Jan 07, 2016 03:03 PM
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There were several silent films which were closely related with Gujarati people and culture before advent of talkies. Many film directors, producers and actors who are associated with silent films were Gujarati and Parsi. There were twenty leading film company and studios owned by Gujaratis between 1913 and 1931. They were mostly located in Bombay(now Mumbai). There were at least forty-four leading Gujarati directors during this period.[5]
The silent film Bilwamangal(Bhakta Surdas, 1919) was directed by Parsi Gujarati, Rustomji Dotiwala and it was based on the story by Gujarati writer, Champshi Udeshi. This full length(12000 feet) film was produced by Elphinstone Bioscope Company, Culcutta so the film is considered Bengali but it did not featured any Bengali characteristics. Suchet Singh established Oriