictures visit our city once in a blue moon so much so. that the long-stored enthusiasm to see such pictures is offset by this dirty trick of the theatre-owner. Don't you think Mr. Editor, that such un- healthy practices should be con- demned by the public and curb- ed by the authorities concerned?" MYSORE. //. S. Venkata Rao. NOT MI CH DIFFERENCE "In Madras some English cinemas often exhibit at the gate some very attractive and alluring pictures purporting to be shown in a certain film, which are not to be seen in that film. "On several occasions, being at- tracted by such beautiful pictures exhibited outside. I went in to see especially those particular scenes, but to my utter disappointment they were not to be seen at all. "Doubtless those interesting scenes have been cut off by the Censors and the exhibitors know this; and yet why do they dis- play those banned scenes which are not to be seen on the screen? "Is this not a case of cheating the public. Or is this also an art of publicity?" II. A. Rahman. MELVISHARAM (N. X.) PAID PIPERS "There seems to be a fashion amongst most of the film critics o! South India to praise one and all Hindi films whether thev de- serve it or not. It is all the' more wonderful when it is realized that the majority of these critics are ignorant of the language viz. Hindi and it appears that one can appre- ciate a dialogue in a language winch is Greek and Latin! At the same time these very same cri- tics have not even a single word to be said in favour of the best produced Tamil film, if they do not condemn downright as trash. "I have to point out that many ol the Hindi films which are held up to the world as masterpieces bv these critics often receive onlv a single 'star' from 'filmindia'"" P. Balazubramanian. XAGAPATAM CHEATED? "Believe me or not. I would have never wasted my time over Barua's 'Ameeree'. had it not been for Pt. Jawahar Lai Nehru, who -poke highly of it after seeing it at Calcutta. You can very well visualise to yourself my feelings after I saw it. The picture was just erratic and had too much of trash in it. I fail to understand why Pandit ji appreciated it?" Mrs. Savitri Devi Shukla. CAWNPORE. SOME DAY, PERHAPS! "Prithviraj-Sanyukta". a Shali- mar picture, is another addition to the list of rotten historical pic- tures, so far produced by the In- dian film industry. It is nothing but a sheer waste of 10999 feet of celluloid. What to mention of its technical defects, the picture has failed even in its most ordi- nary aspects! Its music is full of jarring tunes; sound is faint and the dialogue can. therefore, hardly be heard or followed at any point. "Surely the film industry is not unaware of the fact that the taste of the picturegoer of 1946 is not so crude as might have been of the picture-goer of a decade ago. The time and money spent on such pictures is a national waste. 5? Producer K. ABDULLA Presents THE ONE & ONLY NURJEHAN in H AMJCLI Directed by : ISMAIL MEMOK & LUQMAN £>I\ To VICTORY FILM EXCHANGE AHMAD CHAMBERS, Lamington Road, BOMBAY 4 . 67 SHALIMAR PICTURES (Poona) Producer W. Z. Ahmed's specta- cular historical, "Prithviraj San- yukta", directed by Najam Naqvi was released at the Lamington Talkies, Bombay. Starring the mysterious Neena, this picture is reported to be doing good business. In the studios, W. Z. Ahmed is working hard on "Mira" and is bent on making it a box-office success. "Shri Krishna Bhagwan" is more than half completed. R. D. PARINJA (Bombay) In his maiden production "Sona Chandi", R. D. Parinja has featured a charming new-comer, Chandni, to play the lead oppo- site Suresh. Producer R. D. Parinja tells us that "Sona Chandi" has an interesting story and backed by good tunes, it is bound to prove popular. The picture will be released in Bombay through New Bombay Theatres Ltd. The North and Sind rights are with Jagat Talkie Dis- tributors. MAZHAR ART PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) Modest Mazhar is very much a confused man these days. The reason is "Pehli Nazar". This picture has been released in Lahore and has proved such a great sensation that Mazhar is too overwhelmed for words. It is waiting to be released soon in Bombay. In the meantime, Aslam Noori is giving the finishing touches to "Naiyya", featuring attractive Munnawar Sultana, Shahzadi, Mazhar Khan and others. Another picture about which Mazhar entertains great hopes is "Sona" or "The Gold". The picture stars Mazhar Khan, Dixit and many others. RAJA MOVIETONE (Bombay) Producer-director Zahur Raja has nearly completed this human story "Dharkan" featuring Jyoti and Zahur Raja himself. Attractive outdoor scenes have been taken and the picture will be ready for the Censors in a month's time. The future production pro- gramme of the company is not known. PUNJAB FILM CORPORATION (Bombay) Director Walli has made good progress with "Dekhoji" starring charming Mumtaz Shanti. Both Walli and Mumtaz Shanti are concentrating all their brains and energy on "Dekhoji" and we wouldn't be at all surprised if "Dekhoji" becomes a good picture. CHAROLIA PRODUCTIONS (Bom- bay) Comedian-cum-director A. Shah has completed a lot of shoot- ing of "Shikarpuri". Shamim is .cast as the heroine and A. Shah has a leading role. The picture is likely to contain many comic situations which will make the audiences roar with laughter. FILMISTAN LTD. (Bombay) "Mazdoor" directed by Nitin Bose featuring Indumati, Nasir Khan, Veera and others has been released at the Roxy Talkies in Bombay. The theme has a socia- listic approach to the problems of labour and is likely to appeal to the filmgoers. "Safar" featuring Shobha and Kanu Roy has been nearly com- pleted. The Princess of Kalinga (Shamim) wants to have a stab at Samrat Ashok (Sapru) in "Samrat Ashok" produced and directed by K. B. Lall. 63 June, 1946 FILMINDIA Ashok Kumar has progressed a ^ood bit with his picture, starring himself and Veera. In the meantime, S. Mukherjee is busy with the screenplay of ''Lokmanya Tilak". This is one of the ambitious productions of Filmistan and is being planned with great care and scrutiny. MURARI PICTURES (Bombay) Speed-king Director Mohan Sinha completed "Omar Khay- yam" starring Saigal and Suraiyya in record time and now news comes to us that he has nearly con.pleted "1857" featuring Suraiyya, Wasti and Surendra. LAKHMIDAS AN AND PRODUC- TIONS (Calcutta) Producer Lakhmidas Anand is waiting to release the marathon picture "Krishna Leela" starring the sweet-voiced Kanan. He has again engaged the ser- vices of Director Debaki Bose and Kanan for his second picture,. "Ram Leela" which will go on the sets very soon. KAMAL PICTURES (Bombay) Directors Harshad Barot and Rajendra Sharma have nearly completed "Hirni" featuring Monica Desai, Kanhaiyalal, Sune- tra and S. Nazir. AZAD PICTURES (Bombay) "Namak" a social thriller fea- turing Dulari has been completed and will be shortly released at one of the leading theatres in Bombay. Another social picture, the name of which will be announced later, will go on the sets in a week's time. ASIATIC PICTURES (Bombay) "Mansarovar" is ready to be cen- sored. The picture features David, Gulab, and Kanhaiyalal and in- troduces a new pair, Nishi Baran and Mazhar Haq. The story is by Pandit Girish and the songs are set to music by S. N. Tripathi. The N. India and Sind rights of "M,ansarovar" have been bought by Kalyan Pictures of Lahore. SHAHZAD PRODUCTIONS LTD. (Bombay) Producer Shahzada Iftekhar has got the paper work of his maiden picture "Veena" ready. The screen play is by Kamal Amrohi and the music is in the hands of Rafiq Gaznavi. The picture stars Veena and Ashok Kumar and will be produced in the Bombay Talkies' studios. AMAR PICTURES (Bombay) Producer-director Baburao Patel has completed the spectacular dance sequence of his social pic- ture "Gvalan". It is reported that he was carried in a chair to direct this particular sequence as the fasting he was undergoing for a gastric ulcer had weakened the lion considerably. "Gvalan" has been nearly com- pleted and will be censored in a month's time. BRIJ PRAKASH PRODUCTIONS (Bombay) "Pick Pocket" a stunt thriller is ready for release. Another thriller "Forget-me- not" has gone on the sets with Br ij mala in the leading role. DOOMRAI PRODUCTIONS (Bom- bay) Their maiden thriller, "Maaf Kijiyega" is now on the sets. The picture is directed by Nari Gha- diali and features Shanta Patel and Prakash. DIN PICTURES (Bombay) Director M. Sadiq is one of those directors whose approach to work is sincere. No wonder he is confident about the box-office success of the picture "Jag Biti" which he is directing for Din Pictures. "Jag Biti" features Surraiyya, Sadiq Ali and Sulochana Chat- ter ji, who never disappoints us where a graceful dance is con- cerned. The musical score is by Ghulam Haider, whose name almost went into obscurity after the release of "Chal Chal Re Nav Jawan." SHREE RAJ PICTURES (Calcutta) B. R. Tandon has completed "Baap" and is now busy with a Muslim social "Razia" at the In- drapuri studios. The third one is "Samaj" a social story. The cast of this picture has not yet been selected. NAVYUG CHITRAPAT LTD. (Poona) "Room No. 9" featuring Gita Nizam i and Shy am is awaiting release. More than half of "Paro" has been completed and Director Shahid Latif has done a bit of "Shikayat". In the meantime, Director Chandrashekhar Bose has finished the outdoor sequences of "Moti". All these three pictures are ex- pected to be ready by the end of October. PEOPLE'S THEATRE (Bombay) Journalist K. Ahmed Abbas is all smiles since the day "Dharti Ke Lai" was shown to an appre- ciative audience of Indian and foreign correspondents at Simla. The picture is scheduled for re- leased in June at Calcutta. EMPIRE TALKIE DISTRIBUTORS (Bombay) This well-known firm of distri- butors has again started distri- buting Indian films in the Bombay Circuit. It has already released "Albeli" and "Ameree" and a third one "Kurukshetra" is now being shown at the New West End, Bombay. "Zid" starring Ramola will also be distributed by this concern. RANJIT MOVIETONE (Bombay) "Rajputani" is still running at the Royal Opera House. "Moorti", "Phoolwari" and "Dharti" are awaiting release. INDIA UNITED PICTURES LTD (Lahore) The paper work of their first picture "Prae bas men" has been completed. Mr. Sampatlal Karnani has en- gaged director Dawood Chand to direct the picture and the cast in- cludes Pran, Asha Posley, Zubeda, Kair.la etc. RANG MAHAL LTD. (Bombay) Screenplay-writer Dr. Safdar 'Ah' has become a producer and director. His first assignment is "Bhookh". Sheikh Mukhtar, Kanhaiyalal and a new-comer Husna are featured in the picture. Anil Biswas is in charge of music. We wish Dr. Safdar 'Ah' all luck in his maiden picture "Bhookh." 69 FILMINDIA June, 1946 ALMAS PICTURES (Bombay) "Bhatakti Maina" directed by Sadiq Nizami will be released shortly. Another thriller "Khooni Doc- tor" is already on the sets. A third one "Jungle Men Man- gal" will go on the sets very soon. This picture will be directed by Maqbul Ahmed. BOMBAY CINETONE LTD. (Bom- bay) In his ambitious picture "Sam- rat Ashok", Producer director K. B. Lall has taken great care to make the story exciting. Added to this, are many spectacular bat- tle sequences and therefore "Samrat Ashok" is a picture well worth waiting for. Veena and Shamim are reported to have done well. Sapru plays the lead as "Samrat Ashok." J. M. R. PICTURES (Bombay) Director M. Sadiq has complet- ed "Shan: Savera" featuring Suvarnalata, Wasti and Sulochana Chatter jee. The songs are writ- ten by popular lyric writer Madhok and the picture is pro- duced by Mohanlal Kapur. NEPTUNE FILMS (Bombay) Producer director Raja Yagnik has completed "Silver Queen" a social thriller. His second picture "Tilasmi Heera" directed by A. M. Khan is also ready for release. INDIA FILM CIRCUIT (Bombay) ruder the banner of National Theatres, Producer K. Ajbdulla lias nearly completed "Hamjoli". The picture stars Nurjehan and P. .lairaj. R. K O RADIO R. K. O. Radio of America will be releasing the following pictures in India shortly — "Bedlam" star- ring Anna Lee and Boris Karloff who plays the role of a sadistic tyrant to perfection; "Tarzan And The Leopard Woman" a new offering in one of the most popular series and which should provide a lot of thrills to the film-goer, "From This Day Forward" a de- lightfully human story and "The Kid From Brooklyn" with Danny 70 Kaye ("the Wonder man") and Virginia Mayo in leading roles. RAMNIK PRODUCTIONS (Bom- bay) "Baehchon Ka Khel" is drawing well at the Novelty, Bombay. The picture is directed by Raja Nene, who is good at directing young- sters and it features sweet little Shakuntala and that smart boy N. Kabir. Meena Kumari, up till recently a 'baby,' now plays the charming heroine of the story. MANSATA FILM DISTRIBUTORS (Calcutta) Owing to the difficulty of secur- ing a theatre, M. P. Productions' "Raj Lakshmi" starring Kanan is still lying in the tins. CENTRAL PICTURES (Bombay) Two pictures "Shahi Khazana" and "Chamakti Bijli" featuring Sulochana and E. Billimoria are ready for release. Ready for Release (TSeptune Films' Stunt Thriller SILVER QUEEN Starring : Madhuri, Navinchandra, Aghajan, Dalpat Bhim, Sardar Mansur, Subhasini, Mina Devasker & Azim. Produced d~ Directed by Raja Yagnik Under Production Costume Magic Stunt Thriller TILASMI HEERA d) ^Produced En Raja Yagnik <£iizcud A. M. Khan ,s7a/';v';/f/:-Yashwant Dave, Subhasini, Bhim, Shanta, Sultan Alam, Amina, Dalpat, Azim, Ansari and Kurbanjan. Social ??? (2) PROBLEM OF TO-DAY Starring:- Aghajan, Madhuri, Gope, Habib Subhasini, Munshi Khanjar, Ansari Produced & Directed by:- RAJA YAGNIK ^Tot /booking -QppLy : NEPTUNE FILMS, NAIGAUM CROSS RD., DADAR. j^efytelk Ifout Memory The Indian film industry will improve only when film-goers pick and choose their en- tertainment. As long as fools keep on rushing for tickets, there is not the slightest chance of getting better pictures in future. The duty of every intelligent filmgoer is not only to stop see- ing bad pictures himself, but also to stop others from doing so. For ready reference from month to month we shall be grading pictures as follows: — ***** (5*) Excellent, Don't miss. **** (4+) Very good. *** (3*) Quite good ** (2*) Tolerable. Entertaining in parts. * ('*) Rotten. Avoid. Pictures reviewed in "filmindia" from April 1945 A (1*) "Ameeree" (Hindustani) (Associated) May '46 issue — social — "just another Barua flop with a lot of tom-tom." B (1*) 'Bari Ma' (Hindustani) (Prafulla) Sept. '45 issue Propaganda Social. — "year's most rotten show." (1*) 'Bhagya Laxmi' (Hindustani) (Laxmi) May '45 issue — Social. — "proves just so much trash." (2*) 'Bhai Jan* (Urdu) (United Films) Dec. '45 issue- Social— "presents the usual sob-stuff." (1*) "Bisvi Sadi" (Hindi)tBhavnani i Feb. '46 issue- social romance — "silly story — presents boredom in celluloid." (2») 'Bhartruhari' (Hindustani) (Navin) Aug. '45 issue— Mythological.— "nothing much." (2*) 'Bondita' (Bengali) (New Talkies) July '45 issue —Social.— "sob-stuff pure and simple." (1*) 'Burma Rani* (Tamil) (Modern Theatres) May '45 issue — propaganda social. — "a crude war thriller " C (2*) 'Caravan' (Hindustani i (Ran jit) May '45 issue- gipsy social — "interesting story indifferently handled." (1*) 'Chand Chakori' (Hindustani) (Ranjit) March '46 — social — "provides headache". <3') •Chandragupta' (Hindi) (Jayant Desai) April '45 Ksue— Historical.— "Historically incorrect but en- tertaining." (3»> 'Chhamia' (Hindustani) (Protima Dasgupta) Oct. '45 issue — Social— "presents sensible en- tertainment." 'Chand Tara' (Hindustani) (Asiatic) Dec. '45 Issue — Social.— "a stupid time-killer without even * slnele moment of intelligent relief." D (1*) "Dhamki" (Urdu) (Pancholi) Feb. '46 issue- detective thriller— "stupid and tiresome." 'Vikramaditya' (Hindi) (Prakash) Aug. '45 issue —Historical.— "becomes an entertaining picture." (2*) 'Village Girl' (Hindustani) (Ramnik) Nov. '45 issue— Social.— "a pleasant picture to see— story misses emotional target." Y (2*) 'Yateem' (Hindustani) (Central Studios) July '45 issue — Social. — "makes good impression." Z (3*) 'Zeenat' (Hindustani) (Eastern Pictures) Jan '46 issue — social — "a picture worth seeing though presents popular emotional theme." Printed by Baburno Patel at New Jack Printing Works, Ltd.. 39. Sankli Street, Byculla, and Published by bim for "filmindia" Publications Ltd.. from 55. Phirozshah Mebta Road. Fort. Bombay. KAMAM DGVI & PARESH BAhMERJI IN Directed L,: DGBAKI BOS6 Music: KAMALDAS GUPTA SOON TO BE RELEASED. ^ JMzxt Attraction ^ RAM Id E £ Id A WITH Directed Lu : DEBAKI BOS6 CP. G.I. Bights with POPULAR FILMS, BHUSAWAL. Particulars: IdAKHMIDAgT jtIMAMB PRODUCTIOMg/3 SWASTIK . HOUSE, LAMINGTON ROAD, BOMBAY 4. MAZHARKHAN ilVES THREE TALKIES THAT TALK FOR THEMSELVES AT THE BOX-OFFICES MAKING RECORDS AT PR ASH AT IN LAHORE WAITING FOR ITS TURN TO MAKE NEW RECORDS FAMOUS FILMS' MUGHALE AZAM A tale that deserves to go down from one generation to another as a loving memory of an age. Featuring RADHARANI-SUSHIL KUMAR AND K ANHIYALAL WITH Ramesh Gupta, Anant Prabhu, Ranibala, Meghmala, Ramlal and Shamlal. Action-.. HANUMAN PRASAD P RE S E N T E D — By BARODA THEATRES LTD. HANUMAN PRASAD. KARAM CHAND. GHAFIL HflRNALVI. f love and mating. This vulgar pre- cocity from a girl of 8 .is, to say the least, most re- volting to the mind. But the censors never under- stood it. The man common to both these outrageous pic- tures is Raja Nene. Is the man by any chance a mental pervert? If so- the common law of the land must keep him away from a dangerous medium like " the motion picture film. The American investigators say: "The seeing of || " a motion picture is for young children a powerful emotional experience that affects their young brains j and nerves with almost the force of an electrical charge". ,: If the impact of a motion picture is so terrific on the child mind how disastrous must be the sub- sequent reaction if the child sees a filthy and sug- gestive picture like "Bachchon-Ka-Khel"? Speaking to the members of the Producers' As- sociation the other day, Minister Morarji Desai of the Government of Bombay said, "In these days when the film has become the most popular medium of entertainment it has an important role in moulding the juvenile and uneducated mind. The film has a lasting effect on public morals. I feel that there is too much of frivolity in the present day Indian films which has to be avoided if the film industry has to justify its claim as a medium of entertainment and education." These are words of wisdom but they become pious platitudes when we see the censor inspectors, working under the direct control of Minister Morarji Desai, permitting pictures like "Bachchon-Ka Khel" to be shown to the general public. We would like to know whether Minister Morar- j ji's censor inspectors know enough of the Hindustani The Rana is angry with the ascetic Mira and this incident is vividly brought to the screen by Neena in Shalimar's "Meerabai". 6 V. 1946 FILM INDIA Jionsoon ejoerunqs one just ike kme io skardb ioktnq indoor )ic^iVies of ijoun f/uends and uxnAf on Kodak Film (novo \wallable In Lim'ded quantities itcM Kodak dealens) ! language to explain to us the veiled meanings of our film songs. If they don't why are they given so res- ' ponsible a job of censoring pictures which affect the I lives of millions from day to day? The Congress leaders advise every Indian to learn his Hindustani as a national language and yet we find responsible Government officers, who have to discharge their very duties only with the help of an efficient knowledge of Hindustani, stumbling through their work clumsily without this knowledge. 1 How else can one understand the subtleties of a Hindustani picture without a thorough knowledge of the language? Minister Morarji has just stepped into his new- saddle but we would like him to end this apparent anomaly as quickly as possible so that our people feel that our Congress Ministers are fulfilling their promises to the people. Coming to the words of wisdom uttered by Mini- ster Morarji at the Producers' Association, let Mo- rarji not live in a fool's paradise by imagining that our producers are going to improve their methods of work because the Congress Ministries are in office and our ministers are uttering wise words of advice. Minister Morarji Desai will have to be born seven times over before he finds our film industry improving on right national lines with mere words of advice whatever their weight in wisdom. People in the Indian film industry don't improve so easily. But because they don't improve, they are not to be put on the shelf with indifference as their product vitally affects every home and every indi- vidual of our nation. The good work of our popular ministries, done after years of labour and sacrifice, can be nullified within a few months by our irresponsible producers with the help of their films running counter to the interests of our people. The Indian film industry netds a national code I of production- stating in precise and unambiguous terms the do's and don'ts of motion picture making for a future nation. There is no sense in calling the people of the film industry rotters and allowing these rotters to run amuck and give us within a few- years a whole nation of rotters. Patriotism demands that our film industry should be planned on national lines and an immediate be- ginning should be made by controlling the producers through official censorship. Though censorship is a negation of democracy, wise censorship is most essential in a country, debauched by two centuries of slavery, now trying to find its ancient soul and -elf-respect. In the meantime we request Minister Morarji to see "Bachchon-Ka-Khel" and hear carefully I those two songs, Xos. 3 and 7, from the lips of child- . I ren of 11 and 12 and imagine the children in his own ! home singing them. R.D. PRREENJ SONA CHAND Starring CMNDNI - SURES & KISHORI with many new faces. Screenplay & Direction : D. PAREENJi Dialogues & Songs: Walli Saheb. Music : Tofil Faruqi Noiv Ready for Releas To make new box office recor Released through : NEW BOMBAY THEATRES LT 55, Apollo St., Fc Bombay. For North &; Si THIS PLACE WAS FOR YOU But Where are YOU? If you are a good looking young girl your photograph Id have been printed here as the star of R. D. Pareenja's picture, and the screen's latest, newest, freshest, gent- prettiest, sweetest, gayest, jolliest, daintiest, loveliest, f st, smartest, grandest, swellest, tenderest, glamour girl, fdon't worry. This place is still there for you if you are a ]jJ looking girl. R. D. Pareenja, India's ablest master of :c|matographic technique, who picturized such glorious box le hits as 'Kangan', 'Bandhan', 'Punar Milan', 'Naya Sansar', tola', 'Kismet' and who has now produced and directed *'ia Chandi" will make you a Glamour Girl of the Screen. !h. You name your own salary and you will be given, but must be an educated young lady from a good family, lecent career in a respectable atmosphere awaits you. te now to R. D. Pareenja, Managing Director, New ibay Theatres, Ltd., 55, Apollo Street, Fort, Bombay. ii FOR APPROVAL I^M^M-H" FOR INSERTION ON L. A.STRONACH & CO.(INDIA)LTD. ADVERTISING CON 5ULTANTS OF CUWTB Of smooth quality and flavour — ii you have yet to sample ry Gin, you have ip6ta treat in store. q^i ii Stocks are now avanaMe at all our branches in India ofCKambridge Dry GinJName this Gin m your next wine order from\ Scat iu^ c+* foal PHIPSON & Co.Ltd. B ES^ HI This section is the monopoly of "JUDAS" and he writes what he likes and about things which he likes. The rijws txprested here are not necessarily ours, but they carry weight because they are written by a man who knows his job. ARE THE POLICE BRIBED? While all the countries in the world are making plans for post-war reconstruction and progress in all directions, people in the Indian film industry arc finding out new ways and means of making them- selves more obnoxious to the public. To quote the instance of our theatres, we find them today worst' maintained than ever before. To mention only one aspect: we find these days more seats being squeezed into boxes which were intended for less. The boxes at the Majestic, the Novelty and the Minerva cinemas in Bombay were evidently con- structed for four and six seats. Today we find six and eight seats in them causing a congestion of space and squeezing out all comfort. Very much same is the case with the balcony classes. The idea of making as much money as possible within the shortest space and time is a filthy thought and those theatre-owners who follow such mercen- ary principles of business cannot be considered good showmen. Apart from higher principles of giving service and providing comfort to the public, we would like to know how these theatre owners manage to persuade the police authorities to sanction increase in seats when the theatre space has not been inert ased dur- ing the last 10 years. Ait the police-officers, those in charge of this lepartment, bribed to collaborate with the theatre- owners to provide more tortures to a long-suffer- ing public? We would like this subject to be thrashed out. once for all. on higher levels and we appeal to Mini- ster Morarji Desai to direct his anti-corruption squad to look into several theatre scandals and find out whether all the cinemas in the city are strictly ob- serving the police and municipal regulations laid down for them. If conscientious inquiries are made by officers, other, than those in this department at present, wi are sure many a liberty taken at present will soon Disappear. ;\'c are prepared to help the authorities in teach- ing the theatre-owners to give a little more respect to our rules of health and sanitation in our theatres, where thousands gather every evening evidently for some entertainment and relaxation but become unwilling victims of one infectious disease or other mainly due to the congestion and filth in our pre- sent day theatres. CADDISH BEHAVIOUR IN THEATRES. On the eve of our country's freedom, as a people we are fast acquiring very bat! manners. Admitting that politics take a lot of our mind these days, there is no earthly reason why our people, particularly our politically hyper-sensitive students, should take bad manners to our cinema theatres, where people go merely for entertainment and relaxation. Incidents have been reported from the Metro Cinema in Calcutta antl other theatres in the princi- pal cities of India, in which the rowdy elements in the audiences have either cheered or hooted at our public leaders appearing in news reels, according to their different political complexions. In the first week of "Shama", at the Minerva Talkies in Bombay, we were shocked to see the essen- tially Muslim audience, jeering and spitting dirty epithets at Maulana Abul Kalam Azad when the weekly news parade screened the Maulana's arrival to meet the Cabinet Mission in Delhi. The very Producer-director Zahur Raja is working in his own social picture "Dharkan" and making a good job of it. II F I L M I X D 1 A July, 194 "TRRznn leopard uiomnn" JOHNNY WEISSMULLER • TMv Hulking fieautu" OF THE JUNGLE BREAKING BOX-OFFICE RECORDS THROUGHOUT INDIA WRITE US DIRECT RKO RADIO PICTURES LTD. P. O. BOX 733 — BOMBAY I. or Our physical distributors EMPIRE TALKIE DISTRIBUTORS CALCUTTA — BOMBAY — LAHORE — MADRAS 12 same audience cheered Mr. Jinnah till some wen hoarse, while a minority in the audience hooted him down. Such exhibitions do not at all affect our grea public leaders like Azad and Jinnah whose popularity and importance are certainly not built on such emo tional outbursts by the masses. But thsse demonstra tions contribute only to prove the hysteric intoleranc of our people and incidently their very bad manners. A cinema theatre is not a place to demonstrab one's political passions. We have plenty of opei parks to do that without forgetting the sands a Ghowpatty. Such demonstrations often lead to communal disturbances and in many a theatre serious brawl between the opposing sections take place. Durinj such shameful exhibitions soda water bottles ar< thrown about and theatre property is destroyed witl impunity. The good people in the audience are oftei seriously injured and further film shows are stopped This type of behaviour, specially for student taking education, does not provide a good certificab for those who wish to qualify themselves as free citi zens in Free India. It is high time that our students reach somi maturity in behaviour to enable us to identify then as the future pillars of our nation. Till they do sq their present behaviour must be called just caddish; TREASURE THE INNOCENCE! The other day we had a good old friend of our telling us proudly how his little daughter of 8 hat given a fine performance in a motion picture and hov the producers had offered her another picture con tract. Little did this well-educated yet doting fathei realize that in permitting his innocent child of eigh to flirt with the profession of acting, he had takei the first step towards the spiritual manslaughter o his beloved daughter. The screen does claim a few super-gifted child ren like Margaret O'Brien. Jackie Jenkins and Connie Marshall, rare types born for the jobs and found in i million, but the hundreds of small mediocrities wh< are towed about by their parents from studio to stu dio are perhaps the most neurotic pack of brats ii the world, precocious, overwise, with affected man nerisms and without a trace of innocence which i: the natural attribute of every child. The other day Ken Murray, the well-knowr stage comedian and a veteran in his game, insistec in his divorce suit, while giving custody of his twej sons to his wife- that the boys shall not be permit-) ted to become' actors. "I have seen too many kids in show business"! told Murray to the judge, "They are precocious ami spoiled and don't lead a natural childhood." And Murray should know. lie has been too Ion J behind the footlights. Murray's words should bcl written across the walls of every home where some] doting parents are spinning rosy dreams of forcim their children into the star racket. Nothing will July, 1946 FILMINDIA turn a normal child into an inhuman and precocious monster faster than a screen or a stage career where- in the child's natural emotions are regimented on mature lines to deliver commercial entertainment to the masses. At best acting is an abnormal life and the ave- rage adult actor, whom we find in society, is no prize packet himself. Most of them are prize scound- rels who deserve to be in our correction-houses for the rest of their normal life. To take a little innocent child into this world of vain and heartless scoundrels is a serious social crime apart from the spiritual murder of the child. Many of yesterday's baby stars of the Indian screen have either become vicious gamblers or shame- less prostitutes of today. And some of them did once come from very good families while all of then, once had childish innocence written across their faces. Look at their precocious faces today. They look dark and ugly, their faces having taken the colour of their dirty thoughts and filthy experiences of maturity before time. Many a little girl of yester- day, whose innocence producers proudly sold to mil- lions as a commercial product, is today a despicable woman of the streets selling her flesh in nightly in- stalments to all-comers. That is taading-in inno- cence for vice. Gita Bose has become an attractive woman now and N. Kabir makes sure of the fact in "Shikarpuri" of Charolia Productions. Over-wise parents may argue themselves out of this dilemma by believing that extra watchfulness and their constant attendance will save their children from the misfortunes that befall others. But this argument is based on self-hypnosis and does not at all save the little one from the deep mire of tragedy. The very routine of a stage or screen career is too demoralizing for the little souls who are very impressionable in their few years of innocence. The parents may keep a twenty-four-hour vigil on the person of their child, but the little one constantly observes and takes fresh impressions of the environ- ments, usually putrid and de moralizing impressions, which unconsciously grow within with the passage of years and invariably take monstrous shapes of vice and crime in adult age. No parent in the world can guard the mind of the child and those parents who think they can are pursuing a mirage. Just at present we are watching a fell attempt of this vicious nature under daily prosecution in a crowded studio of Bombay. A sweet young girl of 12. beautiful and talented, often chaperoned by her impressive father, has attracted the perverted eyes of at least two film directors. The father has been warned, but he is not in a frame of mind to believe that any thing bad can happen to his daughter who has been brought up well and who is strictly super- vised by him from day to day. The financial aspect of the affair is tempting enough and the father frowns with indignation whenever some one warns him. All on the quiet and with patient vehemence the two monsters are extending their slimy talons to- wards their innocent prey. Though the body is still premature- the little girl's mind is fast maturing. She already enjoys vulgar jokes and when these scoundrels, taking the cloth-rationing angle, tell her to buy more cloth to cover her growing bosom, the girl blushes with an understanding that leaves inno- cence years behind. These two scoundrels are seen chasing this innocent girl with only one rapacious intention — satisfaction of their lust. No one can stop the onrush of this tragedy. The girl is cast in many pictures and with this the die of her tragic fate is irrevocably cast. The innocent girl is destined to tread the primrose path. The studio has other dir- ector^ persons with purpose and character, but it was this girl's misfortune to fall into the hands of unblushing scoundrel*. Even the producer can't prevent this tragedy now because the girl has now learned to enjoy her new environments and forgetting her previous search for an art expression, has now begun to find a subtle fragrance in the stink of her associations. Some day we shall tell you the name* of all, because telling them today won't help anv one — not even the little girl. Even a little - 411 Starring D i rectal by _ ___ _ DAULTALVI Ranjit Kumar! NEARING COMPLETION SHIKAYAT Starring Directed by SNEHPRABHA c u a u I n Nigar Sultana, bMAMIU Shyam, Rama LATIF Shukul, Hamid, Butt & Randhi r NOW UNDER PRODUCTION M € T II Starring Direction GEETA NIZAMI C. S. BOSE Biman Bannerji, Rand hi r NOW ON THE SETS ALL RIGHTS CONTROLLED BY PEERLESS PICTURES 1 16, CHARNI ROAD, BOMBAY 4. 25 July, 1946 FILM INDIA How much contribution has so far come in for the 'Baburao Patel Relief Fund'? Nothing so far. The readers seem to be worse beggars than I am. A. NAJMTJNNISA BEGUM (Melvisharam) Who loses independence after marriage: wife or husband? None. Both get a license to practise wed- lock without being pointed at. Why does Mahatmaji not care to see cinemas? Let us not poison the one good man we have in the country. Who are more benefited by your 'filmindia' — the film producers or the film goers? I am benefited the most seeing that film producers are still producing rotten pictures and fools are rushing to see them. L R. BAHL (Lahore) Differentiate between the devil and a wicked woman? Don't insult the devil. MRS. INDRARANI SHUKLA (Cawnpore) Who wrote the dialogue of "Rajputani"? And why has he concealed his name? Human beings often repent for their sins. H. S. DORASWAMY (Mysore) What would be the fate of males, if ladies were to demand 'lady-stan'? The few males in lady-stan would be a terrific majority. Jyoti looks like a deserted maid in "Dharkan" pro- duced and directed by Zahur Raja. Do you wait for an opportunity to review pic- tures with the patience of a cat and use it with the ferocity of a tiger? Imagine the provocation that turns a cat into a tiger and admire the martyrdom of the man who has done it for 15 years. H. M. NABI (Delhi) When would one feel more excited: seeing a horse passing the winning post or a beloved running into one's arms? If the bet is on money, the horse would be exciting, but if the heart is at stake — well — . C. S SAXENA (Dehra Dun) I want to make Neena my sister. Will she agree? Go ahead. It is a harmless pastime. What will happen to actresses in Congress Mini- stry? They will give birth to national yells. RAM G. MIRCHANDANI (Karachi) Supposing Sushila Rani gets tired of your sub- ordination and starts her own film mag? She will appoint me as the editor. K. KRISHNA MURTHY (Lucknow) What is the idea of putting Sultanpuri. Kashmiri. Hoshiarpuri- Lucknawi.and so on after the names of some film people? To warn other parents from going to these towns. You often say that you do not like to see Indian pictures. What is wrong with you, being an Indian? / keep good health usually atnd I don't need a medicine so often. UNNY (Bombay) Why so much eulogy of Sardar Chandulal? Any- thing on the black side, please? Yes, his face darkened by years of honest labour. K BALCHANDANY (Bangalore) Besides 'production', 'direction,' can you tell me what is "expert supervision? Usually it means Mr. Moneybags special attention to Madame Butterfly to and fro the studio. MAYA RANI TANDON (Agra) Do you agree with me when I say that Suvar- nalata has given the best performance of her film career in 'Rattan'? I wish I could. SALIM CALCUTTAWALLA (Hyderabad Dn.) What is the dividing line between divorce and separation? Hope of reconciliation. If Jinnah gets Pakistan and Gandhi Hindustan what will Baburao Patel get? I shall inherit both. QUTB UDDIN TARZI (Allahabad) How to cool down an angry woman? By warm gestures. 27 July, 1946 FILM INDIA Why do lovers close their eyes when they kiss or embrace each other? They black-out the world by closing their eyes to get a lonely feeling. RAVINDER NATH SAGHAL (Lahore) What do you think General Chu Teh will do, if he sees "Dr. Kotnis'? He will swallow rat poison and die. I would love to see Kedar Sharma in the role of some Rajput warrior? That would be the darkest spot in the his- tory of Rajasthan. PANNA LAL B JAIN (Delhi) Which of the two would you prefer: a dark night or a moonlit night? / prefer the filtered light. A dark night needs too much of groping. K. PURUSHOTTAM RAO (Hyderabad Dn.) As the most effective weapon of women is tears will you please advise what men should adopt in defence? Why not adopt the homeopathic principle of like curing like and give tears for tears? Women might get a rude shock when they see the boomerang action of their own weapon. M. SYED (Bombay) Why do men always say that ''variety is the spice of life"? The species of variety may be the same but the shades are different ' and different shades give different designs for living. MRS. S MANIAN LAKSHI (Lonavla) What causes generally contribute to domestic unhappiness? Usually wrong partnership — sometimes wrong environments. S. ASHRAFUL IMAM (Patna) Veena strikes me as a cold beauty. What is your opinion? / have caught the cold and my opinion will be hoarse now. What is the best time for kissing a girl? Parking hours. What do you think God has made a man and a woman for? // He knew the use they make of themselves, lie wouldn't be turning them out so regularly. P. M. SUNDARAM (Secunderabad) I am an all round sportsman and a good boxer. In what way can I render the best in me to the film world? Come and box the brains out of some of our producers. M. K. RAMANATH (Bangalore) Are you for or against the film footage control? / am against the footage control. The more film our producers get, the greater will be the DUGAL PICTURES' do nninn Starring :-SHAMIM * MAHAPARA * ANITA SHARMA * MIRZA MUSHARAF * SAD! Q * LALIT KUMAR & MAHENDRA Direction x-S. BHATIA Music -MOHD SHAFI Dialogues :-SHEWAN RIZVI Songs : TAMIR NAQVI ( Laila Majnu fame ) dominq attraction CHANDNI RAAT SULTANA CHAND BIBI Chief agents : North :-SURJIT FILM DIST., Rawalpindi. South -DOMINION FILMS LTD., Bangalore. C. P.C.I : JAM N ADAS LTD., Bhusawal. Bengal :-CENTRAL FILM CIRCUIT., Calcutta. *^Toz 0~>azticuCazi . DUGAL PICTURES TRIBHUWAN ROAD, BOMBAY 4. 2? Awaiting Release MURARI PICTURES, Ahmed Chambers, Lamington Road, BOMBAY 4. July, 1946 FILM INDIA waste and sooner will the stocks exhaust giving us all a little rest from rotten pictures. M. E. DINKAR RAO (Madras) I love Begum Para after seeing "'Chhamia'. What is the remedy? See "Chand" and love may turn into dislike. Could you tell me the correct age of Protima Das Gupta? Mental age 60, physical age a risky guess. What has happened to our baby actress Vasanti? She entered a home and closed the door on us. MOHD. ABDUL VAHEED (Hyderabad Dn.) What is Director Vijay Bhatt doing these days? Fixing up domestic problems and bragging on the A. I. R. M P RAMAKRISHNAN (New Delhi) Can we expect 100% art in your "Gvalan"? 100% is a bit too thick, give us a trade dis- count. SUSHIL C. JAIN (New Delhi) Is satisfaction of desire the end of love? It is one of the expressions of love. What is your opinion about the saying: "No life without wife"? If 'life' means struggle. N. S. V. CHALAM (Bangalore) What is the difference between an Indian wife and an European wife? To their respective husbands, none. Is "filmindia" a magazine of the youth only? Have our elders nothing to learn from it? Lots. They haw youth to take from it. Can a man be sincere to two women at a time? At a time, no. At different times, perhaps! MRS. ABDUL AZEEZ (Madras) Is there any relationship between Veera of "Shikari" and Mr. M. Abdullah? It is a very old-fashioned and conventional tie. The bloke has married the girl. S. R MHATRE (Bombay) At what date should a girl be allowed to date? When her nights become long and days too short. Almost all journalists except D. F. Karaka abuse you. Why? Dossu Karaka is behind times, being too busy with his own work. NOTAN DAS (Cawnpore) Which is the best way to teach you a good lesson? Come over to Bombay and have it out with me and let us see who learns what. I have heard quite a good many pups talking like that and would like to meet at least one who can show his teeth with the bark. R. S. SUNDAR (Cawnpore) You have not published your photo in "filmindia" for some time now. May I know the reason? There has been no improvement in me recently. M. NARAYAN RAO (PoomO If there had been no Baburao Patel, what would have been the state of our film industry today? The film industry would have been a family secret. "If a man speaks ill of you, answer him not. If any man offends you, forgive him in the name of God." Do you believe in this? Xo. If some one speaks ill, I don't bother. If some one offends me, I often forgive him in the name of his wife, who might become a widow. HARI SINGH MUKHARYA (Saugor) Why shouldn't that talented artiste Raj Kapoor take up the screen as his career? He has. He is not a guy to wait till he is told. H. MAD AN (Bombay) Is the progress of our film industry dependent on our political emancipation? Completely. If the popular Congress Government decides to abolish "races" what will you do with your horse "filmindia."? / shall go riding him every morning. XAZIR AHMED (Lahore) What will be your first reaction if your friend's wife makes advances towards you? All my friends have good wives, and they love their husbands. Besides, my own behaviour does not suggest such dirty thoughts to the women I meet. A friend's home is a temple of faith. PRITHI PAUL SINGH (Lahore) Do you agree with the general belief that women are inferior to men? No. I worship women as a community. I had a dame in view. Last month, as a token of love, I sent her a copy of "filmindia", and now I find that instead of thanking me and inclining to- wards me. she has taken a fancy to you. Mr. Patel. what should be done now? Write to her and tell her that I am already sold out. Between Madhok and Pandit Indra who is more philosophic? Panditji is philosophic in thought while Madhok takes his work philosophically. S. K. NAKUL (New Delhi) You can easily be called a "minority" among the critics in India who are against you. So why do you veto the advance of the majority? / am an intellectual minority in the midst of an ignorant majority that tries to understand me but failing to do so, ends by writing against me. Is there any lease-lend star in our film industry? When you see the word "courtesy" in adver- tisements, the star is a lease-and-lend commodity. Your "filmindia" is no less than a magnetic mine. What's the weapon that can be used against it? Sincerity of purpose and an intellectual ap- proach to production work. 31 K.B.LflLl featuring the topmost stars of the Jay VEENA-SHAMEEM SAPRU-HUSN BANU SHAKIR ULLHAS CONTACT BOMBAY C/NETONE LTD.t33S-B, MEHER V/LLA, GRANT ROAD, BOMBAY. July, 1916 FILM INDIA A critic's 'lot' is, I think, not a happy one! Ail I wrong? Absolutely. I am quite happy in the con- viction of my honesty. My happiness is not built on the flimsy foundation of others' good- will. What is more entertaining for a soldier — wine, woman or a battlefield? For the modern soldier the battlefield is the workhouse, wine the dope that soothes the con- science and the woman a relaxation to hardened nerves. T. S T. AERASU (Poona) By winter America will have 30 lakhs of spins- ters with no men to marry. Why can't we revise the Lend and Lease by supplying our man power? If you mix black and white, the white loses its colour and the white men of the West don't like their milk to be spoiled with shaded suck- lings. V. R S. CHITTAL (Bombay) Every film journalist jealously acknowledges you as the pioneer of film journalism and still he is out to run you down. What is this mystery? By running me down he wants to cut down the distance for him to run up to me. Let us xvish him- luck. What was your reaction to the Bengal Film Journalists' Awards for 1945? That charity is still a human virtue. JERAM N. DUDANI (Bombay) Can you tell me which is the best way to catch a girl in Bombay? With the help of 'flu.. Be within 10 feet. PARSRAM M BHATIA (Karachi) How can one accumulate riches? Seth Govindram Seksaria died recently and took the secret with him. M. PARVEZ (Bombay) Why do people object when one changes his or her religion? Is it a sin to embrace some other reli- gion? No one has a right to object to anything in the world, unless something affects him or her directly. Religion is a matter of an individual's spiritual urge. The community has nothing to do with it. If a person gets more peace of mind through an honest conviction that a change is needed, it is no sin to change over. But nowa- days people often stumble across a new religion in the beds of their sweethearts. Religions are not found in the hot beds of physical passion but grow in the sacred cloisters of the searching soul. B P'RABHAKAR (Poona) Do you believe in progress through criticism? Criticism in art is like the opposition in de- mocratic politics. Both tend to progress. After seeing "Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani". I could not find out what was 'amar' in the 'kahani'! Well, Mr. Patel, could you help me? the Most WITTY YET EMOTIONAL MYTHOLOGICAL — STORY — that has ever (lashed on the screen! PRAFULLA PICTURES' SUBHADRA Starring : SHANTA APTE (courtesy: S. A. Concerns) ISHVERLAL * YAKUB * LATA MEENAXI ★ USHA MANTRI SALVI * JOG * DAMUANNA Malwanker * NIMBALKER and PREM ADEEB Director - Producer WIN AYAK Story: Hindi Rendering : V. S. Khandekar Pt. Indra Music: Vasant Desai Now Running to HOUSEFUL SHOWS ROXY - BOMBAY India Film Circuit Release 33 FILM INDIA The ridiculous sight of an aged man por- traying a young hero is an immortal story of stupid misadventure. When are vou more proud of yourself : \> hen you go hand in hand with the smiling Sushila Rani or when you go rein in hand with the "filmindia horsed The first is a winner every time. EHUPATRAI MOHANLAL BHUTA (Bombay) You say there is no sin in this world. Then why is one man born poor and the other rich? In the eyes of God all people are equal, and therefore He should give equally to all? In the Kingdom of God, gold is not the cur- rency of reward. Gold is the symbol of man s greed. In their utter ignorance of Divinity, human beings attempt to bribe even God by building altars of gold. Sinners and saints get divine mercy from the Almighty and that is one thing man can't buy or barter. S. C. JARIWALA (Bombay) Replying to a question in April '46 issue of film- india' you said that the world thought you to be a mad man. If another equally mad man clashes witn you, how will vou accommodate him? By embracing a long-lost twin. When a woman of ordinary complexion rubs a beauty preparation on the face with the idea of look- ing beautiful while it actually makes her look ugly, what is the remedy to improve that complexion. By washing the mind with soap-flakes of philosophy. S. T. HAIDERY (Bombay) Can a woman love two men? Yes, her father and her husband and three if you put the brother in. If you are asked to leave this world with one precious thing, what would you take? The goodwill of those who misunderstood me all my life. J. A. SOMJEE (Bombay) How would all the beautiful girls look if the Government were to ban the sale of beauty products in * fi{any ^ them wQuld look leautijul for the first time, others would look nude. H S. NARAYAN (Bombay) Would you please state the advantage of marry- ing in the evening of one's life? Some times you can push the night further by stretching the evening a little more. Will Shantaram take your advice seriously and 'burn away' the celluloid copies of "Dr. Kotnis?" He must have burnt the copy of "filmindia." Will you accept any honest criticism of your forthcoming 'Gvalan'. and publish the same in "film- india"? Oh yes, from a qualified critic. ISHWAR V. MAHBUBANI (Bombay) Is it true that life is complete with wine, woman and wisdom? ... , A They all contribute substantially to life, but you have forgotten WORK. July, 1946 Which love is more realistic and sentimental from the following: platonic, filial, theatrical, sen- sual, romantic and devotional? Human love, coloured by the shades of all. How do you advice "divorce" as a law in India? Divorce can't be a law of life. It is a cruel necessity and as such constitutes an escape from law. Laws should yield positive results and not negative benefits. RS. 500 - IN 25 PRIZES EVERY MONTH. The following prizes are awarded every month for questions which are considered in- teresting or elicit interesting replies in the "Editor's Mail." 1st Prize: Rs. 100 -; 2nd Prize: Rs. 80|-; 3rd Prize: Rs. 50-; 4th Prize: Rs. 40-; 5th Prize: Rs. 30]- and 20 Consolation Prizes of Rs. 101- each. Questions must be submitted with the Entry Token without which no question will be con- sidered. Each Entry Token entitles the reader to ask a maximum of 10 questions and can be used by only one person. The Editor's decision shall be final and abso- lutely binding and no correspondence will be entertained. The names of the prize-winners will be announced in "filmindia" every month and the prize money will be remitted by Money Order. The Entry Token is separately attached on the first page of the editorial article. As each copy is very carefully checked, readers are re- quested not to pay for the copy if it has no Entry Token. The reader is requested to demand an explanation from the stall-keeper who may have removed the Token and sold it separately. As Tokens are introduced merely to regulate the sales of the magazine, the month on the Token has no particular significance and a token can be used even six months after the month printed on it. PRIZE WINNERS FOR JULY 1st prize Rs. 100;- to M. Parvez (Bombay): 2nd Prize Rs. 80- to S. K. Nakul (New Delhi); 3rd Prize Rs. 50 - to S. Ashraful Imam (Patna) ; 4th Prize Rs. 40 - to Christie Francis (Secunde- rabadi; 5th Prize Rs. 30j- to Ravinder Nath Sahgal (Lahore) and 20 consolation prizes of Rs. 10- each to the following: Bashir Ahmed Batla (Delhi i ; B. Yeshwantha Rao (Vizagapa- tam); M. K. Pillay (Simla); Banwari Bharat Rajak (Aligarh); Mrs. Rajeshwari Tandon (Luck- now); R. A. Rao (Mangalore); A. Najmunissa Begum (Melvisharam) ; Mrs. Indra Ram Shukla (Cawnpore); H. M. Nabi (Delhi); C. S. Saxena (Dehra Dun); K. Krishnamurthy (Lucknow); K. Balchandany (Bangalore); Pannalal B. Jain (Delhi); H. Madan (Bombay); T. S. T. Aerasu (Poonai; B. Prabhakar (Poona); B. M. Bhuta (Bombay); J. A. Somjee (Bombay); P. M. Sun- daram (Secunderabad) and Ishwar V. Mahbu- bani (Bombay). Money Orders are being sent to all the prize winners. 34 w ' SHAHZAD PRODUCTIONS LT? VEEN A fluflior KPfDAL RfTlROHl music ROFIO GHflZNRVI A S G=fl ® K SHAHZADA IFTKHAR SHAHZAD PRODUCTIONS LTD. DADAR BOMBAY. FOB PARTICULARS CONTACT DE LUX PICTURES VIREN DESAI 87, DHARAMTALLA STREET, CALCUTTA. LALGIR CHAMBERS, TAMARIND LANE, FORT, BOMBAY. OUR REVIEW "Bachchon-ka-Khel", H Disgustingly Demoralizing Picture! Unfit For Children And Revolting To Adults ! BACHCHON-KA-KHEL Producers: Ramnik Produc- tions. Language: Hindustani Story: g. K. Pa war Dialogue: pt. M. Sharma Lyrics: 'Magan' & pt. Sharma Music: c. Ramchandra Photography: S. N. Bhagwat. Audiography: S. Damle. Art Direction: Shripatrao Mane. Cast: Baby Shakuntala, N. Kabir, Meena Kumari, Agha Jan, Nimbalkar Shanta Patel etc. Released At: Novelty, Bombay Date of Release: 2nd May 1946. Directed By: RAJA NENE In the January 1H43 issue of 'filmindia' reviewing "Ten O'clock'' a Prabhat picture directed by Raja None, we had written: "In the picture is introduced a child role in the little sister of Dilip. This role is very well played by a new- comer, Baby Shakuntala and inci- dentally this little girl is a good addition to our screen talent. The only objectionable feature of this little girl's portrayal is the vulgar precocity in which the child is allowed to indulge at the time of singing a song. A girl of eight, she anticipates procreation as an inevitable result of love and though the words of her song create a little cheap laughter, yet the idea of seeing a little girl of that age so vulgarly precocious is revolting to the mind". This was a little over 3 years ago. That girl, Shakuntala, has now become 11 years old and three more years have been added into the thick skull of Raja Nene, the director. But Raja Nene has not improv- ed with years. He seems to have become doubly vulgar, because in "Bachchon-Ka-Khel", he makes two youngsters, Baby Shakuntala (11) and N. Kabir (12) sing a couple of passionate songs of love, and the kids are made to behave as if they have been long-lost grown-up lovers. Here is what the children sing: Song No. 3. fa^i $ ^ %?Tcu* 5t <| |S 31*1 h $f%3T 3«HfK *1 mm $ T%3T 3? ^ difficult to escape 42 these type of songs and their over- played tiresome sentiments. No other country in the world except India, must have been so badly advertised and by its own people. And in no other two communities of the world has dis- unity been so often emphasized as in the case of the Hindus and the Muslims of India. Thanks to some of our unintelligent, stupid film producers! They will never let a sore heal quietly without scratching at it at regular intervals. After this typically tiresome song Vasanti (11) and Vijay (12) become chums and look at each other with lover's hearts in their eyes. They are shown as thrill- ing at each other's touch. The ground is thus made ready for the children to begin their passion play. Making these elders as pawns of their desires, they start the love game. Anuradha, the grown-up sister of Vijay (12) and Avinash, the grown up brother of Sound Judgment Is in Favour of Sound Equipment PHOTOPHOnE EQUIPmERTS LTD., MARINE LINES, BOMBAY. Offices at: MADRAS, CALCUTTA, KARACHI, LAHORE, DELHI. July^l946 F1LMINDIA Sushila Rani and Trilok Kapur and of course Rupa, the cow, have together a romantic moment in 'Gvalan', a social story written, produced and directed by Mr. Baburao Patel. Vasanti (11) become the symbols of the passion play planted in the children by the author and the director. Avinash and Annradha meet accidentally but part over a mis- understanding. This tickles Va- santi and Vijay and they decide to bring them together. They arrange a rendezvous for Avinash and Anuradha and themselves dis- appear from the scene of the tryst. After a few misses, they score a hit and find Avinash and Anuradha terribly in love with each other. It is now time for love to turn a pathetic corner. So Vasanti (11) and Vijay (12) plan a misunder- standing. Vijay (12) answers a newspaper advertisement of an anxious father searching a partner for his grown-up daughter. This girl is brought to Avinash and at the 'important moment when she is in the presence of Avinash. Vijay (12) brings his sister Anuradha with the suggestion that Avinash is negotiating marriage with another girl. Both Vasanti (11) and Vijay (12) enjoy this interlude immensely. The misunderstanding begins here and the elderly lovers start sighing and weeping. So do the youngsters! who find, for at least some time, some comfort in keep- ing harmony with the elders. The pathos soon becomes, unbearable both for the elders and the young- sters and the children decide to end it all happily. So they bring the grown-up lovers together in a garden and take impish delight in settling and sealing up the romance. Thus ends this filthy yarn in which two small children, whose natural in- nocence should have always been the jealous pride of every good home, are permitted to debauch themselves by perverted and cri- minal indulgence in mature desires which must always remain the pri- vilege only of the grown-up. And Raja Nene and G. K. Pawar are responsible for this outrage on our society. As a motion picture, "Bachchon- Ka-Khel" is quite an attractive affair to see. Photographically it is a very well framed picture. The sets, though far from realism, are beautifully made. Sound record- ing is, however, is not so happy. The direction of Raja Nene, despite the objectionable contents of the story, is weak and unim- aginative. The dialogue is poorly written and the lyrics are equally poor. The entire picture has one good tune, the rest being stupid. SLANDER ON CHILDREN Among the players, Baby Sha- kuntala impresses with her pre- cocious performance. Little Kabir can't act. Agha Jan looks silly at best. The newcomer, Meena Kumari, is a good addition to the screen. She does pretty well as Anuradha and has a promising future. Nimbalkar makes exactly three appearances as the father of Vijay but during that little time convincingly proves his Kolhapuri extraction. Shanta Patel sings a song with a face that takes music out of the words. As an entertainer, this picture is infernally boring. Apart from this aspect, it is a slander on the inherent innocence of our children. "Bachchon-Ka-Khel" is not at all a fit picture to be shown to our children and its theme is revolt- ing enough even for the adults. 43 J SHOBHA KANU ROY with V.H.DESAI. S. L PURL RAJENDRA. % bmdkd) 4 SHIKARI ASHOK KUMAR VEERA ACUnifKIIUAD n;^^n*TTADAli AEi(2 LiKli Ul* OLUiLl-StQlLlp^ Stdvcuzo Uu»&u BLSAKIQSLLL SLNDQGLl h-adacc^UuedQi- K1SUQLLE SAKU 11 LAK BIDDING FOR GREATER GLORY Than "ROTTIM" ! ! ! MELODIOUS § STIRRING f AMUSING f MUSIC I * DRAMA J * COMEDY » For Particulars:- J. M, R. PICTURES, 293 R, Bellasis Rd., Bombay 8. OUR REVIEW "lllazdoor" Presents Purposeful Theme ! Well Framed Picture Lacks Romance ! After seeing "Mazdoor'' and re- membering the previous two pic- tures of the same company we are glad to observe that Filmistan Ltd. are not just another addition to the unusually large crowd of rot- ten producers we already have in the country. Filmistan Ltd. seem to be work- ing with some specific ideals in view and appear keen not only in giving a technically well-finished picture but also in combining ins- truction with entertainment. It is up to the film-going public to appre- ciate their efforts in this direction by patronizing pictures produced by Filmistan Ltd. so long as they stick to their present plans and ideals. We have precious few producers who realize exactly the true pur- pose of motion pictures and when we come across some who arc put- ting in efforts in the right direc- Recruit M. D. Bhutani of Old Hos- pital Rd., Hyderabad. Sind. weighs 1| maunds. stands 5' 8" high and is 20 years old. He has won all first prizes in College dramas. He threatens to be a lawyer. tion, it is the duty of all to sup- port them. As a motion picture "Mazdoor' is a well finished product, having pleasant photography presented in an artistic manner. The sets are suitably made and the picture is suitably edited. The recording of the sound is, however, on the loud side and the indifferent re- production in the Roxy rather helps to accentuate this defect. The Roxy projectionist seems io be a uniformly inefficient per- son, the way we find him handling even good pictures carelessly and it is high time that the proprietors of the theatre become a bit jealous of their reputation and prestige as showmen. There is no sense in their having the best Indian thea- tre in town if they have a careless projectionist and one projector lens losing focus at intervals. OVER-EXPLOITED THEME The theme of "Mazdoor" is ra- ther a familiar affair, having been shown on the screen several times. The story development is, in addi- tion, influenced by "How Green Was My Valley" an American picture. Even this over exploited theme would have entertained, had Xi- t in Bose put more emphasis on the romantic aspect of the story. X'itin seem- to have been comp- letely absorbed with his labour theme which puts the audience into labour with its familiar sequ- ences and without any punctua- tions of romance. Motion pictures should have purpose and ideals but the sprinkl- ing of these must not be so heavy as to make the motion picture a Symbol of blatant propaganda. Entertainment is the first and last purpose of a motion picture and any instruction that is sought to be' given should always seem in- MAZDOOR Producers. Filmistan Ltd. Language: Hindustani. Scenario: Nitin Bose. Lyrics: Gopal Singh Nepali. Music: H. P. Das. Dialogue: U. N. Ashk. Art: Bratin Tagore. Photography: Amulya Mu- kherjee. Audiography: Mukul Bose. Cast: Indumati, Veera, Nasir Khan, K. N. Singh. S. Nazir, S. L. Puri, Moti- bai, Radha Kishan. Released At: Roxy, Bombay. Date of Release: 18th May 1946. Directed By: NITIN BOSE cidental. The more incidental it looks the greater its psychological success. People don't like to be caught by the ear and taught, more so when they pay to be enter- tained. But that is exactly what Xitin has done in "Mazdoor". He has so honestly and so loyally stuck to his theme by hammering at it every minute that the ro- mance in the story, assumes no importance or interest anywhere within the 10998 feet of the pic- ture. It is in this aspect that the pic- ture has failed to become a popu- lar entertainer. Had Xitin deve- loped the triangular romance^ be- tween Veera, Indumati and Xasir Khan and made his labour theme incidental. 'Mazdoor' would have drawn larger crowds. INFANCY OF LABOUR The story of the picture is usual and is unfortunately developed in a hackneyed manner, without even making an attempt to make the usual coincidences look differ- ent. Besides there is a technical error, and a grave one, in present- ing the labour angle in the story. Xitin shows us a period in the story when labour was stupid and did not know benefits of organiza- tion and when the capitalists ex- ploited labour heartlessly by counter organizations. This as- pect of our labour problem does 47 * MOHAMED SHAFI Partial lars CHAROLIA PRODUCTIONS JYOTI STUDIOS, KENNEDY BRIDGE, BOMBAY July, 1946 FILM INDIA not exist in the country to-day, seeing that labour is so well-or- ganized that as many as a million railway workers can threaten to create a deadlock over-night. Nitin's presentation, therefore, goes against the present stage in labour organization and sounds rather like a cry in infancy. When a topical theme, like the conflict between labour and capital, is taken for picturization, it is neces- sary that the story should reflect all the existing phases of the theme with a constructive peep into the future to suggest a pos- sible solution. That is where the creative talent of the writer is re- quired. Nitin gives us a story of the early days which have not yet be- come so aged as to present even an antique interest to the masses. Nitin's story is against the topical current and therefore fails to ap- peal. TOO FAMILIAR PLOT The plot is familiar. A boy in the village is in love with a village belle. The boy goes to the city and after the usual fruitless search for a job, saves a mill-owner's daughter from a motor accident. The beggar is taken to the palace and soon made a prince. The hero now becomes the manager of the mill-owner's mill and the rich girl falls in love with him and dogs his steps. At the village, the poor belle and her mother meet misfortunes, of course the usual ones, and start for the city. In the city, as coin- cidence would have it, the girl gets a job in the very same mill which the hero manages. A social worker is now introduc- ed. He tries to educate labour and clashes between the emplo- yers and the employees soon occur. The labour organization is coun- ter-blasted by another rival labour organization inspired by the mill- ow,ner. The heroine takes a lead- ing part in all this with the hero on the other side of the fence. A little weak-kneed romance without any emotional intensity swings to and fro between the hero and the poor girl and between him and the rich girl. But it is never so definitely expressed as to take the labour off our minds. The events soon mount up to a showdown in which the hero ex- poses his employer and backs up the sincere labour leader. It ends there rather too abruptly, leaving a lot to the imagination of the audience. LACK OF IMAGINATION The picture fails in its story- adaptation for the screen. Nitin picked up the wrong end of his theme and tried it to put it over too loyally. He should have taken the romantic end and twisted it enough to yield his message to the masses. This type of work re- quires creative imagination. Nitin has yet to show this talent. Recruit S. N. Raizada of 362 Western Kutchery Road, Meerut, is an "undergraduate with rosy cheeks and blue eyes" — a Techni- color proposition. The character of Milli, the mill owner's daughter, is too flimsy a portrayal to provide contrast to the theme. She is made a frivol- ous clown who offers no resistance in poise, dignity or ideals to the heroine. Nitin must know that in such themes of conflicts bet- ween two ideologies, drama is created only by sharp contrasts and strong convictions and not by clownish uncertainties. As we have said before the pic- ture is a pleasant thing to see technically. The song compositions of Nepali are not so happy, while the music of H. P. Das is entirely unenterprising. The dialogue is quite good and so is the art direc- tion. Kali Raha has done a good job of the editing, but he has not been given enough material in shots. Each shot stays too long on the screen. NAZIR'S EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE Almost every one in the pic- ture has given a good performance. Nasir Khan, a new comer, is not much to look at as a hero but the boy has good acting talent and will soon make a mark in a suit- able role. He is a successor to Motilal, if the boy doesn't get a swollen head, the common malady of our film actors. Indumati, who has had screen experience as a child, gives a good performance as the village belle. Though Maharashtrian, she sounds the least so in the diction of her dialogue. This girl has a broad and long nose and should be avoided in unpleasant profile shots. Veera in the rich girl's role is made to do clownish things. She does them without worrying. K. N. Singh gives a good perfor- mance as the mill-owner and al- most lives the role. Puri does well as the foreman of the mill and so does the veteran Moti in the role of the mother. But the best part of the whole show is the performance of S. Nazir in the very sympathetic role of Azadbhai, the labour lea- der. This man, whoever he is, ac- quits himself so feelingly and with such sincerity of emotion and dic- tion, that he lives the role to per- fection. Nazir has a kind face that can be used with great ad- vantage by creative directors. Though "Mazdoor" is not much of an entertainer, it is one of our good pictures, which we so rarely produce. It loses speed at places, but is quite fast otherwise. 49 International Cine Art Productions An M. R. KHERA PRODUCTION Direction and Screenplay: Dialogues: Music: Angiography: Camera: I. S. BALI Malik Hasib Ahmad. S. D. BATISH K. L SHARMA Parkash Malhotra OUR REVIEW Luhar Gives Another Flop In " Bindiya " ! Disgusting Storg Concoction Proves Boring ! Chimanlal Luhar (B.Se.) is a very much misguided man. A fine cameraman. Luhar has digres- sed from his specialized talent to become a producer and a director. As a motion picture director he has consistently failed and the failure of his new picture, "Bin- diya", should not therefore come as a surprise. With all the best intentions in the world, Luhar will never perhaps direct a good motion picture because he has no imagination for this job. "Bindiya" is a concoction of several stories with definite shades of "Satyavan Savitri", "Surdas" and the "Bhowal Sanyasi case". And after all these shades and colours, the screen story has be- come a very colourless affair which bores you from the begin- ning to the end. USUAL TIRESOME PLOT The story is about Raja Ganesh Prasad who disappears leaving his wife and little son in charge of his BINDIYA Producers: Sun Art Pictures Language: Hindustani Story: Prabhulal Dwivedi Lyrics: Pandit Madhur & Chaturvsdi Photography: p. issac Audiography: P. S. Misra Music: Kamaldas Gupta Cast: Ragini, Shakir, Kamal Zamindar, Leela Misra etc. Released At: Capitol, Bombay Date of release: 19th April 1946. Director: C M. LUHAR. manager Jagdish, along with his huge property. As is expected. Jagdish takes the property, kicks out the mother and the child and very soon becomes Raja Jagdish Prasad. Years roll and we find Rai Saheb having a villainous mana- ger Prakash, an ambitious and Recruit Md. Abdul Hamid, Khusaf Valley, Aden, is 23 and says he has a melodious voice for music. greedy person who has run away from his rustic wife and parents. Prakash has one eye on Jyoti, the daughter of his employer and the other on the huge estates of Rai Saheb. On the other side, is Saraswati the robbed and discarded old woman, and Niranjan her grown- up son who wears a Gandhi cap and a Nehru jacket and is hailed as a saviour of the villagers. Prakash makes the first move by arresting Gopal, the cashier of the firm, on a false charge. This brings Niranjan into the fray and very soon a three-party confer- ence of Rai Saheb Jagdish. Pra- kash and Niranjan takes place. At the end of this conference. Gopal is let off but Prakash reveals the identity of Niranjan by uttering the name of Raja Ganesh Prasad. The utterance of that name gives Rai Saheb a heart attack and very soon it is learnt that if necessary Niranjan can take back all the property which Rai Saheb Jagdish hail misappropriated. So plans are made to frame up Niranjan and gradually Jagdish passes into the hands of Prakash. Prakash blackmails him from time to time. Now we come to a garden set where we are introduced to a number of aged college boys and girls enjoying themselves. In the midst of this enjoyment, a Sadhu falls from a parachute (though we don't see the parachute) and starts Singing astrological forecasts right and left. He tells Jyoti that she is destined to be a widow on the 51 In "Bairam Khan", Moghul glory is emphasized with a number of women. Here are some with Mehtab who plays the lead. ) Another Biggest Muslim Social Fast Progressing 44 R A Z I A Produced by :- B. R. TANDON Directed by:- S. SHAMSUDDIN Starring :- Radharani, Urmilla, Dev Kumari, and Tandon etc. Music by:- K. P. SEN Going To Be Released "BAAP" Produced by:- B. R. TANDON Music:- K. P. SEN (DIRECTED BY S. SHAMSUDDIN Mailing i- ZJrtnitta9 Paresh Banerjee. Radharani, Devhamari9 Faiz9 Nizam, & Tandon etc, PRODUCED AT INDRAPURI STUDIOS PARTICULARS Telegrams : " CYRUS Shree Raj Pictures 53, Ezra Street, CALCUTTA. July, 1946 FILMINDIA Kanu Roy seems to like Shobha the way he handles her m "Safar", a social story of Filmistan. day of her marriage, assures Pra- kash that he will have the blood of his father on his hands and tells another mug that he will have police manacles on his wrists. It was intended to frame up Niranjan at this party. When the police arrive, however, the real mischief-monger is caught in place of Niranjan due to the courtesy of a waiter. So the Sanyasi's fore- casts start taking shape from this incident onwards. Prakash is bleeding the Rai Saheb and chasing Jyoti. Jyoti falls in love with Prakash and agrees to marry him but Prakash backs out when he hears of Rai Saheb's intentions to withhold the gold from the wedding ring. The story now travels through the usual escapades till Niranjan marries Jyoti under a tree in a jungle and is struck by lightning the very next instant making Jyoti a widow. That lightning must have been in close conspiracy with the sanyasi. After a little weeping and wail- ing, you find Niranjan very much alive attended by Swami Anand and other bearded sanyasis. Now we come to the classic love situation which we find in the stories of "Laila-Majnu", "Shirin- Farhad" etc. The heroine, Jyoti, looking like a Japanese Geisha, comes under the tree where she lost Niranjan and starts singing for him. Some distance away the hero wakes up and walks towards her also singing. Both walk to- wards each other, ihey look at each other, they sing at each other but stick to their own spots till the song is finished and then rush towards each other. Mar- vellous direction! At the other end Rai Saheb Jagdish grows a conscience and starts fiddling with a poison bot- tle for a painfully long time, till Ullhas, his crazy son arrives home to throw a book at the glass in the nick of time. While poisoning himself, Rai Saheb seems to have taken note of the crowded conve- yances in these times, which were likely to delay the arrival of Ullhas. Prakash is also an improved person by now through the mira- cle of the Sanyasi. The drama comes to an end with all the cha- racters staring at us and the san- yasi revealing himself as the long- lost Raja Ganesh Prasad. Thus ends a stupid yarn written by Prabhulal Dwivedi, a well- known stage writer of Bombay. WELL-FRAMED PICTURE, BUT — As a technical production, parts of "Bindiya" are beautiful to see. Photography is strikingly beauti- ful at places and the songs are weli-sung and well-recorded though the tunes and compositions are not attractive. Chimanlal Luhar has failed in his direction once again by not being able to express the story in emotional terms of the screen. From the players, E. Billimoria gives a good performance as a typical Indian screen villain, do- ing the typical things which villains have been doing for thirty years. Amar gives an improved per- formance as Niranjan. Leela Misra plays Prakash's wife and does so with feeling and emotion. Incidentally, she is the only one who has done some emo- tional work in the picture. Ragini with her geisha-like ap- pearance plays Jyoti, the heroine and in doing so blows her nostrils in and out throughout the picture. Ragini looks sweet in parts but cannot act at all, may be because of the skin on her face being too tightly drawn for motion picture purposes. Leela Pawar plays a minor role and in doing so looks much older now than before and certainly less attractive. In short, "Bindiya" is a boring affair, given by a director who has bored us consistently not only with his motion picture intelligence, but with his University degree of B.Sc. Recruit Surendra Vora c]o M. B. Mazumdar of All India General Insurance, Fort, Bombay, is 28 and has had amateur stage experience. 53 C/cntpal Pictures Presents The Gem of the Box-office I. SMAM1 KHAZANA ! Starring : Sardar Mansur Madhurika Violet M. Elizar Garib Khan Ahmed Director: S. USMAN ★ Sensational Box-office Miracle of the Year 1 2. (HAIMATI BIJLI Featuring: Sulochana ^ E. Billimoria * Mohamed Raza * Sheikh * Chemist * Violet ic M. Elizar Story and Dialogue : MQNSHI SAGAR j (OF "TULSIDAS" O- "CHANDRAGUPTA" ) Direction : HOMI MASTER Fop Territorial Riqlifs Applq : CENTRAL PICTURES, 75, Dadar Main Road, DADAR, BOMBAY. Studio: Kurla Road. ANDHERI. OUR REVIEW "Ban Phool", Stupid And Boring Picture! Kanan Wasted On Rotten Story ! BAN PHOOL Producers: P. R. Productions Language: Hindustani. Story: Pranab Roy. Music: Dhiren Mitter. Songs: Pandit Madhur. Cast: Kanan, Krishnakant, Devi Mukherjee, Ahin Chowdhary, Hiralal etc. Released At: Capitol, Bombay. Date of Release: 31st May 1946. Directed By: NDXEN LAHIRI ( The names of the recordist, the cameraman and the other technicians have not been mentioned in the booklet ) It seems that the producers of Bengal arc fast following in the footsteps of their mercenary bro- thers of Bombay. Filmgoers always expect a reasonably good picture from Bengal remembering the past traditions of the province in the field of motion picture art. "Ban Phool" is on the other liand as rotten a picture as some of Bombay's leading producers can produce. "Ban Phool", more- over, seems to be an attempt to exploit the popularity of Kanan in as cheap a manner as possible and in an inexpensive picture. And in this attempt also the pro- ducers have failed because the picture proved almost a comuletc flop when released in Bombay It is a pity that the excellent singing talent of Kanap has to be at the mercy of all comers with or without previous production experience. Probably, Kanan is now think- ing of retiring from the screen and is thus squeezing the last drops of juice from her past popularity. If that is the game she is welcome to a few more intrusions on us and we shall still remember her with affection for the lilting entertain- ment she gave us once. AH! THE STORY! "Ban Phool" is a rotten picture all round, except in photography. The story is both stupid and com- monplace. There is a bad Zamin- dar who is keen on a village girl. The girl, however, falls in love with another rich stranger, a triend of the Zamindar. The Zamindar, in pursuit of his lustful intentions, frames up the father of the girl and chases him out of the village. The girl becomes the ward of a crook and is persecuted till she runs away to the city. In the city, with the help of the usual filmic coincidence, she meets the man she loves. They live together for some time till the Zamindar drops in like a para- chute and creates a misunder- standing between the lovers and separates them. The scene shifts to the village again where the heartbroken girl agrees to marry the Zamindar. But, as is expected, a good-natured bearded Kazi, whose life-work seems to be flirting with flowers, turns up with the girl's missing father and after the usual recrimi- nations flung at the crooks, the hero gets the heroine. WASTING KANAN The photography of the picture is pleasant throughout. Except this item, the entile picture is rotten. The story is common, the screenplay is erratic and the direc- tion is utterly amateurish and stupid. Song compositions are in- sipid and the music is unattractive. Throughout its long length, the picture does not provide any relief. From the players. Kanan is wasted. She has nothing to sing and much less to act. Devi Mu- kherjee tries to ape George Sand- ers and ends by being ridiculous. The hero, Krishnakant, looks a perfect milk-sop. Ahin Chowdhary gives his usual broad performance with over-emphasized diction. Rai Mohan is the only one who gives a tolerable performance as 'Ramesh Chacha'. As an entertainer "Ban Phool" is a long headache and a picture worth avoiding in self-defence. Navyug Chitrapat Ltd. seem to have decided to make money somehow and anyhow. Here are some dirty, naked legs in Hawaiin formation in "Room No. 9", a social story. Let us see what more secrets are exposed in the "Room" itself. 55 FOrt SUPERIOR 35mm SOUND FILM PROJECTION huHDFWltCtOM High BdeHt, ^ and £j£ synchronisat,on ^ and sound. W » ting coupled w.th »ov/ costs. ^ *«'n° C«"f»> ,ndl*: , TO Nont>«fn o 14 1 C S LTD Victory Pictures OUR proudly announces the most dynamic, thrilling and sensational hit of the year Veteran Dalpat and Master Kishore, (Indian Richard Talmadge) in bhedi DUSHmnn Supported by : — KUSUM, NAZIRA, VATSALA KUMTEKAR, (Jr.) MITHOO MIYAN, HAMID ( MAJNU ) MOHMMAD HUSSEIN and his G. MEN Direction : Ramjibhai Arya Photography: B. D. Mathur Music : H. Khan Mastana NEXT -i^X_iI_i STTJJSTT THRILLER M ^| O U *J I " Directed by RAMJIBHAI ARYA Willi, Raja Salim, Kumari Kusum and Hamed. VICTORY PICTURES Jyoti Studios, Kennedy Bridge, Bombay, 7. HT HOfllE ROD RBRORD NOW BABY CARRIER ! Baby Vasanti, till yesterday our child star, was married during the month >to Film distributor Indu Patel, son of Dr. Ambalal Patel of Select Pictures Circuit. Bangalore. Hearing the news, Dr. Patel is reported to have gone to the Himalayas — not for a honey- moon. NEW STARS IN MAKING Motherhood, umpteenth, seems to be coming in the way of Mrs. Shobhana Samarth if the latest, reports about this heroine of "Ram Rajya" are to be believed. She has refused two picture-offers, one of them being from Producer Kishore Sahu for his new produc- tion, "Sindoor", and is reported to have gone to Lonavala a hill station near Bombay. Hope she gets twins. We are short of heroines. ROSY PROSPECTS The newly-formed Film Work- ers' Union seems to have scored an early victory in securing from the Bombay Talkies Ltd. incre- ments and other concessions for their members working in the different departments of the studio. PRODIGALS RETURN Director Virendra Desai and his actress wife Nalini have returned to Bombay from Calcutta and are seen once again flirting with their Producer papa Chimanbhai Desai. Perhaps, "Geet Govind" will be Virendra's next assignment, that is, if they want to ring the seventh change in direction. SEASONAL TALK It is said that Ashok Kumar, our popular actor, has signed with. Mangal Chakravarty of Calcutta National Pictures to act in two pictures for a sum of two lakhs of rupees. In the first one, he will be featuring with Bharati Devi, while in the second Kanan will keep him company. As Ashok had been despatched to Calcutta several times before without anything coming out, let us not believe this story till he actually goes and brings the bacon home. "BAD BOYS INC" Hollywood is going to form a club of movie villains calling it, Recruit Shanti Kumar of Krishna Building, Sanjauli, gives a glimpse of Prithviraj. He is 5' 9" and just 19 and has already acted on the stage "Bad Boys Incorporated". Pro- minent members of this club will be Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Sydney Greenstreet, Eric Von Stroheim etc. These 'bad boys' will meet often at the club and discuss their various misdeeds on the screen. Our 'bad boys' take their mis- deeds to the streets and to other people's homes. They don't need a club. SHAKING HIPS Hildegarde, the well-known night club 'cutie reached a new high in salaries when she opened this month in Chicago. She will get Rs. 60,000 per week plus a percentage of the takings which is expected to reach another Rs. 190.000 a week. DEATH CUTS IT FINE Death played its part when John Didanoff, 24, played a dying sol- dier's role in Los Angeles and died. In an act where Didanoff got a harmless pill from a nurse, the man gasped realistically and slumped to the floor. The play proceeded but when the curtain came down, Didanoff refused to get up. He had died of heart attack and Death had timed it beautifully in harmony with the stage act. FLYING PICTURES American Trans-Atlantic air liners now have film shows to en- tertain the passengers with the plane travelling at 300 m. p. h. Full length pictures are being- shown with a special light weight 57 NANABHAI B H A T T creates ANOTHER UPROARIOUS COMEOY with Inimitable BHAGWAN & Inevitable A G H A I N GAUTAM CHITRA'S "SHAKE HANDS" Directed by: BHAGWAN Starring: Agha, Bhagwan, Shanta Patel, Shahji, Gulam Rasool M. Elizer, Renio & Kamlini. BAT UK BHATT. HAREN BHATT. CHITRAGUPT. Followed By : Return Of PASSING SHOW Directed by :-BALWANT BHATT. G A U T A M CIIITRA, 191, Kurla Road, AN DHERI. HE FACED STORMS AND CLUNG TO LIFE TO SECURE THE HAPPINESS OF HIS DAUGHTER: CHANDRA KANT A PRIDE OF INDIA THE/1TRES LTD:'S OUTSTANDING PRESENTATION : With Saleem Raza, Kalavati, Suresh m.a., Geeta, Malti, Bhag Singh, Sareen and Prem Krishan. Story- Prof. M. M. BHALLA m.a. produced by:- Music: Prof. R. D. JOSHI. S- N. BHATNAGAR. R. N. TANKHA. Dance Composition*: VIR PUTRI. 1 DIRECTION :- d Dialogues : SHATIR GHAZNAVI. SHATIR GHAZNAVI. World Rights Controlled By.- The Pride of I ndia Pictures Ltd., Chandni Chowk; DELHI. July, 1946 FILM INDIA Recruit M. S. Malik of 1312 Bhati Gate, Lahore, is 17 years and is anxious to work in the films He looks quite a type. apparatus and even the drone of the engine is not heard. That's because the pictures are not re- corded by Indian recordists who would have given not only the drone but an air crash complete, all within a few feet of music. FLYING 'ARTISTES' From a snake to a lion you can hire anything in Hollywood for a price. The latest hiring out or- ganization guarantees 475 Air Force Planes for use in films. They include 226 Liberators and 78 Flying Fortresses. The whole fleet had originally cost the U. S. A. Treasury £29,000,000. So next time when you sec Hollywood's aeroplane sequences, remember they have their own tamed ones performing for money. TEACHING THEM ECONOMY Hollywood studios, accustomed to spend on settings Rs. 400.000. have been asked to cut their cost to a maximum of Rs. 45,000 a set as the Federal authorities want more building material to build now- homes for the returning sol- diers. No one can stop the film folks froui doing what they want, par- ticularly wasting money, and let us see whether we can see the re- sults of this austerity drive on the screen. For all we know future Hollywood sets will be bigger than the dreams of the Federal autho- rities. RANK'S HEADACHE Twenty miles out of London and covering 200 acres alongside the Thames, Sir Alexander Korda has secured Sound City valued at Rs. 12.000,000. That gives Korda the largest studio space in Eng- land and so much more room to compete with Arthur Rank. BUT WHO LISTENS? Inspired by Rai Bahadur Chuni Lall. when the Executive Com- mittee of the Producers' Associa- tion invited the Home Minister Morarji Desai the other day, the Minister turned round and told the over-wise producers that the present-day films were too frivo- lous to become a popular medium for moulding the juvenile and un- educated mind on proper lines. He didn't want the films to be puritanic but he wanted the pro- ducers to show greater social res- ponsibility in the execution of their work, which, according to Minister Morarji Desai, was very important for the future of the nation. 59 FILM INDIA July, 1946 All ovar the sick Surraiya in "Jag Biti" a social story of Din Pictures. PRODUCT OF CIVILIZED INDIA? Just before the war broke out, a lot of American gold dollars were pouring into Manila, Philip- pines, because Yankees in the States were crazy about "Zam boanga" a film of Filipino pearl divers, produced by the Filipinos in their own islands. The taste of this success has started the Philippine motion pic- ture industry now in the post-war period, and though they are not likely to earn Oscars, the film hungry Filipinos are backing their nine movie companies to produce more and more Filipino pictures. One influential company is orga- nized by Mrs. Quezon, the widow of ex-President Quezon, and is supported by a number of Manila society women as artistes. Just at present, they are all working with obsolete, second- hand equipment and with surplus army film stocks. But remember- ing the gold which "Zamboanga" brought in, the fleet-footed Fili- pinos are on the right trail. And Wadia's "Court Dancer" is still Iving in the tins in somt Broadway cellar. SO WHAT? In an American University, they recently captured a kiss and frozi' it for scientists to have a post- mortem look at it. After twenty- four hours, the kiss looked awful. The kiss was captured on a slab of agar-agar, a gelatine-like substance, and put in an incuba- tor where the germs were allowed to multiply for twenty-four hours. After gazing at the horrible mess, Margaret Long, a labora- tory assistant, said, "Of course, bacillus subtilus are simply every- where. And streptococci and sta- phylococci are the other com- mon ones. People are very mouldy, really." And that was a swrect kiss from a sweet one! But will that stop kissing? THE CLIMAX OF ROMANCE Producer-director Sohrab Modi gave a decent burial to the two- year old rumour of his romance with film star Miss Mchtab by marrying her on the 31st of May 1946. This is the second mar- riage in the Modi family which was, till a few years back, com- posed of bachelors and spinsters. The first was Theatre-magnate K. M. Modi's marriage with Miss Ellen Lawyer of Calcutta. We wish the newly-wedded stars all happiness. A BRITISH DEBT Report comes from London that Frederick Adolphus Gould, 51, actor-manager, was fined ,£255 (Rs. 3400|-) with five guineas costs at Barnsley, London, for using frivolous jokes about Ma- hatma Gandhi which the Lord Chamberlain's Department had ordered to be cut from a revue. Thomas Dale, 45, actor, and June Richmond, 26, actress, were also fined £5 and £ 4 respective- ly. It was stated that references to Mahatma Gandhi would never have been allowed for political reasons. Why not send the fine collec- tions to Gandhiji for his Hariian Fund'? WISE MEN OF SUDAN In Khartoum, Sudan, policemen will be posted in future at the j entrances of cinema houses to stop children under 16 from attending the "Last Shows" which usually begin at 9 p.m. The Khartoum civic authorities think, and rightly too. that child- ren under 16 should be in bed! after 9 p.m. and not in cinema I houses. THE QUIET RUSSIANS There are 25000 cinemas in Soviet Russia at present (as J against the rickety 1200 and odd! we have). But that doesn't satis- 1 fy the aggressively progressive! Recruit C. S. Jaini of 209/D West End Rd, Meeruit Cantt. is 5' 7" and can sing and act. He wants only a chance to do something. 60 July, 1946 FILMINDI A Our 1st Priz3 Winner for July: Mr. M. Parvez c/o M. S. Fteroze Esq., Sea face, Worli, Bombay. He wins Rs. 100/-. Russians. They have planned to add another 22,000 bringing the total number of cinemas in Russia to 47,000 by 1950. (That is twice the number found in the United States at present). Out of these sixty two new ones will be super cinemas planned to be the best and largest in the world. During 1945, 525,000,000 Russians saw motion pictures. This year the Russians will see more pictures than ever before, of course only Russian pictures, and a large percentage of these will be in colour. Russians have per- fected their own colour process and experts are now working on the problems of producing three- dimensional films. We must send Hirlekar to Russia to get the blue-prints. NOT SO INFLAMMABLE The report of the Conservation Department of the Motion Picture1 Association, shows that losses from fire in motion picture film exchanges during the last 20 y» ars have averaged only 242.70 dollars. ji year (Rs. 800 and odd). From 1926 to date the actual total loss in 31 cities has been only 4,854.70 dollars. (App. Rs. 15.000/- 1. This remarkable result is obtain- ed by efficient and alert personal inspection of all Exchanges- in- cluding emergency exits, fire ex- tinguishers, automatic sprinklers, vault ventilators, fire doors, elec- trical wiring, fire alarm systems and general storing conditions. The trade and the fire authorities both co-operate to save film and human lives. It seems the American film dis- tributors are not in the habit of burning bad films and collecting money from the insurance com- panies. PLEA FOR PRE-CENSORSHIP Miss Christine Smith, motion picture censor in Atlanta, Ga., thought loudly when speaking to a crowd of Methodist Ministers about "Better Movies." Said Miss Smith: 'The best time for movie censorship, and the most effective censorship, is before the pictures are made. We should not only resent movies that have an undesirable influence, but we should support good movies." PATRONIZE INDIAN INDUSTRY ! KING PHOTO-SPOT To obtain really original and dramatic lighting effects a good spotlight is essential. It enables any particular points to be em- phasized and dramatic effects to be achieved. The King Spot has arrangement for spot and flood light could be adjusted by the help of the lever. The day light effect could also be obtained by inserting a diffusion disc for which the clamp has been attached. The base has rubber castors, it can be folded for conveyance. The height of the light while on the stand completely closed 48", while fully expended will be 102'! The Prismatic glass of the spot light is heat resisting. It is -5 Killowat. Manufactured for the first time in India with Indian Labour & Capital. The price is without bulb. Price Rs. 250 (Less 20%) Immediate Delivery. For further particulars apply to:— messrs. KESH0 Ml III & SONS DEALERS & MANUFACTURERS OF PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUSES, KESHO RAM BUILDINGS, Brandreth Road, LAHORE. 61 FlLMINDI A July, 1946 Here is a homely situation between Anwar Mirza and Tripti Bhaduri in "Dharti-ke-Lal" produced by People's Theatres. Referring to the power of pic- tures in shaping ideas and cus- toms* Miss Smith asserted that motion pictures should be censur- ed in that they do so much to undo the loftier teaching of the home, the school and the church. If there is any country in the world which badly needs pre- censorship — of course by qualified censors — it is India where the film industry is still a misadventure. WHY NOT IN INDIA ? Joseph Breen, the Production Code Administrator in Hollywood says in his report that 5807 fea- tures were approved by the Pro- duction Code Administration dur- ing 11 years — an average of 528 a year. Out of these, original screen stories supplied 63.6 per cent of the total; 398 stage plays. 7% of the total, were picturized and 976 novels supplied 17.2 per- cent to the total. 68 domestic and foreign pro- ducers utilized the services of the P. C. A. which, in 11 years, rend- ered 52,105 written opinions to producers on their subject sub- missions. Even British producers are using the services of the P.C.A. these days. Why can't we have a Produc- tion Code for India? UNCLE SAM AND KANGAROOS Australia has a population of 7,500,000 without the Kangaroos. For these there are 1600 motion picture theatres and during 1944- 45, over a period of 12 months. 146 000,000 Aussies went seeing motion pictures i.e. an average of 20 shows per man per year The weekly paid admissions number 2,807,692. 383 feature films were imported into the country during 1944-45 season. Of these 335 were made in America, 36 in the United Kingdom and 12 in other coun- tries. No wonder, the Kangaroos are popular with Uncle Sam. 15 LAKHS FOR FILM STORY Armaind S Deutsch, president of Story Productions Inc. says that authors whose works they will film will receive in future a percentage of the producer's share of the receipts. In case of Taylor Caldwell's. "This Side of Innocence", the first picture under this arrangement, Miss Caldwell is likely to realize as much as 500,000 dollars (15 lakhs of rupees) for her story on paper. THE STAGE & THE SCREEN The fact that the stage and the screen can be friends and good neighbours is being increasingly realized in America. Warner Brothers have set aside 250,000 dollars (about 8 lakhs of rupees) to finance Broadway stags productions "to develop and en- courage new playwrights and act- ing talent that will be later brought to the screen." Warners already operate, in as- sociation with George Abbgtt, the Biltimore Theatre on Broadway and they are looking out for an- other. The 20th Centurv-Fox have in- vested 300,000 dollars (Rs. 9 lakhs) in "Anne Get Your Gun' an Irving Berlin stage production to be expected on Broadway, which, if it becomes popular, will soon become a motion picture film. Don't say that the Yankee pro- ducers don't deserve their world success. They know how to go and get it. AN IDEA 5,000 employees of the Toho Motion Picture and Stage Com- pany, Japan, demanded a five- fold wage increase and retire ment pay. The Toho directors who control Japan's largest thea- tre circuit, agreed to all demands but refused to grant the high-cost- of-living bonus. Did the emp- loyees strike? Xo. Instead they opened the doors of all the theatres and invited the public for free shows to win public sympathy. Tine directors have now a severe headache. The Japs are original if nothing else. LEADERS IN CELLULOID In 18 minutes of screening time. Producer Thomas Mead of Uni- versal is going to tell as about the 12 crowded years (1933-45) of iht life of President Roosevelt in a newsreel biography called. "Roose- velt-Man of Destiny", Churchill Stalin, the Atlantic Charter and many other persons and events will punctuate the screen biogra- phy of this great humanitarian. 62 July, 1946 FILMINDI A What about our film people? What are they doing for our Ma- hatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawa- harlal Nehru? Haven't we already forgotten Bhulabhai Desai? And he was worth a memory in cellu- loid. DON'T FAINT Warner Brothers paid Film-ac- tor Charles Boyer 207,500 dollars last year (nearly 7 lakhs of ru- pees) Michael Curtiz, the direc- tor, earned 203,759 dollars (about Rs. 7 lakhs and third place was taken by film-actor Errol Flynn with 184,000 dollars. What did Warners earn? INDIA'S TURN? At an estimated cost of 4,000,000 dollars (just a crore and 20 lakhs of rupees), 20th Century-Fox are constructing a film studio in Lon- don. Six modern stages are plan- ned with 125,000 square feet of floor space and the latest equip ment will be installed. Production will start within 18 months and during the first year nearly 8 mu- sicals in colour are expected to be produced. Yanks have already cut down 3000 miles from their journey to India. THE YANKEE TOUCH Through General MacArthur, the Scottish descendant of King Arthur perhaps, the new ruler of Japan, the Yankees have started the scientific process of degene- rating the Yellow Race. The first screen kiss has been filmed for the first time in the national history of the Japs. The kiss is a daring and a dangerous thing in Japan — rather it used to be but not now with Mac's dough boys slinging them around in plenty and throw- ing the remaining on the non- smelling national chrysanthemums Filming the first historic kiss needed the patience of Job and Jap director Tadao Tanaka is never likely to forget the event. At first, the male lead wouldn't shovr up and then the feminine one started getting giggles. For hours, the kiss held up all studio work but the Jap director had himself practised it well in Yankee land and ultimately got it deli- vered on the celluloid. Now from Hirohito to the three monkeys on the Jap match- boxes, all are waiting to explode when the picture, "Janamuko Sodo Ki" (Diary of a Bridegroom's Trouble) is released for the pub- lic. SPREADING TENTACLES From Cairo comes the news that Robert Schless, the Paramount manager for Continental Europe, has been nosing round in Egypt and Palestine, looking out for sites to build cinemas for the American owned Paramount Pictures. At a Cairo plant they will either dub or subtitle Yankee films in French and Arabic but they mo- destly explain: "This will save a good deal of wasted time and help local industry in spite of the fact that the cost will be higher". How altruistic! COMING NEARER Another report of affectionate altruism comes from New Zealand where the Arthur Rank Group has obtained an interest in 100 thea- fcres. This is an arrangement in co-operation with Robert Kerridge who was controlling a big chain of theatres in New Zealand. The Rank organization has been busy making plans in Egypt and Sudan. R.C.A.— R.K.O. TD3-UP The Radio Corporation of Ame- rica (R.C.AJ and the R.K.O. Radio have signed a ten-year film recording agreement whereby R. K.O. Radio will continuously use R.C.A. recording system for their productions as also to record and distribute sound films for use in television broadcasting. GOOD-BYE BERRY! Noah Berry, 62, brother of Wallace Berry, died of heart at- tack in early April at his brother's home in Hollywood. Stage and screen artiste, Noah made his first professional ap- pearance as a singer and worked up his way gradually to become popular all over the world. WELCOME, BRUCE! Charles Bruce Newbery, Presi- dent of the local "kangaroos", once with the 20th Century-Fox and the man who pioneered the Indian News Parade, is back again in India, this time as the Far East representative of the Republic Pictures of America, owned by Herbert Yates. Bruce Newbery is a popular distributor, knowing well how to get along in this country. 63 U/oe5 & Slcko<25 ( This is the reader's forum— as and when space permits. From the producer to the lay film-goer, every one can write to the Editor and ventilate his grievance. For every letter published in these columns, the publishers will pay Rs. Si- Letters should be signed and marked "Woes And Echoes". Photographs of the readers will be published along with their letters, if convenient. — The Editor. ) BAPTIZED THE OWNER ''Of the so many nuisances of the Indian theatre houses described by Judas in the May issue of your magazine the one presented by our local picture house is, I think, quite novel and unique of its kind. "The Ladies' Class here is just over the head of the first class at the farthest end of the house. The floor of the Ladies' Class which at the same time is the roof over the first class, is made of wooden planks leaving crevices through winch water or other liquids can easily pass. So it often happens that just during the show, when the young babies feel the necessity of easing themselves, par- ticularly during the cold nights, the mothers in the Ladies class make them sit down on the floor of their class to relieve themselves. "The consequences are quite evident. One or two persons of the first class, which here usually consists of gentlemen, are baptized with these heavenly (coming from above) drops of blessed water twice or thrice every week; and it being a man and woman question, men usually remain silent during the show and forget and forgive after the show. I don't know what the women would have done had they been in place of men." IIATHRAS. L. Massey. TORTURE CHAMBERS "The Indian theatres are truly filthy spots frequented by those who bring out all their inner (•rudeness on parade, and create a general atmosphere of indiscipline. "Bad ventilation, bug-ridden chairs and inhygenic lavatories are the main characteristics of the Indian theatres. The floors seem to have been painted red by the pan-eaters, who never bother about ii-in<>; the spittoon, while the "bidi" smoke, due to bad ventilation, causes extreme suffocation, especia- lly after interval. Then there are the infants who exhibit themselves with sound effects, and thus start corresponding sound vibrations of "silence,", from the front stalls. "And what about the others who come out with their humming and "Wah! Wah!", just to show the folks around how very much they appreciate the heroine's songs. "In short the Indian theatre is a place of public torture rather than entertainment" CALCUTTA. Feroz B. Maneckji. SEX MAMA In his anxiety to support sex on the screen Mr. H. A. Rahman of Melvisharam has (in the June '46 issue of "filmindia") forgotten to point out the defects of indecent sex-appeal that is being indulged in by certain semi-educated direc- tors and producers all over the land. "India remains a land of the masses, who, naturally, yield to the cheap sexiness of our pictures and throng the theatres . An illus- tration of the wanton misuse of sex for selfish ends is the recent history of Tamil films. Pictures after pictures have come with a vulgar and often irritating touch of sex in every conceivable man- ner, from the dress to the songs. The uneducated producer only wants a huge return for his invest- ment, irrespective of the interests of society or nation. The picture passes the Censors easily, who too seen, to forget their duty to the public. "Sex is, undoubtedly, an essen- tial element of entertainment but an overdose of it may have a de- moralizing effect on the minds of our people." BANGALORE. N. S. V. Chalam. MY APOLOGIES "Patel Babu, I have wasted about Rs. 2]- on Ranjit's "Rajpu- tani", only because you misled me by your hopeful remark, when you said that "Rajputani" would be a turning point in the history of Ranjit. Well I am at a loss to understand whether it is a turn- ing point or melting point, whe- ther it is a historical film or his- torical flop. "It is an "Al" historical flop Sadiq Ali gives a life-time promise with a broken hand to Surraiya "Jag Biti" a social story of Din Pictures. 64 July. 1946 with no history in it anywhere. It is a mess of distorted history, con- cocted story, meaningless (un- meaningful) songs, unintelligible dialogue and unpleasant music. The political paint is too wet to be non-sticky as in "Humayun". As such it only adds to the historical heap of Ranjit's historical flops. "Even the theatre owner waa deluded, when, with high expecta- tions, he released the picture simul- taneously at his two theatres, only to withdraw it even before it could complete 4 weeks at both the theatres together — 1 week at Select and 2 weeks at Sagar. Made history! Hasn't if? "Now tell us. Patel Babu, are we still to expect a better picture from the flop-makers who have the unique honour of having scored a century in 15 years'.' No more delusion, please!" MADRAS. Ahmed Din. EXCESSIVE OPTIMISM "That so many cheap and un- desirable films are being produced in India which have a vicious in- fluence on the mind and culture of the masses, is a matter which should engage the immediate at- tention of the Govt, of India as well as the popular ministries in the provinces, so that better and useful films be produced in the country. "The producers go to the extent of distributing and defiling the sanctity of religious and historical episode- just to earn enormous money from the poor and innocent filmgoers. To pollute the history of a country is to destroy the very culture of the coming gene- ration. The Board of Film Cen- sors should take into account not only the political character of a film but also its religious and his- torical significance, and for this an arrangement should be made to get every film reviewed by eminent scholars before it i> ap- proved by the Board, and its adequate cost should be borne by theyproducers." Ramdcva Sharmo. ^UZAFFARPUR. PROVIDING EXTRA FUN "Last week I went to the Royal Opera House to see 'Rajputani'. During the progress of the pic- ture, a big rat jumped on my head from the upper stalls. I was terribly shaken and got a few scratches on my face and head. Why do we find such pests in only Indian theatres and not in the English ones?" BOMBAY. Samuel Hannock FILMINDIA POETS OR PROSTITUTES? "Have you ever paid any atten- tion to the wordings of the songs in our films? How cheap, rotten and filthy are they? Five years ago, we were content when these were no Joshs, no Xarendras and no Pradeeps etc. in films. But to- day, when the Indian film indus- When you discover your shade of Poudre Tokalon your complexion will bloom with that soft natural beauty which is always en- vied and admired. Don't miss the thrill of seeing yourself in your mirror younger and lovelier than you ever dreamed possible. Tokalon beauty experts have worked for years to create the shades which blend exactly with every skin tone. The re- sults can be seen in five glamorous shades which give you all you've ever asked for from a face powder. Choosing your powder shade becomes, therefore, just a matter of choosing Tokalon, for among this range cf per- fect shades is one which will act as though a veil had been drawn, allow- ing your radiant natural loveliness to appear. TOKUO\ FOB LONCER- LAST1NC LOVELINESS FILM INDIA Kanan goes Arabian in "Arabian Nights" produced by P. R. Produc- tions of Calcutta. try is fortunate enough to possess such literary people things are going worse. "Can you expect and appreciate "Mere Jubna Ka dekho ubhar papi" from Josh, our national Urdu poet and "Ghar hamnay liya hai Tere ghar ke Samnay" — (Hamari Baat) from Narendra, the creator of "Pravasi ke geet"? Surandra Kishore. RAM PUR (STATE) VICTIM OF JEALOUSY "How is it that 'Draupadi' which was produced by you long ago has not so far been released here, (Delhi) the Capital of India? We have been waiting for the last one year for its release and have now lost our patience. Is it really not a pity that while many other rotten pictures are being dumped on us, we are deprived of one of the best pictures meant for the educated classes? Will you, there- fore, kindly let us at least know the reason for this negligence?" NEW DELHI. 0. P. Vaish. SUCKING BLOOD? "As a result of your scathing criticism and constructive sugges- tions in regard to the seating ar- rangements in the local houses here, the rates in the lower class were doubled, with the obvious idea of making the seating ar- rangements more comfortable. "But in spite of all the bally- hoo kicked up by you in your paper, big guns like M|s. General Talkies, the bosses of several houses, seem to be sitting tight. The arrangements for seating in their houses, viz. the Majestic and the Jubilee, far from being in the least comfortable, are the worst type of arrangements — the same as they were before. This causes a great discomfort to those who cannot afford higher rates. Could you kindly see that these parasites, reluctant to loosen the strings of their hoarded purses, spare some- thing for the benefit of those who pay?" NEW DELHI. Ratan Chanel Jain. CAN WE? "I have seen Shantaram's Dr. Kotnis", with great disappoint- ment. The man who has made all record pictures in the begin- ning of his career should be ashamed of giving us such a bogus, ridiculous and nonsensical stuff after so much of experience. "Dr. Kotnis" is just stupid, rotten and disgusting. Its dialo- gue is dry and unpleasant. The songs of the picture are a source of headache. Baburao Pcndharkar has been forcibly thrust into the July, 1946 picture. He makes his appear- ance every now and then without adding any zest to the story. "Can't we stop good men from doing wrong jobs, Mr. Baburao?" Mahesh Datta, B.A. CAWNPORE. BETTER THAN NOTHING "The suggestion of Mr. N. S. V. Chalam, Bangalore, to condemn all the touring cinemas in South India (Refer "Woes & Echoes" May '46) is rather unnatural. The reason being that every village is not provided with a pucca theatre and as such the villagers can ex- pect some sort of amusement only from touring cinemas and I can say, that these touring cinemas are helping the villagers to amuse themselves. I can appreciate, if Mr. N. S. V. Chalam can suggest some other means by which the villagers can be shown films. As regards the rates, these are also within their reach. Perhaps our friend was born and brought up in a city and he may not realise the necessity of the poor villagers who are too far away from the city." XEGAPATAM. N. V. R. Swamy. ASK HIM. "With a hope to have some fine entertainment, the other day I went to see the great (?) Shanta- ram's much boosted "Dr. Kotnis ki Amar Kahani" at a local thea- tre. But, to my great disappoint- ment and quite contrary to my expectations, I found the picture a miserable failure. In those ten thousand and some odd feet- there was hardly any situation which one could describe as artistic or entertaining. I felt myself ex- tremely bored from the beginning to the end, without a moment's relief. "A man of Shantaram's status who gave us, in the past, brilliant pictures like "Admi", "Padosi" and "Duniya na Mane", should be ashamed of such a worthless pic- ture. Really, by producing "Dr. Kotnis ki Amar Kahani" Shanta- ram has added no prestige to his reputation as an able producer- director, but he has simply rattled down his own standard. Hasn't he?" Prithi Paul Singh Chawla I \ I IORF, 66 July, 1946 FILMINDI A CONVEYED "I happened to see Shantaram's Dr. Kotnis at Swastik, Bombay in the second week of this month. I had heard much of this picture and all the three pictures of Raj- kamal Kalamandir were seen by me while at Bombay. I found this picture the worst with no charm, no direction, no action, no music and no reality in the story. Will Mr. Patel convey this review to Mr. Shantaram the only director of the country?" Jagat Xarain Misra (AWXPORE. PRIMITIVE BALUCHISTAN "Baluchistan seems to be abso- lutely separated from the rest of India. People from all over the country send you their grievance-, but no one has thought of doing it from Baluchistan which I am sure has the most. There are only two theatres running at present in Quetta, and naturally they are always crowded. The cinema halls are always full of smoke, having exhaust fans, or if any, none working. The sanitary arrangements can't be described. The lavatories kill. The furniture gives back- ache. The theatres observe no regulations at all. The manage- ment engages goondas and no one dares to report to authorities for fear of getting it in the neck. "The Inspector of Boilers and the Sanitary Inspector do not seen: to be much interested in their jobs. I suppose they get free passes and are satisfied." QUETTA. Jaidev Dopvani. WAIT AND SEE "I am very much, convinced by your review of V. Shantaram's "Dr. Kotnis ki Amar Kahani". I would like to know through your cohunns whether the "great" Shantaram has got courage enough to explain his position point by point as regards your grand review of Jiis picture. Has he got the courage to face boldly and prove his position thus making his name "AMAR" as he made his picture "Amar Kahani", or will he behave before you just as a "rat" does before a "cat"? Will the 'great' Shantaram do that — Mr. Patel?" KARACHI. Raj Kumar Chadha. OLD FASHIONED "The management of the Pic- ture House and the Empire do not start advance bookings when a new picture starts. It is a pity that all the tickets are sold at the window. You can't expect every- body and specially respectable people (with or without families I to stand in a queue." KARACHI. Xandkumar Bhatia. ONCE BITTEN "Very recently I had the mis- fortune to see a Tamil Picture 'Valmiki'. which had all the dis- qualifications of a bad picture. The picture starts in the "Maro" fashion of our old Master Vithal films and till the interval one won- ders what the film is about. It is only after the interval and that too towards the end. one can find some traces of Valmiki, the famous writer of Ramayana. "I rarely visit a Tamil picture and this time I had a very bad taste of it. I fervently appeal to the Tamil producers to give us something real and something ap- pealing. Will they?" MYSORE. H. S. Venkata Rao. YES. A PITY. "It is a pity that such an ex- cellent and topical theme as Prithvi Theatres' "Deewar" should be missed by many as it is a stage play. It would, indeed, be greatly welcome if it is filmed and shown on the screen all over the country, especially when we are shown rotten and nonsensical stuff as screen stories." .1/. Abdid Rasheed. BANGALORE. I SYMPATHIZE "I wonder why Indian producers give us too many songs in their films. Broadly speaking- most of these songs, besides being bad poetry and bad music, are quite out of place. After all we do not go to the films for songs. The radio, the gramophone, the musi- cians, my friends and yours, would well provide us with these. What we want in the films is a story, well-knit, interesting, emotional, and leaving us the wiser. But then these out-of-place songs would come, and slow the tempo of the story, make us yawn, and take us not a step with the story. The producer would thus proceed till the interval, and then, roused, as it were from sleep, would give us one or two high-pitched scenes and round off. But surely we did not go all the way from home merely for this: a few purple patches and for the rest 'noisy shrieks'." Raghu Xath Doss Baijal KOTAH .In. J NO "Mr. Patel! Shantaram's "Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani" is not so bad a picture as to receive such a severe condemnation from your pen. Honestly speaking, I have liked the picture as one of the best hits in these times when rabid, putrid and rotten pictures from talented men like. Barua, Sardar Chandulal Shah. Shashodhar Mu- kherjee and Mehboob etc. are con- tinuously killing our interest in the filmworld. Indeed, "Dr. Kotnis has its own shortcomings and does not come up to the usual Shantaram standard estab- lished by him in the past by films like "Admi" and "Padosi."* The music of this picture is not melodious. It is hard and mean- ingless. Shantaram's selection of his own self to play the leading part is indiscreet and void of any wisdom. This fellow, no doubt, puts in a very balanced perfor- mance with nice and appealing histrionics but unfortunately his dialogue diction is absolutely hope- less and disappointing. He speaks frog like (if at all an animal ana- logy is needed) . The direction is mediocre and unimaginative and this makes the story look trans- parent. Shantaram has not been able to maintain the continuity of situations satisfactorily. He has intermixed humour and pathos without any sense of proportion. Because of this- the story becomes abrupt and loses much of its charm. Not minding these defects (we should be generous enough to allow a concession to Shantaram in consideration of his past ser- vices), "Dr. Kotnis" is a fairly 67 FILMINDI A July, 1946 N«ena looks a Rajput maiden in "Prithviraj Sanyukta," a Shalimar picture. enjoyable film and must not be discarded. Do you agree with my opinion, Mr. Patel?" Pundit Jwala Prasad. CAWNPORE. FASHION? 'There is, at present, an un- fortunate tendency among a large section of those, who strive for profit — in different fields of work — to give a "People's" label to all their activities. This is more so in the entertainment industry, which affords sufficient grounds for all and sundry. Thus, we have "People's Theatre", "People's Pictures", 'People's buildings' and selfstyled "People's writers." "It is regrettable that the sla- very of 400 million human beings should be exploited by a few shrewd businessmen for their own ends." BANGALORE. N. S. V. Chalam. HONESTY "In vain did I search numerous so-called Film Journals to find a single film review that merits the name. Reviews there were in large numbers, but none could match the fearless, constructive, and en- tertaining reviews of "filmindia". "fihnindia" i< original while others are artificial and biassed. Will you tell me the secret of your originality? TRICHUR K. Devadas. HARDLY FAIR "You have warmly congratulat- ed Mr. Chandulal Shah and Miss Gohar on their success of produc- ing 100 films within a period of 17 years. But at the same time you have failed to mention that out of this century most of the pictures were flops- presenting old faces depicting silly and boy-meet- girl stories, giving unattractive music and directed by unintelli- gent and third class directors of the film industry. It would not be an act of exaggeration if I say that Ranjit partners committed. 100 sins, a few less perhaps, by exploiting the public through their foolish and idiotic presentations. Let you or anybody praise them, but they are not worthy of it," Madan Mohan Agrawal. ALLAHABAD. 6B R. D. PARINJA (Bombay) Producer-director R. D. Parinja is very optimistic about new find Chandni and assures us that she ■as given a good performance in "Sona Chandi". Let us wait and see. Surest) is cast op]>osite Chandni and the story is reported to have mass-appeal. The picture is awaiting release in Bombay and we hope to give Pro- ducer Parinja a warm pat on the back, if we find the picture up to our expectations. The North and lind rights are with Jagat Talkie Distributors. FAMOUS FILMS (Bombay) "Moghal-e-Azam", a Muslim subject, is taking as long a time as did "Phool". in the hands of Director Asif, fussing over its many details. A good deal of money has been spent on sets and many leading artistes such as Vcena. Nargis, Durga Khote and others are featured in "Moghal- e-Azam". We do not know when this marathon production will be act- ually completed hut if we are to believe half of what Director Asif has to say about the picture, the film goers will be justified in looking forward to this picture. FILMISTAN LTD (Bombay) "Mazdoor" directed by "Nit in Bose had a rather short run at the Roxy. Director Nit in Rose made it more purposeful than entertaining with the result that the story failed to entertain the masses "Saffar" featuring Shobha and Kami Roy lias been completed and is likely to be released in Bombay, shortly. "Right Days'' starring the popular actor Ashok Kumar, and Veera who captured %0 DUE ED c^JL O t/^EC TED By DR. SflFDPR W Music : ANIL BISWAS. Phatography: V.K.B. MANIAM. Our Next : 1. "KISA N ki GAT 2. " HAIDER ALI ", Starring: SHEIKH MUKHTAR, KANHAI YALAL, HUSNA (New face), Laddan, Gulam Hussain and Aboobakar (both courtesy Minerva), Dulare, Aga Jan, Narbada Shankar and KIRAN. For particulars : RANG-MAHAL LTD., 37/41 Abdul Rehman Street, BOMBAY 3 •Announcement 2xttaotdinatij MICRON XI THE WORLD'S LARGEST SOUND PROJECTOR fitom i move's Largest Projector Znctorit employing 2000 ARTISANS -1000 MACHINE TOOLS - 200 TECHNICIANS AND THREE PLANTS THE MOST MODERN POSTWAR SOUND PROJECTOR* AJow on dhpUy at out ^how-tooml. ^ INTERNATIONAL TALKIE EQUIPMENT CO., LTD., 17, NEW QUEEN'S ROAD, BOMBAY 4. TELEPHONE : 20872. TELE : SOU NDHEAD MADRAS: 18, Mount Road, 18, Albert Street. 20, Pine Street, LONDON, N. W. I. NEW YORK, 5, N.Y., U.S.A. Tear this Entry Token and attach it to your questions. ! SUBSCRIPTION RATESi Tha tnnuil subscription, for 12 Issuei of "filmindia", from any month In INLAND FOREIGN i Ri. 24/. Shillings 50/. Subscription Is accepted only for a collective period of 12 months and not for a small period. Subscription mone/ should be remitted only by money Order or by Postal Order but not by cheques. V. P. P. s will filmindia PROPRIETORS FILMINDIA PUBLICATIONS LTD. 55. SIR PHIROZESHAH MEHTA ROAD, FORT, BOMBA< Telephone : 26752 Editor: BAB U RAO PAT EL Vol. XII. AUGUST 1946 No. 8. ADVERTISEMENT RATESi Pull Pace Inside Half Page Inside ♦ Page Inside i Page Inside 2nd & 3rd Cover 4th Cover 1st Cover The cost of the advertisement should be submitted In advance with the order. The advertise- fSlackmailinj -0 A/atlonal Dndultty The present political atmosphere in our country has affected rather sadly the friendly relations be- tween our different communities. Instead of culti- vating harmony and unity on the eve of freedom, the two main communities of India are drifting away from each other, creating an almost unbridgeable gulf between them. Th:' political quarrel seems to have now filtered into commerce and the day-to-day deal- ings between the two communities. The Muslims appear to be more intolerant of the two and the way things are going on, it seems, that we shall soon have to build separate theatres for both, the Muslims and the Hindus, for their entertainment, just as they are now having mosques and temples for their worship. Reports are coming from all over India of some rowdvism 01 other in theatres over flimsy grounds. A notable incident was about the film "Hamrahi" pro- duced by the New Theatres Ltd. "Hamrahi"' was one of our very few good pictures with a purposeful" theme which had nothing at all to do with any communal quarrel. The picture was well received in Bombay and at many other cities. But when it was released in Calcutta, some of the local Muslims managed to find something very offensive in it. The picture has tome rough characters in the story, wearing loongis and pyjamas, who arc called upon to break up a meeting of mill workers. Some Calcutta Muslims, seeing the loongis and pyjamas, claimed the dress as a Muslin, monopoly and raised the usual alarm that Muslims were being called "goondas" by the Hindus. Why didn't the Bombay Muslims find this out when the picture ran so long in Bombay? And for that matter why didn't the Bengalis object when the Bengali version of the same picture ran for nearly two years? Suiting action to these thoughts, the Calcutta crowd created a row in the theatre and stopped the picture. This action is, of course, not goondaism. wfe -appose it must be accepted as evidence of Muslim culture. Other communities wiien they find something that offends their religions or cultural Bisceptibiiities, they either write to the authorities or ventilate their grievance through the newspapers. Some Muslims, however, don't seem to believe in these gentle and constitutional methods of protest. They take the knife, their chief war weapon, and either tear the screen or open the stomach of any one Like all screen lovers, Sushila Rani and Trilok Kapur also went to the jungle temple to woo and coo in "Gvalan", written, produced and directed by Mr. Baburao Patcl. 3 FILMINDIA August 1946. ■ I /"Nl f^m * * /I MOTION !| PICTU R E * \J FILM * For Professional Use (35 mm) Finest Films of Dependable Quality ' ft ft ft PANCHROMOSA Type 41 -A panchromatic film for Studio and Outdoor use. Possesses the following characteristics : Ideal density curve, extremely high general sensitiveness, very fine grain and correct over-all speed. ft ft ft S.T.O. SOUND RECORDING FILM — A dependable sound f ilm for all methods of sound recording. ft 'ft ft POSITIVE— A sparkling film of the finest grain- It ensures brill ant results and longer life. ft ft ft Patel India Ltd. Sole Distributors for Gevacrt Professional Motion Picture Film in India. Phone. : t 25300 HORNBY ROAD, - ■ BOMBAY. who dares to oppose them. And yet we are asked not to identify these people as goondas. Coming to this community of "goondas" which consists of Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Christians, and now Ambcdkarites, may we know why good Muslims should pull upon themselves the odium attached to the goondas just because a few characters in a pic- ture happen to be dressed in loongis and pyjamas ? And since when have loongis and pyjamas become an exclusive Muslim dress? The Hindus and the other communities also wear them all over India. If the loongi and the pyjama are going to be the future identification marks for spotting the Muslims, then it is going to be a difficult job to pick them out in the Punjab, where every man, rich or poor, Hindu or Muslim, wears them every day. The characters in "Hamrahi" didn't have even distinctive Muslim names. And yet some of the local Calcutta Muslims identified them as Muslims with the help of the loongi and the pyjamas, and suddenly turned them into symbolic representatives of the Muslim community. Can anything be more impulsive? If the poli- tical stooges are spoiling for a fight haven't they got the whole wide field of politics for their gambols? Why should they strangle our tiny film industry by finding such flimsy excuses and turning them into serious communal quarrels? The film industry is not at all anxious to hurt the feelings of any community, be it Hindu, Muslim. Christian or Jew. And when some producer does so inadvertently, "filmindia" is always the first to pro- test and demand reparations. The film industry is a business of mass entertainment and one can't en- tertain by hurting the feelings of others. The film industry cannot afford to hurt anyone, because its very existence depends on the goodwill of all. For the film producer, it is good business to please- all. And yet a local Muslim paper of Calcutta, re- porting the "Hamrahi" disturbance, writes in its issue of May 26th as follows: "In our opinion, this film seems to have been part of a well-laid, deep and subtle plot to blacken the name of the Muslims and depict them as hooli- gans and ruffians. In fact the filjn goes further and shows the Muslims as a people who can be hired to do the dirty work for whoever is able to pay the price. No libel could be more vile and it is rather fortunate that resentment to the outrageous insult was confined to stopping the show and breaking a few chairs." This paper seems to be almost sorry that a few hundred heads were, not broken and quite a few buildings were not burnt down. That is the least, according to the paper, the Muslims would have done, had the other people not been a little more fortunate. When newspapers begin to exaggerate minor incidents in such a criminal manner, is it any wonder that our people start settling their quarrels with knives and sticks? This paper proceeds further: "The objectionable scenes could never have been mistaken, misunder- 4 ■ August 1946. FILM INDIA stood or overlooked by the simplest of persons. The story shows that a character by the name of 'An.bika' arranges to break up a meeting and beat up the hero, "Anup". What he did to achieve this end was to hire a gang of goondas wearing, not dhoties, but lungis and pyjamas. Do the director and the pro- prietors of the cinema house, which exhibited this objectionable film, think that there are no hooligans among the Hindus? Or is it that the fact that Hindu goondas are invariably called "Congress Workers" and "Congress Volunteers" is alone enough to make pern the gentlest of people?" Who says there are no hooligans among the Hindus? There are. Many more than there are among the Muslims, simply because there are more Hindus than Muslims in India. Similarly, there are less number of goondas among Parsis than among Muslims, because the number of Parsis is smaller. But the quotations given above are not so much intended to support the Muslim culture or the Muslim way of life as to run down the Hindus and particularly those identified with the Indian National Congress. That the entire article is the result of political rivalry is evident from its last paragraph ■rherein the writer attacks the Congress. We don't mind who attacks whom in the field of politic- so long as these political skirmishes are not staged in our film field, in our studios and in our cinemas. The film trade has no politics, except those of art and entertainment, and these political stooges of differ- ent complexions — whether belonging to the Congress, the Muslim League, the Scheduled Castes, the Hindu Mahasabha or any other party label — have no right whatsoever to turn our small errors, if any at all, into political issues and create conflict and cause a serious loss to our film industry. If these different political parties or their fana- tic stooges are spoiling for a fight, our cities have Inough open parks where they can go and break one another's heads and after bandaging them still come to our theatres and enjoy a good show, forgetting for a while all political differences. Yes. the theatre is a place to forget all worries — political, economical and personal. And it is not right for tin se people to break our chairs, tear our screens and try to burn down our cinemas, just because in the field of politics some of them have become bitter through frustration. Recently we had reported a similar incident at the Krishna Cinema in Bombay where some Muslim roughs, exasperated by some sequences advocating Hindu-Muslim unity in that picture, "40 Crores", rushed to the screen and tore it with a knife. As in the case of "Hamrahi", the censors had to cut out perfectly harmless portions from "40 Crores" and thus allow an illegal and utterly unjustified con- cession to the rowdy elements who kicked up the row. The question before us is: "Are the rowdies going to rule the rest of India?" We don't care to what com- munity or politics they belong. To the majority of peace-loving citizens, the rowdies, be they Hindus, Muslims, Christians or any other, constitute a con- stant menace to the social life of the country. Too many political parties are using the goon- das these days to back up their political activities. Even the Indian National Congress, which had adopted so far non-violence as its sheet anchor, is now giving up that creed and if it has not already engaged the goondas, as some people seem to doubt, it will have soon to do so to push their theories down the throats of people who don't swallow them too easily. At this rate goondas will constitute the Civil Service of our nation and the stick and the knife will become the symbols of social service. This political goondaism by different parties has at regular intervals caused a huge loss to the Indian film industry. In Bombay and other cities, the cinemas have been closed for months on end because of riots manipulated by political goondas. Our film industry has already paid millions in losses for the doubtful mirage of our nation's freedom. The Calcutta paper accuses the producers of •Hamrahi" "of a well-laid, deep and subtle plot to blacken the name of the Muslims." This is a child- ish allegation probably based on the accident of the producer of "Hamrahi" being a Hindu. It is more- over too exaggerated a compliment to be paid to the intelligence of any film producer in our country. If only our film producers had the brain? to plan so cleverly and with such subtlety, they would not be committing so many stupid mistakes many of which cost them their very fortune and existence. It angers us to find that our producers are sus- pected of intelligence. We cannot tolerate this ac- cusation of intelligence levelled at our production Here is Neena as "Meera" in a picture of the same name by Shalimar Pictures. 5 Here's a — NEW PARADISE FOR PRODUCERS! 3 Minutes From the Bus-Stand 5 Minutes From the Rly. Statkn — : At JOGESHWAR!:- Right cn The Ghodbunder Rtad. Two spacious sound stages suitable for the shooting of the most spectacular production are now available on hire-COMPLETE COMFORT AND ACCOMMODATION: Music Halls; Make - Up Rooms; Retiring Rooms; Offices ; Store Rooms And Almost Every Convenience To make Motion Picture Production A Luxury All-Weather Sound -Proof Studios Complete with All Electric Fittings Write to-day to : — Mr. RAVJIBHAI PATEL Jollymood - JOGESHWARI (B.B. & C.I. Ry.) * August 1946 Padma Eannerjee plays the hero's heroine in "Dharti", a Ranjit picture. boobies. This is an old quarrel \vc are ourselves fighting out with our film producers for years. This basic defect of the industry must rule out the insinuation that the producers of "Hamrahi" were trying to be clever. It is moreover not necessary to be a Hindu to run down the Muslims. It is enough to be a film producer to run down any community without knowing what is being done. Take the recent instance of "Nek Pervin" a Muslim social story, written by Wahid Qureshi, a Muslim and produced and directed by S. M. Yusuf, also a Muslim. Elsewhere in this issue we have pub- lished a full review of this picture. {Page 431 In this picture of Muslim social and cultural life, ihaukat, evidently a rich and cultured Muslim, gam- bles, employs goondas, drinks constantly, misleads good people, shoots men with revolvers merely to get a woman for his bed. And when the woman re- fuses, he attempts to kill her son and outrage her modesty. Is this the usual pattern of Muslim social life prevalent in the country? Between the two portrayals of Muslims in "Xek Pervin" and in "Hamrahi", which slanders the Muslims more? In "Zeenat" a very popular Muslim picture, again produced and directed by Muslims, the preg- nant-Muslim heroine is chased out of the house in the dead of night by her husband's brother, another Muslim. How does this incident reflect on the huma- nity of the Muslims as a community? We can quote several instances like this in which either the Muslim producers or the Muslim directors FILMINDI A of the industry have introduced sequences into their stories — sequences which, measured by the 'Ham- rahi' yard-stick, slander the Muslims terrifically and show them up as a community which indulges in riot, rape, arson, murder and what not. What have the Calcutta guardians of the fair name of the Muslims to say about these incidents? If a Hindu producer cannot show some doubt- fully dressed character without hurting the suscep- tibilities of the Muslims, how can the Muslims, them- selves, slander their community wholesale by por- trayals as in "Nek Pervin" and "Zeenat"? The Muslim producers, who are expected to present their community in good colours, become thus its greatest traducers. It has become necessary to quote the other side of the coin here because the Calcutta paper seeks to find a politically-prompted communal reason for the "goondas" in "Hamrahi". Actually, motion picture producers, be they Hindus or Muslims, cannot avoid some of the inci- dents they show if a motion picture is to be a rea- listic story of our every day life and behaviour. Sometimes when some producer oversteps the limits of reasonable exaggeration, as in the case of "Xek Pervin", "filmindia" quickly administers a re- buke and for some time things go on smoothly again. But these lapses, whether on the part of the Hindu producers or the Muslim ones, are hardly to be considered as so much more food for communal and political agitations and conflicts. And it is no business of the political stooges of any party to make capital out of them to promote their own party pro- paganda. The Indian film industry is on the brink of a crisis today, mainly due to its own lack of enterprise and partly because of the fast-multiplying foreign competition. With its present stupid constituents our film industry has little chance of surviving in the future world of highly organized trades and in- dustries, unless it receives official protection and un- stinted public patronage. If this diseased industry is also destined to go through the additional spasms of communal con- flicts, then its end must, indeed, be very near. This is a very important aspect of our industrial life which all politicians, whatever their shades and comple- xions, must seriously consider. We welcome all the guidance of our several politicians to build up this industry on indigenous lines so that some day we, as a nation, can compete with the best product in the world- But we strongly object to our film industry being made a victim of party bitterness on flimsy grounds. "Filmindia" is essentially a film magazine and does not bother about politics and this article is not therefore an argument on behalf of any political party or community. It is only a plea on behalf of a struggling film industry which is gasping for breath between its own misadventure and the menace of foreign competition. 7 DESAL SLPURI.RAMASHUKUL. producer ASHOK KUMAR.Director DATTARA THIS PLACE WAS - FOR YOU But Where are YOU ? Yes! If you are a good looking young girl your photograph would have been printed here as the star of R. D. Pareenja's next pic- ture, and the screen's latest, newest, freshest, gentlest, prettiest, sweetest, gayest, jolliest, daintiest, loveliest, fairest, smartest, grandest, swellest, tenderest, glamour girl. But don't worry. This place is still there for you if you area good looking girl. R.D. Pareenja, India's ablest master of cinematographic technique, who picturized such glorious box office hits as 'Kangan', 'Bandhan', 'Punar Milan', 'Naya Sansar', 'Jhoola', 'Kismet' and who has now produced and directed "Sona Chandi" will make you a Glamour Girl of the Screen. He knows the trick and the technique. R. D. Pareenja has now featured almost all newcomers in his picture, "Sona Chandi", and he has made Chandni a star over-night and is now looking for fresh talent for his next pic- ture. Write immediately enclosing a copy of your photograph. You name your own salary and you will be given, but you must be an educated young lady from a good family. A decent career in a respectable atmosphere awaits you. Write now to R. D. Pareenja, Managing Director, New Bombay Theatres, Ltd., 55, Apollo Street, Fort, Bombay. R. D. Pareenja's, : Bendy ior Helen sr. : Released Through: C. P. C. 1. North & Sind: NEW BOMBAY THEATRES LTD., BHArAT PICTURES LTD JAGAT TALKIE DISTRIBUTORS. 55, Apollo St., Fort, Chandni Chowk, BOMBAY. AKOLA. DELHI This section is the monopoly of JUDAS" and he writes what he likes and about things which he likes. The views expressed here are not necessarily ours, but they carry weight because they are written by a man who knows his job. SOME DIRTY WORK? The way Ambalal J. Patel of Central Cine Cor- poration Ltd. is keeping quiet over some pointed allegations made regarding his I. F. I. and the Indian News Parade deal with the Government of India it seems there is something really fishy about the whole affair The "National Guardian" of Bombay has ex- posed some startling facts about this deal which to- day looks more like a quiet conspiracy between Secretaries Bozman and Fenton on one side and Ambalal Patel and W. J. Moylan on the other Even W. J. Moylan, who was in charge of the Indian News Parade and who is now an employee of Ambalal Patel, is keeping mum over the serious allegations made against his fair name. Probably the present going is too good to be spoilt by an un- necessary vindication of self-respect. The Government of India must, however, ex- plain to the satisfaction of the public that their me- thod of disposing of the assets and equipment of the Information Films of India and the Indian News Farad- to Ambalal J. Patel was the only alternative left to them in public interest. The charges made by the "'National Guardian'' have to be answered not only by the officials but also !)>• Ambalal Patel and W. J. Moylan. We have a lot of material in hand already to hang all the parties concerned in this dirty deal but we would like to wait a month longer as we understand that Ambalal Patel desires to defend himself against the alienations made by the "National Guardian". If in this defence Ambalal has something to say in justification, we would like to hear his side of the story. In the meanwhile we invite all the different parties, who approached the Government of India With offers for the I. F. I. and the 1. N. P. outfits, to submit to us all the details of their negotiations with the Government and their reasons for not concludim. the deal. QUISLINGS AND SABOTEURS! Within a few years we won't have an Indian film industry, not at least the one we have been used to all these 30 years. Of course, we shall have a number of pictures showing in the country. Almost 80% of them will be in Hindustani or in some local vernacular but moat of these 80% will be owned by one foreigner or another. While some stupid monkeys at the Producers' Association are shouting about patriotism and such other thirgs to support the Indian film industry, some of the prominent members of the very Associa- tion are negotiating big deals with different foreign interests to hire out present Indian studios for dub- bing their pictures in different languages; to record suitable Indian music and ship it to America; to pur- chase different musical instruments and send them over with the players; to send dialogue writers to Hollywood and London; to send voice tests of differ- ent men and women with a view to engage them as artistes in Indian versions; to take finance for pro- duction, distribution and exhibition of 16 mm. and 35 mm. films in the country, with 51% of the profits going overseas. Already half-a-dozen pseudo-Indian Companies have been formed to build theatres all over the country. The Indians associated with these enter- prises are rich and influential people and the foreign- ers, who have secured their co-operation, expect a walk-over for their interests. Good luck to the quislings and saboteurs! All we can say is that the present people of the Indian film industry bloody well deserve all that is coming to them and for a million reasons. Described as the newest, sweetest, smartest and what- not-est, Chandni comes to the screen in "Sona Chandi", a Pareenja picture. II FILM INDIA August 1946. GOOD NEWS FOR HOME-MOVIE MAKERS Cine:Kodak Film is back FILM 16 mm. and 8 mm. KODAK LTD. (Incorporated in England) BOMBAY-CALCUTTA-LAHORE-MADflAS MENACE OF 16 MM. FILMS. Go where you like you will still find the same rotten Indian pictures running all over India in more j rotten theatres. No one wants to improve in this i country — neither the top man nor the bottom one. In the 35 mm. size films which we produce and show at present we never reached any standard of quality either to compete with the foreigners or to control our home market. Our stupid masses see our pictures and in do- ing so give our stupid producers an opportunity to arrogate to themselves all the art and intelligence of the world. The net result is that though we began making pictures 10 years after Hollywood we are exactly 1500 years behind Hollywood in quality and technique. Before we could capture any quality in our pre- sent production, the 16 mm. film has appeared on the world horizon with its tremendous possibilities. To the average film-goer the 16 mm. is as good a film as the present 35 mm. On the screen he won't find the difference and he doesn't care as long as he gets value for his money. So the ultimate consumer is already out of calculation. For the film trade, however, the 16 mm. film base has come to stay and to replace the present 35 mm. standard. The 16 mm. film is cheaper all-round. It is non- inflammable, can be projected anywhere without special precautions, is light in weight, costs less in transport and needs cheaper projection equipment. Already there exists a huge world-wide library of educational and instructional subjects for the 16 mm. field. In addition, Hollywood has already be- gun to reduce popular feature films to the 16 mm. size to provide programmes for their new 16 mm. circuits. The M.G.M., 20th Century Fox, R.K.O. Radio, Warners and others are already in the field training people and opening new circuits in different countries for the 16 mm. films. Within a month, will return to India Ram L. Gogtay and Amonkar, two Indians trained in Holly- wood to handle the 16 mm. business, to sell out our country to the foreigners bit by bit. Gogtay knows every bit of our land and its film trade. He will be a very useful man. The foreigners are paying him because the Indians drove him out. Gogtay has to live somehow and you can't expect a film man to be- come a Congre-s volunteer overnight. So the M.G.M. is paying Gogtay and making use of his ripe know- ledge, which he had collected for the Indian film industry, to take the bacon overseas. We are losing our men and our opportunities, and we shall soon be losing our film industry, be- tween, grecdv quislings and blind, unenterprising fools. A DISGUSTING END TO "LEFTY" The enthusiastic players of the People's Theatre stagtd recently in Bombay Clifford Odets' short play "Waiting For Lefty", giving Indian names to the characters. In spite of the excellent basic material 12 August 1946. FILMINDI A in the written play and with some really smart ama- teurs to rely on, Mulfc Raj Anand, the fellow who was in charge of the production of the play, made rather a clumsy job of it. In his anxiety to give accent to the dialogue, Anand seemed to have completely forgotten to give action to the drama. The players gave a general impression of being very anxious to vomit their dia- logue without an error in pronunciation and while doing so many of them completely forgot to portray the spirit of their roles. Odets' pointed words made a lot of topical sense in the present discontented atmosphere of labour awakening, but all the talk carried no conviction, be- cause Anand could not train up his players to live their roles and thus strike parallels with actual life in the country. Besides, by keeping the original Yankee slang on the lips of the Indian players, Anand severely strained the imagination, of people who tried to fit the play to Indian environments. Imagine Zeenat, the wife of an Indian bus driver saying ''God-damn- it". Anand must know that Indian wives however 'civilized', have not yet learnt to express themselves thus, in Yankee slang. Mulk Raj Anand stems to be rather an inexperienced stage producer, the way he has handled this play. From the players, only two persons. Ramesh Thapar and Zohra Segal, gave a good account of themselves. The rest were too amateurish. In any case the effort of the People's Theatre to present a Leela gives quite a graceful touch to "Omar Khay- yam" produced by Mohan Sinha. They come together in "Baap" — Nigam and Urmilla — It is a picture produced by B. R. Tandon. purposeful play must be considered greater than its actual execution. The evening, however, was brought to a rather sour conclusion by the tongue-in-the-cheek sermon of K. Ahmed Abbas, the all-important secretary of I. P. T. A. Abbas seems to think that he is the only man in the country on whom the entire burden of reviving the glorious cultural traditions of the coun- try has fallen. His lackey, Sathe, seems to have assured him in addition, that all the well-to-do people of the town were just so many sly criminals who. unless they were checked in time, would rob the whole country and ruin all our traditions. "Waiting for Lefty" was not, by any chance, a tier show. Tickets were priced from rupees ten downwards. I paid Rs. 30] - and was given a free admission card. Probably, they haven't printed the tickets yet. When you go to a paid show, you don't expect some one from the show to come along and give you a lecture to wake up your social conscience. That is rank bad manners apart from what the man speaks. If the I. P. T. A. needs funds, an appeal could be made through the papers or in the gentle words used by Ramesh Thapar without the lofty moraliz- ing tone arrogated by Ahmed Abbas. People arc wide awake in these times. They know what is going on in the world around them. The newspapers are shouting about millions starving and about millions more needing some help or other. We don't require little Ahmed Abbas to hang his long 13 FILM INDIA August 1946. tongue out and tell us in a cheeky manner about our' duty towards our people and a people's institution like I. P. T. A. Due to the extra vehemence which Abbas-put into his cheeky talk to the audience, he made people more hostile towards the I, P. T. A. than friendly. In making an appeal for funds, quite a legitimate function for a secretary, Abbas need not have run down all and sundry with those old boring slogans which have been hurled at well-to-do people through ages. The procedure was a filthy abuse of all sense of decorum which every showman must observe. Everyone in that crowd was not necessarily a capitalist waiting for Abbas to wake up his con- science. And who was Abbas, himself a tiny gold- digger, to tell us what to do for our progressive in- stitutions and how to do it? Wouldn't it have been enough to say that the I. P. T. A. needed funds to continue its good work and the Association expected the funds to come from the people? We want to know whether the Indian People's Theatre Association is an opportunity for people like Abbas and Sathe to improve their individual for- tunes. Let us state here that the silly words which Abbas vomittcd, at the end of a pretty good show, smelt of personal bile and frustration. And that is not a good stink for a people's institution. CHALLENGE TO COLLEGE BOYS! Don't we always hear a rowdy lot about the members of the Students' Federation or Students' Union, fighting about something or other and making their presence felt both in the social and the political fields? These educated crowds should wake up now be- cause Indian film producers are telling the world that their colleges are just so many brothels where boys chase girls or attempt to kidnap and rape them and what not. If they don't believe what we say let them go and see "Jhumke", which was running at the New West End Talkies in Bombay. The picture is pro- duced by C. R. Civalani for Chitra Productions. The story is written by S. H. Manto, a progressive writer and the picture is directed by Jai Kishen Nanda. a graduate of the Government College, Lahore. The dialogue is written by Imtiaz Ali Taj, a well-known writer of the Punjab. In "Jhumke", they show a college in Lahore, where the heroine, Krishna Kumari, is sent by her father for higher education. Actually no education is shown as being given any where in that entire college. All we see is a "Mushaira" where students, both boys and girls, compose love lyrics and fling them at each other with vulgar gestures of the hands and the hips. Rest of the time, the students chase girls from place to place, plot to kidnap them or compose sexy verses on them. In this "Jhumke" "My friends say S look as young as I did 15 years ago' Can you wonder that I feel rather proud of myself since it is all because I have never been content with just ordinary make-up. My foundation cream takes care of my looks as well as helping to add to them. I use Tokalon Vanishing Skin Food because it is so much more than the ideal, non-greasy powder base. It keeps my complexion smooth and white because it feeds the skin tissues. Using it daily as I do, I have found my skin stays supple and wrinkles haven't even begun to form. You can also look years younger than your age by using Tokalon Vanishing Skin Food. H August 1946. FILM INDIA college, there is no education and no professors. It is a college where boys and girls seem to meet re- gularly to tickle and provoke each other's sex. Is that what they do in Lahore colleges? And is this the general pattern of behaviour in our col- leges any where in India? I have not yet seen any- thing like this anywhere and I have addressed boys and girls in several colleges all over India. Then how do the film producers get something that does not exist? This is easy to answer. Those producers who distort life in such a disgusting man- ner have filthy minds that would not stop at any- thing, howsoever dirty and mean, to make a little money for themselves. They don't care two hoots whom they slander in doing so. They have no re- gard for good men, good women, good institutions good culture, good traditions, good manners or any- thing good. They want money at any price and the price is always paid by others. Film production in India is usually a business without any morality. One day producers will run down the colleges, the next day they will run down the insurance companies and the third day they will run down their own profession — the ruling condition is that they must make money somehow and any- how. Every year many stories about our college life come to the screen. All of them show anything but the fine college life as it is found in India today. Our students have been taking things in good humour so far but they cannot afford to do so any longer. In Free India' their status will be different and their responsibilities will be greater. We cannot afford to have our college students and our educational institutions slandered by irres- ponsible and uneducated film producers. Our public leaders are straining every nerve to spread education throughout the country while these film producers are sabotaging their national effort by shuukring our students ami their institutions. "Jhumke" is a standing challenge to the man- hood of our college students. We have impotent cen- sors who will never do any tiling to build a better na- tion. But the students themselves can do a lot. They can picket the picture wherever it is shown. They can force the producers to cut out the dirty scenes that slander our educational institutions. And if they succeed in stopping this picture, they will have paid a graceful compliment to the girls who go to collide with them to sip from the same fountain of knowledge to build together a better future world. PROOF OF GOODWILL REQUIRED The Secretary of the Indian Merchants' Cham- ber/-Bombay, has forwarded us a copy of the letter received by the Chamber from the Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association. The letter, dated 13th July, is as follows: ilI refer to this office letter No. P/135c/1210, dated 2.5th ult., and am to inform you that the mat- ter has since received the serious consideration of the Executive Committee. "I am directed to assure you that members of this Association have absolutely no intention of villifying any indigenous industry of our country, least of all, a rising national industry like Insurance. In fact, it is the declared policy of this Association to accord every possible support to our indigenous industries in the larger interests of our country. ''The Indian film industry is itself a rising na- tional industry which looks forward for support from all sides for its development in the future and it is as much anxious to see that every assistance is render- ed to sister industries. "Members are being advised to pay their special attention to this matter and to avoid scenes in their pictures which would directly or indirectly harm the interests of Insurance or any other indigenous industry." This is a welcome assurance which the produ- cers' Association has given to the other indigenous industries of our country. What we want to know, however, is what steps have been taken by the Pro- ducers' Association to remove the offensive portions from the films "Tadbir"' and "Dhamki". Are these films to be allowed to be shown to millions all over India with their slander against our insurance people? If the producers really mean what they write they ought to make amende honor- able by cutting off the offensive portions from the above films, otherwise their present assurance is likely to be construed as a mere eyewash. YOU LL HARDLY BELIEVE That journalists Ahmed Abbas and V. P. Sathe have discovered a new treatment for measles. Sathe holds the head and Abbas massages the legs and the Manchi and Radha in "Pick Pocket" a social story of Brij Prakash Productions. 15 PILMINDI A August 1946. PRODUCER S. THARANI - OF AZAD PICTURES who gave a NOVEL THEME Like "NAMAK" Now Presents Another Musical Social Story with many NEW FACES RASIK PRO DUCT IONS Present Directed By :■ MAHESHCHANDRA CHOONAWALA Story By:- HUNAR & SAFAR. Dialogue:- SH IRISH CHANDRA. Music .- SH YAMBABU PATHAK. Songs:- I NDI WAR. Next Attraction BE Z AB AN" Particulars :- RASIK PRODUCTIONS. Dinaz Mansion, New Charni Road, BOMBAY, 4. 16 patient gets relief. If you don't believe, ask Nayan Tara (Lali Bhagat). She took a course at the Taj. That the Taj people seem to have engaged the services of Abbas and Sathe for giving this new measles-treatment to the visiting guests at the Taj. That is why, perhaps, we see Abbas and Sathe wait- ing in the Taj lounge like tourists' guides. In any case journalists must have a side profession on hand. That Abbas and Sathe also threaten to go to America with the tins of "Dharti-ke-Lal." No won- der the People's Theatre is in the market for a dona- tion of Rs. 25;000|-. That the People's Theatre would be in a better financial condition if only Abbas and Sathe would cut down their taxi expenses a bit and not go so often to Poona inquiring whether Snehaprabha Pradhan has got measles. That for a year to come, Chhotu Desai, Janak of Janak will preside over the producers' paradise at Sandhurst Road. And now Janak of Janak will call the "distinguished members of the American film industry" for another tea-plus-kneel- ing function for saving the indigenous film industry. Leon, Jack and Charlie, be warned and carry anti- dotes in case they give some poisoned tea. That the senior producers showed some rare sense of humour when they elected Janak of Janak as their president and filled up the other post with "gentle" Jamsu in appreciation of the nonsense the Member of the British Empire spoke on the A.I.R. That Vijoo Bhatt, the film Valmiki of "Ram Rajya", is a bit sore these days with his film bro- therhood. How could they forget that Vijoo had also delivered some nonsense on the A. I. R. and greater at that? Vijoo really deserved to be the president if "gentle" Jamsu could be the vice-president. That with Janak of Janak as president and "gentle" Jamsu as his vice, it will need some rare persuasion to make Sardar Chandulal Shah attend the meetings of the Executive Committee. Let us watch the score of attendances now. Rai Bahadur Chuni Lall will, of course, be ill throughout the year. The weather is bad these days. That Shantaram will be taking "Dr. Kotnis" to America himself in case the Yankees want to see the kangaroo that hopped through 11000 feet of un- intelligent nonsense. That Shantaram will also take the Indo-Chinese girl, Jayashree, who joined together 800,000,000 peo- ple with a single shot. They say the dear old girl will carry 200 saries to hide herself from the demo- cratic Yankees. That during Shantaram's absence, Dada Kashi- nath — the Shaukat of Rajkamal — will run the pro- duction show and produce "Andhonki Duniya" (The world of the Blind). This is a picture for the blind and people with eyes should not see it or they might see Shaukat's exploits in the Novelty Talkies. That Shantaram has no money to pay for the bad reviews, according to the one-eyed journalist of August 1946. BETTER ENTERTAINMENT U/hete TALKING PICTURES ate dkown with. "MAGIC VOICE OF THE SCREEN" PHOTOPHONE EQUIPMENTS LTD., BOMBAY CALCUTTA LAHORE MADRAS. Distributors for Nortli & East India j and Burma: EMPIRE TALKIE DISTRIBUTORS KARACHI LAHORE DELHI CALCUTTA & RANGOON. FTLMINDIA India. He needed all the money he had for the good ones which appeared. That Shantaram and Baburao Patel are likely to meet in America for the first time after the classic review of "Dr. Kotnis". That will be too bad for the picture and too good for the Yankees. That Master Winayak of Khandekar and Pandit Indra of Ranjit are also planning to fly to America with "Subhadra'' but Shanta Apte, the courtesy girl, wants extra royalty for her celluloid journey to America. Why didn't they provide for that flight in the contract? That Pandit Indra has already sent several farewell letters to Marwar in case the aeroplane be- comes too heavy with Winayak Kolhapuri's brain- weight in "•Subhadra" and has also borrowed several trousers, with Hollywood secrets inside, from Kedar Sharma as it is essential to look fashionable in Yankeeland. That Pandit Indra doesn't know whether to fly with "Subhadra" and become a distributor or stay behind and become a producer in Chandulal's yard. That way Pandit ji does not even know that he is merely a word-spinner who gets angry if some one claims his own stolen words. Seems to be a case of stolen goods having a copyright. That after all the parties given to Sardar Chan- dulal, by the distributors, by the exhibitors, by the journalists and by himself, one wonders why his brother producers (IMPPA) have not yet invited him for a small cup of tea and some sweet words which no one ever means. Are the IMPPA blokes waiting for Janak of Janak to score a century? That according to Walli-a-la-Mumtaz, the Ranjit studio is a hospital for people suffering with the pro- duction itch — the two Behramshas and the Poonetar Twins cure the itch before it spreads. Nice obliging people, these Ranjit folks. Of course. Sardar Chan- dulal is as innocent as a new-born babe, as usual. That film-actor Chandramohan is worried about the reported disappearance of Hari Singh of Kashmir and is said to be cursing Jawaharlal Xehru for his impetuous holiday in Kashmir. If only Jawahar had told Chandramohan he could have knelt before "Maharaj" and arranged a grand reception in Kashmir, with a singing girl to boot. But this Jawa- har, son of Motilal — people have spoilt him. He doesn't know how to respect Rajas and Maharajas. That way the good-hearted Chandramohan is also worried about "Moti" (Motilal — once well- known film actor). He found White Horse Whisky in Moti's heart and wondered how it could get there, seeing that Moti's "Traitor" is brown in colour and whisky goes out the other way within an hour. Dr. Ciilder. our public health minister, is solving the riddle for Chandramohan. That way the generous Chandramohan had also to accommodate his "Chandulal Seth who, poor fellow, is in a hell of a mess", in spite of "Sweet Bee" being a good thing for Secunderabad. Poor Chan- dramohan. a good man is always worried by ever so many things. How do you expect him to pay in time the annual subscription for "filmindia"? 17 VCCNB flSHOK KUMAR JflGIRDflR ^r1- - KAMAL AMROHI 97?us£c : RAFIQ GHAZNAVI ( In this section, the editor himself replies to queries from the readers. As thousands of letters are received every month — some anxious and several frivolous it is neither possible nor convenient to attend to all. Selected letters are usually treated in an informative and humorous strain and no offence is meant to anyone. ) VIRENDAR EOOD (Hoshiarpur) When, why, how and whom to marry ? If I tell you all that, you will need me again after the marriage. DMESHWAR1 PRASAD (Patna) Which province has contributed the largest number of film stars? The dark streets of the Punjab. What is the sign of virginity? In present times, childhood. HARI ENDBA PAREEK (Meerut) I> film-making in India an industry or an art? // is neither. It is an insult to both. SHAM A NAM) MOIDGILL (Agra) Were you born with a silver spoon in your mouth or a wood i n one? 1 don't know what the spoon was wad, of, but I hail evidently the wrong etui of it in my mouth as I . till find )> graze and they often return home too tired. When at last they irant one they are too dissi- pated for the effort. Why do Muslim girls adopt Hindu names in film life? + To be in fashion with the majority and to satisfy the commercial instincts of the producers. What benefit do you think Mr. Baburao, will the" film industry get from the National Government? Xone. Our white-capped Congressmen arc as much stupid and lazy as our white-skinned rulers have been crooked and crafty. It needs imagination to be useful to the nation. FILM INDIA .Tyoti starts worrying: in "Dharkan", a social story produced and directed by Zahur Raja. RAJ N AND AN PRASAD (Jamshedpur) What is the twentieth century meaning of love? .4 fashionable argument for an old-fashion- ed purpose. Who is a "genius"? Shantaram or Kishore Sahu? Both. They are like the Siamese Twins. Is love sweet or sour? Depends on where and how you dig your teeth in. GOPALKRISHNA BARDALOI (Dibrugarh) Why has Director Mehboob taken the Com- munist symbol as his trade mark? Because he doesn't know what it stands for. That way Kardar also has a trade symbol which doesn't mean anything to his pictures. H H. PATEL (Karachi) Almost all our film directors always show the full moon in their pictures. Why is it so? Because we don't get electric lights shaped like a crescent. MOTI A SHAHANI (Karachi) Why is it that "filmindia" is priced at two rupees while "Photoplay" of America is sold at fourteen annas? "filmindia" needs brains, "Photoplay" needs only advertisements. It seems that you don't like your magazine to be criticised? 21 2Wn. MAHIBHAI WAS 2"<' Month al- ROyflb OPERR HOUSE August 1946. Who says that? Go ahead and spit. Let me at least see what you spit. MOHD. QAISARUDDIN SIDDIQI (New Delhi) What do you think of the latest 'Plan' of the British Government0 It is not a "Plan" on which you can build. It is a "Design' for future plotting. K. V. G. KRISHNA RAO (Ellore) "Chastity is nothing but lack of opportunity". How far do you agree with this statement? I don't. That is a cijnical view of a good virtue. Do you mean to say that all our good icomcn arc virtuous because they can't be other- wise? How do you then explain the age of our traditions which are thousands of years old? CHANCHLA RANI BHAGWANDAS (Lahore) What is the worst moment in a woman's life? In a good woman's life, the frown of her husband. In a bad woman's life, the frown on her own face. P. RAMAKRISHNA RAO (Vizagpatam) Can you suggest anything we people can do to- wards thu production of better pictures by our directors and producers? Stop seeing rotten pictures. See only those which I recommend. Do this for a year and watch the result. Did you ever realise that it is easier to criticize pictures than produce them? Both are different jobs and difficult ones. Neither is easier than the other to do well. IQBAL M. SIDDIQUI (Jaunpore) What time docs a 'girl' take to become a 'woman'? It is usually an overnight transformation. NAREN'I);? A KUMAR (Bombay) It appeals from the replies you give to your readers that you think too much of yourself and your magazine? / do. Do you mind? How else can you live and ~!:ick in this world? Show me another way. M. A. EADRUDDIN (Mangalore) Is there any objection in giving the true age of our film stars? The secret will hurt your eyes. The pro- ducers arc anxious to keep at least the eyesight of millions in good condition even if they poison their minds. M. R. PRABIITJ (Mangalore) Does Begum Para actually sing in "Chand" and "Chliamia"? No. Some one else has obliged her. MISS BABY NOWGAONKAR (Bombay) Most of the actresses take their maid servants with them while going to the studios but why? 22 August 1946 In the studios, their chastity is not in phy- sical danger. The maid servant is probably taken for odd jobs. A. N. NARAYANA RAO (Bangalore) It is said in the Bible that God created man after his own image? God didn't write the Bible. Men xorote it and claimed descent from Divinity. R SHRIRAM (Jaipur) Why in most historical pictures, imagination plays a predominant part while reality, which is most essential, lags far behind? They are not historical, they are hysterical. P RAJABAHADUR (Madras) Do the lover and the loved one meet each other after their death? They may but they don't add to the world below. SYED IBRAHIM (Lucknow) It is a pity that a journalist of your repute and eminence should keep away from the 'A. I. N. E. C and allow such non-combatants like S. A. Brelvi and T. K. Ghose to exchange the presidentship between them? We have non-violent politics with vege- tarians as heroes. Besides, the size of their papers is bigger than that of their heads. MISS YESHODA K. NEDUNGADI (Palghat) What are heaven and hell in the realm of love? Merely different hues of emotions. V. C. GOPALKRISHNA (Bangalore) Solitude is bliss to lovers and thieves. Why? They can ste EVERYTHING FOR THE CINEMA < ni GAUMONT- KA August 1946 FILMINDIA In "Notorious", R. K. O. Radio money-maker, these two, not notorious, Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant see lots of each other and don't tell us what they have seen. How is your "Gvalan" progressing? Very well, thanks. K. RAMACHANDRA RAJAH (Ramachantfvapur) What is your opinion about the recent behaviour of the Congress High Command towards Mr. Pra- kasam's Ministry? A frustrative operation to put monkey glands into Rajaji. M P MAHENDRA (Kamptee) Is Geeta Bose appearing in 'Etbar", the daugh'cr of Sjt. Sarat Chandra Bose? Geeta Bose is the daughter of Pramotha Bose, an old and well-known artiste of silent pictures. And who is this raw director of "Bhaunwar"— Madhukumar Patel — your son? My son can't be so unfortunate as to join the Indian film industry. Mr. Patel, you strongly condemn Chandramohan and Motilal for losing money at the horse races, whereas you have printed a picture in which you are yourself holding a horse at the race course. How do you justify this? Holding a horse coming home a ivinner is not losing money. Money is lost when horses are not brought home that way. SATYA SETHI (Rawalpindi) What would happen if the released W.A.C.(I)s join the film world? We shall have army officers seeing rotten Indian stuff. PRADEEP L. TANNA (Kandivli) I saw "Dr. Kotnis" before reading your review and found that I had wasted my money. Mr. Patel. must not the great Shantaram's picture be seen be- fore reading its review in "filmindia''? Then why complain about having wasted money? PRITAM SINGH BEDI (Sialkot) The great men of the world are always simple. Why? Because they don't need to decorate them- selves. Their greatness is a complete decoration by itself. BAL DRAVID (Indore) What will happen if some actress suddenly hap- pens to become a somnambulist? She might return to her own bedroom. GOVIND NARAIN GARG (Cawnpore) A great disservice has been done to our film in- dustry by the Ranjit Movietone by completing its century. In my view, it has degraded our standard of art bv producing cheap pictures. What do you think? Whatever the quality, the production of that much quantity icas a feat by itself and needed gut*. JALALUDDIN KHAN (Khargpur) What will the title 'M.B.E.' of gentle Jamsu denote in Free India? Member of the Blasted Empire. K. B. BASAVA RAJ AN (Bangalore) Mr. Baburao. are you in the habit of attending cocktail parties? / am a teetotaller and that is why I don't mix well with the film crowd. MISS VIOLIA VAJRAM (Warangal) Why are Indian girls kept indoors after their maturity? Because in India, maidens become mothers even with the Sun's rays. To wit: Kama, the warrior of Mahabharat. ABUBUCKER AHMED (Bangalore) Which studio in your candid opinion can justly appropriate the pride of having made an abiding and glorious contribution at the altar of Indian film art? None. Occasional spasms don't constitute an abiding contribution. KAILASH NATH KAPUR (New Delhi) Is it a sin to commit suicide? Yes, if life is still worth living. 27 Announcing The Film Industry's Long Needed OPTICAL PRINTING Dissolves, Wipes, Enlarging, Reducing, Zoom Shots, Double & Multiple Exposing, & Masking, Speeding, Slowing, Reversing, Trans- parencies for Back projection. MATT Settings SHOTS Huge with Low cost. • TRAILORS Titles Ani • DUNNING. • SEQUENCES Fires Storms, Explosions, Earth- quakes, Floods, Action Against Any Real or Miniature Backgrounds. Under the Expert Supervision of the well-known "SPECIAL EFFECTS" Technician PRAHLAD DUTT OF 'S ANT DYANESHWAR', 'PADOS.I' & 'SHIRIN FARHAD' fame. THE FILM INDUSTRY IS INVITED TO TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF THIS MOST EFFICIENT AND UNIQUE SERVICE AND ADD RARE REALISM AND FINISH TO THE PICTURES. 1/ It's Special Effects A DISSOLVE OR A WIPE— A SHOT OR A SEQUENCE We Can Do It. THE BomBny Fllim lrborbtories, utd. 149, PORTUGUESE CHURCH STREET, DADAR, BOMBAY 28 August 1946 FlLMINDin KAMESHWAR PRASAD (Patna) Can a second-hand wife be as good as a second- hand book? Sometimes, widows bear more children. Justify the title of the picture '-Rattan'*? Silver jubilees in several towns. C. M SUVARNA (Bombay) When does a boy become a man? When he buys a safety razor. I belong to a Hindu family. If I many a Chris- tian girl, what will happen? Nothing phenomenal; only half-a-dozen papas puppies. T. S. VENKITESWARAN (Fombay) Which do you like better: stars on the screen or stars in the sky? The sky ones are too far. I am having blissful dreams at night. Can you tell me why? Empty stomach provides bliss. Can you produce a picture of adventures and influence jawahar to act as the hero? // mmt be the story of Mother India and the adventures of her sons to win the freedom of her soil. H. VENKATA RAO (Bangalore) A rule is enforced here to screen the King at the end of each show so that people may pay homage to their ruler by standing still for a moment. But many people sit while others keep rushing out. What is your suggestion to remedy this indiscipline? Have your own king. H G BHALYA (Calcutta) Is there any picture without an actress? That will be only half the picture. ISHVVAR MAHUBHANI (Bombay) How can you distinguish between a fresh woman and a faded one? Xot necessarily by the Braille method. Have you ever kissed the fist of a young girl? Why? What is wrong with her lips? What is the host gift of the film industry to the country? Canned stupidity. ATIB USMANI (Bombay) 1 notice that in spite of the general political iwakening in India, the nationalist songs in our pictures sound hollow and ridiculous. What is the Bason? Staves are dead horses and you can't whip jlead horses. SAMUEL HANNOCK (Bombay) Which film actress is most in demand these days? Yeena. She is doing more pictures than anyone else. IVatck Tot "Thele £upet ■Qtttaction* Ofc 1946 Directed By: SHOW DAULTALVI Starring : GEETA NIZAMI, RANDHIR, RANJIT KUMARI. (ii) SHIKAYAT Directed By : SHAUI D LATIF (iii) Starring : SNEHPRABHA, SHYAM, RAMA SHUKAL, RANDHIR, HAMID BUTT & NIGAR SULTANA. Directed By: CHANDRA SHEKHA& BOSE Starring : GEETA NIZAMI, BIMAN BANNERJI & RANDHIR. for PARTICULARS CONTACT : — PEERLESS PICTURES, 116, ( H A ft N I GOAD, BOMBAY i. 29 August 1946. FILM INDIA KAILASH NATH BHARGAVA (Allahabad) Can you tell me whether film actress Xurjehan uses a chest-expander? She has no need to. N. S. NAIR (Baluchistan) Can a bachelor's life be happv after the age of forty? It has a better chance after forty. D. WILLIAM MOSES (Tanjore) Whenever I talk with a girl, the girl's mother often interferes and spoils the taste. What am I to do? Talk through the mother. People irho ignore the mother often lose the daughter. Please explain, "she is a woman of questionable character"? Which means men are doubtful of tlicir own. A B RAGHAVAN (Bombay) What happened to Rama Shukul? The police don't report any accident. What is the difference between 'beauty' and 'complexion'? 'Beauty' is what you bring, 'complexion' is what Max Factor gives. B. INDIRA DEVI (Neyyatinkara) How am I to pacify my parents when they no- tice a copy of "filmindia" among my books and get exasperated? Lend it to them to read. H. R. PARTHA RAJA IYENGAR (Jullundur) Pandit Indra is not dead I believe? Oh! Did his photo intrude on you so badly? MISS BLMALA KUMARI (Bairagania) I have heard that a man becomes perfect after he has been kicked out from a prostitute's quarters, a gambler's den, and a liquor shop. What is your idea? That is the man you should marry. You have some rare notions about perfection. NARENURA KUMAR (Dhad) If you had been the President of the Film Cen- sor Board, how would you have exercised your authority? 99 out of hundred pictures I would have refused to see. And the remaining one, I would have banned half-way through. G. SYED ISMAIL (Bangalore) An astrologer told me that the editors of film magazines accompany the actors and actresses into hell after their death. If it is a fact, may I feel sorry for your fate? You should be glad. That means continued business over there. If I go with my parapher- nalia I shall have something to write there. KUMARI KAILASH MATHUR (New Delb^ How to choose a good husband? Tap the heart end hubby will fall out like a chocolate from the slot. P>iem Pictures (Announces.'- 5RT K AS AM (OATH) Creates n Mew history in Pictures or* Muslim .T;nitilij Social. Staging-.- * NAJMA, * RAJ ADIB, * KANTA DEVI, * JAMU PATEL, * SABIR & * & PREM ADIB & - - SAJJAD HUSEIN <£ong*:. FANI ^hixscud / v M. D. B A I G Y Attracti DEHATI Story by:- PREM ADIB. For Particulars Apply:- PYRAMID PICTURES, PETIT HOUSE, : : 2 KENNEDY BRIDGE : : BOMBAY 7. 31 FILMINDIA How to keep the husband at home? By making the home a haven of peace and silence. The last one is very important and most difficult seeing that women carry rapiers in their mouth. T. K. PATTABHIRAM (Secunderabad) Sweet kisses sent through love letters remain sweet for ever. They are the safest anyway for both the sides. Why do people grow virtuous in their old age? You mean harmless? Is it the mental contact or the physical contact of the lovers that makes their love glow brightly? One without the other is like a wick without its flame. Love must be lit up to give warmth. MISS V. KAMALA (Salem) Your attitude towards Tamil films is one of con- tempt. Why not suggest to improve it? I shall be accused of provoking man- slaughter. Why do you waste your talent when political India needs men of your calibre? There is too much of hypocrisy in our poli- tics to suit my temper and temperament . Your replies are so fitting that it makes one won- der if the language used is your own. Speak the truth, please! It is the English language, the only article the British permit you to use without taxation. SHAMSHUDDIN H. KESURI (Bombay) Please let me know what is Devika Rani doing after going away from Bombay Talkies? This is not a magazine for a woman's doings. MISS GOPIKA GOPINATH (Bombay) If "life is not an empty dream'' to you, then what is it? A beautiful reality. MISS INDU SETHI (Murree) It would have been very graceful if our cinema owners had stopped at least one show as a mark of respect to the memory of Mr. Bhulabhai Desai? They showed the neivsreel of his funeral and made more money. Like vultures they eat both — the dead and the living. P. D. MISRA (Lucknow) Men are for women and women for men. How far do you agree? What a, wonderful you be so intelligent? Whom do you like more / like Veena more, acts better. If one wishes to see you in connection joining the film line, do you object? 32 discovery ! How could Nccna or Veena? Shr looks better and with August 1946. Of course, I do, unless you pay me for every minute that you require. I am not a charitable institution. Why do you not go to Hollywood to gain some more experience in your life? Hollywood is not a school for teaching Indian visitors. I see these days the lightning of knowledge flashing out of the thick skidls of those five boobies who had been to Hollywood recently. Last time I visited Hollywood I made friends and enjoyed. I shall do the same again towards the end of the year. J. MOHAMMAD (Hubli) Which is the worst habit in you? Mocking at people, without meaning to do so. Why do some people stare at women like hungry wolves as if they have not seen women ever in their life? Don't you think it is against decency and what would you suggest for stopping this nasty habit in them? Finely ground chilly powder. Do you believe in ghosts? / am afraid of the livirig who are more mean and dangerous than the dead. ffltrougAout the day Keep COOL and FMESff <7Ae Cuss 012$ way ~ a Cusson§ PRODUCT August 1946 Why is every great world war followed by disease and famine everywhere? Do you expect a garden of flowers to thrive on the stink of the dead? INAM ALI KHAN (Bombay) Why do the Urdu film rags abuse our actors and actresses so furiously? Because no one reads them. Besides Urdu is a beautiful language to use for abuse. When will our film people begin to show trailors instead of the usual news parade? There is not much to choose between the two. One advertises rotten ■pictures, the other advertises greedy intentions. REHANA MOHSIN (New Delhi) I like your answers. Do you like my questions? / like your name. IKRAM RASUL KHAN (New Delhi) If the first hen in the world was hatched from an egg, who laid that egg? You laid it, sleeping with your imagination. P. R. NAIDU (Hyderabad Dn.) Why did the Allies use the Atom Bomb over Japan, and why did they not vise the same over Germany though both belonged to the Axis? Either the bomb teas not ready or it was easier killing the yellow folks than the white cousins. Husna, a newcomer, will soon appear in '"Bhookh" a social story directed by Dr. Safdar 'Ah'. FILMINDJA RS. 500|- IN 25 PRIZES EVERY MONTH The following prizes are awarded every month for questions which are considered in- teresting or elicit interesting replies in the •'Editor's Mail". 1st Prize: Rs. 100|- ; 2nd Prize: Rs. 80|-; 3rd Prize: Rs. 50j-; 4th Prize: Rs. 40|-; 5th Prize: Rs. 30|- and 20 Consolation Prizes of Rs. 10|- each. Questions must be submitted with the En- try Token without which no question will be considered. Each Entry Token entitles the reader to ask a maximum of 10 questions and can be used by only one person. The Editor s decision shall be final and absolutely binding and no correspondence will be entertained. The names of the prize-winners will be announced in "filmindia" every month and the prize money will be remitted by Money Order. The Entry Token is separately attached on the first page of the editorial article. As each copy is very carefully checked, readers are re- quested not to pay for the copy if it has no Entry Token. The reader is requested to demand an explanation from the stall-keeper who may have removed the Token and sold it separately As Tokens are introduced merely to regulate the sales of the magazine, the month on the ! Token has no particular significance and a token can be used even six months after the month printed on it. PRIZE WINNERS FOR AUGUST 1st Prize Rs. 100|- to Miss V. Kamala j (Salem); 2nd Prize Rs. 80[- to Miaz Ahmed (Cawnpore); 3rd Prize Rs. 50|- to Raj Nandan j Prasad ( Jamshedpur) ; 4th Prize Rs. 40[- to Ishwar Mahubani (Bombay); 5th Prize Rs. 301- to Umeshwari Prasad (Patna); and 20 consola- tion prizes of Rs. 10!- eacn to the following: j C. Rengarajan (Madras); Kr. Rajendra Singh 'Agra>; Miss Vasant V. Merchant (Bombay); J Hatim Tayabally (Secunderabad) ; Iqbal M. ! iddiqui (Jaunpore); A. N. Narayana Rao (Ban- ! galore); R. Shri Ram (Jaipur); V. R. Menon I (Bombay); Chandrasekar (Adoni); Bal Dravid I (Indore); Jalaluddin Khan (Khargpur); C. M. Suvarna (Bombay); T. S. Venkiteswaran (Bom- j bay); H. Venkata Rao (Bangalore); Kailash j Nath Bhargava (Allahabad); Narendra Kumar j (Ehad); G. Syed Ismail (Bangalore); Kumari j Kailash Mathur (New Delhi); T. K. Pattabhi- j j ram (Secunderabad) and J. Mohammad (Hubli). | | Mcney Orders are being sent to all the prize I | winners. 33 . ***** oROOOlN ***** O. From 29" AUG. at MAJESTIC BOMBAY HUSNA— She is a new-comer who will go a long way once people see her. She makes her debut in "Khookh", produced and directed by Dr. Safdar " Ah" for Rangamahal Ltd. ■m I Ml warn WmmM SHAMIM— This Rood-looker of the Indian screen is pretty popular these days. Here she is in "Samrat Ashok" directed by K. H. f all for the Bombay Cinetone. DUG AL PICTURES Presents MA HA PAR A DO NAINA" A Musical Social Drama with: * ANITA SHARMA * MIRZA MUSHARRAF * SURAIYA ZULFI + SADIQ * LALIT KUMAR & MAHENDRA Storq, Scenario & Direction S. BHATIA Produced Lij G-OJIIIMBHOY Music : IMd. Shafi Dialogues : Shevan Rizvi ( Shama fame ) Sonojs : Tanvir Naqvi Chief Agents : North:- SURJIT FILM DIST., Rawalpindi. C. P.C.I.:- JAMNADAS LTD., Bhusawal. South:- DOMINION FILMS LTD., Bangalore. Bengal:- CENTRAL FILM CIRCUIT, Calcutta. For Particulars ' DUGAL PICTURES TRIBHUVAN ROAD, BOMBAY 4. OUR REVIEW "Nek Peruin" Love -and - Revolver muslim Romance! Entertains, Bores And Offends. constantly in prosecution of their emotional desires. Shaukat, the villain, kills quite a few people in trying to win Pervin and also em- ploys goondas and gambles in be- tween to prove beyond doubt what a perfect rotter he is As our pictures are supposed to advertise our ways of life, we won- der whether we should accept "Nek Pervin" as an evidence of the commonly prevalent pattern of Muslim Life in India How many Muslims in this country prosecute their romance with a smoking re- volver in their hand? In the belief that Muslim stor- ies pay better nowadays, produ- cers are giving us a number of such subjects these days. In their emotional and social fundamen- tals and also in their orthodox and reactionary approach to life, the subjects, whether Muslim or Hindu, seem to be identically the same. The only change appears to be in the costumes and names of the characters who bring in "Allah*' as witness instead of "Bhagwan." The story of "Nek Pervin" could as well have been written by our Daves and Dwivedis rather than by our Hashare and Qureshis The only difference between the two seems to be that while our Daves and Dwivedis, being non- violent Gujratis, are scared of re- volvers, our Hashars and Qureshis, being meat-eaters, use the revol- vers to shoot the theme further every minute. There is so much of shooting and revolver performance in "Nek Pervin" that one is led to muse whether our Muslims use violence We are afraid, the Muslim pro- ducers are misusing their oppor- tunity by showing the Muslims of our country in rather a bad light. There is little to choose between the Muslim or the Hindu way of life and it is difficult to imagine that (air Muslims become so vio- lent in their approach to conven- tional matrimony. The screen portrayal of Shau- kat's character, therefore, consti- tutes a bad advertisement of our When did Ashok K,mar grow a beard to ueed a barber? But there he is in "Eight Days", a social story of Filmistan Ltd NEK PERVIN Producers: D. R. D. Produc- tions. Language: Hindustani Story, Song & / Wahid Dialogue £ Qureshi. Photography: A. Ajmeri. Sound: Kaushik. Music: Feroze Nizami. Cast: Ragini, Ullhas, Yakub, Yeshodhara Katju, W. H. Khan, Kumar etc. Released At: Novelty. Bombay Date Of Release: 14th June 194S Directed By: S. M. YUSUF Muslims who. like others in the country, are struggling to be free from ignorance and bondage. USUAL MARRIAGE TANGLE The story of "Nek Pervin" is the usual marriage tangle in which two men simultaneously sigh for the single woman who has all the virtues in the world. Afzal, a good but gay man, is the favourite of the elders as Per- vin's future husband. But Afzal gambles and drinks and is led as- tray by Shaukat. the villain, and his gang of gamblers and despera- does. After the usual misunderstand- ings Pervin is married to Afzal and they are happy for a while. Shau- kat is however out to ruin Afzal to get Pervin ultimately. Afzal is led to gamble and drink till he loses everything to Shaukat. Then a murder is foisted on Afzal and Afzal becomes a refugee from law. Pervin. now poor and helpless, has a child to support and some- how manage- to exist with the help of Thasin, the trusted family servant. Afzal is taken for dead. But he actually hits it off well in the city and becomes a rich man. Incog- nito he returns to his native town .and finds his wife and child being persecuted by Shaukat. He now becomes the modern Monte Crist o and very soon gets his wife back, happy and smiling and the villain, of course, is given his dues. 41 RAJA MOVIETONE YDU WILL F//7D PLEHTY OF GLAMDl/ft At) RDMAnCE/MRLLIt ADD HEART-THfWBS I jyoti I MI SPA \ MURAD CHANDRtKA zahuFraja »0 FOR W0fiU> filGHTS-YUSUmJ DAWOO&BHOY IB DO CTOR ST BOMBAY J. August 1946. FILM INDIA They drive Sushila Rani and her father (Bikram Kapoor) out of the village in "Gvalan" a social story writ- ten, produced and directed by Mr. Baburao Patel. VERY POOR DIRECTION In the story, there are many morbid situations in which Shau- kat tries to outrage Pervin and manhandles her in the most bru- tal manner. He even tries to kill Pervin's child to force her to his wishes. Even a crook like Nabboo (Yakub) is moved to interfere and loses his life in consequence. The scenes between Pervin and Bhaukat are not such as to glorify Indian culture and are therefore highly objectionable. Technically "Nek Pervin" is a very crude production. Though the sound recording is reasonably gqpd, the photography of the pic- ture is rotten throughout. The dialogue of the picture is quite forceful, but Qureshi's story deve- lopment lacks consistency and imagination. The song composi- tions are common. The music is very poor and contains the usual weddi/lg song without which no Muslim, it seems, can get mar- ried. The wedding scenes are un- necessarily long and boring and break the speed of the story. The direction of S. M. Yusuf is very poor. He couldn't do a single scene properly. The gambling scenes are absolutely unconvincing and the director fails even to establish the different locations of his situations. KUMAR CATCHES THE EYE From the players, Kumar, in the tiny role of a merchant, gives the best performance. He speaks the dialogue as it should be spoken. It is a pleasure to hear Kumar's diction on the screen. Yakub plays his usual goonda role in his usual slick manner. Ullhas plays Afzal. the hero, pretty well and because he is some sort of a Nawab we console ourselves with his outsized proportion. W. M. Khan belongs to the old school of actors who made faces with every word they said. In the role of Shaukat, Khan does his bit but bites his dialogue in the traditional Pathan manner of speaking. Shakir gives a good account of himself in the sympathetic role of the family servant, Thasin. Ragini plays the heroine, Pervin, and beyond looking the part, she hardly acts. In fact, she doesn't seem to have begun to act yet though she has been working on the screen for some years. Yeshodhara Katju, our midget, plays a comic role as the shrewish wife of a briefless lawyer. She does it very well and, next to Kumar, excels others in the dic- tion of her dialogue. This girl is fast becoming more than merely useful in such type of roles and would do well to seek only such parts which suit her typical talent. In short, the picture, though crude, is partly entertaining and is likely to appeal to the masses. 43 t f t II + \TOON 1AHZADI mm DILSHAD CULNAI^ MlNTOBfil PR/WASH CHOWDHAI(l DUNiiQR f 1 1 m rnDDnDDTiriN Rnm TUFDIL FDRDOqi safiii^nusBniN written ^^^>/^£(frf^ ay 4Uc i AST / Pt- B^'^rl' Maseeh. proti^a Dev. ■ft CP M1 Music: — Pt. Amar Nath Songs •■ — MADHOK Story — Chetan Anand Dialogues: — Kamil Rashid For Particulars:— J. M. R. PICTURES, 293J5, Bellasis Road, BOMBAY 8. OUR REVIEW " Room no. 9 " Unsoitable Pictore For Respectable Families! Entertainment Poisoned By Social Vice ! This picture comes from Poona, the centre of Maharashtrian cul- ture, the home-town of the late Lokmanya Tilak and a place where the Brahmins begin reciting the Vedas in the wombs of their mothers. It is produced by Mr. S. R. Rajguru, a Gandhi-capped Congressman without a stain on his khaddar shirt, coat and dhotie. Years in the motion picture busi- ness have not changed the simple, puritanic appearance of Producer Rajguru. But something seems to have gone wrong inside him. For, recently, he gave us "Din Raat" in which he showed us in what dirty stink the average mo- tion picture producer is dyed. Probably he didn't include himself in this list and even if he did no one dare accept him as such see- ing Rajguru 's simple khaddar cos- tume and his plain, unglamorous appearance without even a sug- gestive glint in his eye. This khaddar- clad Congress- man-producer has now given us ''Room No. 9" shades more rotten than his "Din Raat". This is what we see in this Congrcssinaiis picture: "ROOM NO. 9 ' Producers: Navyug Chitrapat Ltd. Language: Hindustani. St } — Songs: Nakshab Jarchavi Music: Rashid Atra. Cinematography . B. V. Dhavle Audiography: C. S. Modak. Art: Gondhalekar Cast: Geeta Nizami, Shyam. K. N. Singh, Saroj Bor- kar, Dar Kashmeeri. Raj Bishwas etc. Released At: Krishna. Bom- bay. Date Of Release: 15th June 1946 Directed by: VEDI a) In "Room No. 9", the story is thrown into a residential hotel called the "Nishat Hotel". In this hotel, there is an idiotic ma- nager who pimps for his patrons or in other ways tolerates his business premises being turned into These two good artistes— Dixit and Mazhar Khan — make 'Sena' a great social story. Recruit Anusuia Krishnatray is a student of Art. She sings, dances and has worked in college dramas Address with "filmindia". a veritable brothel where male guests are lor a long time permit- ted to chase and annoy female guests and are ultimately given license and opportunity to outrage the modesty of the female guests. In this hotel, the servants are all crazy, and the management gives Hula dances with the girls wearing grass skirts and just enough to emphasize their nude figures. bi The cooks in the kitchen of this strange hotel dress like French chaps and sing the following lines: 1. fotf, fktft, fkzft, fatf 2. srF#, W; §fo fk*& flat *r) arrc 3- 5Tpft mWX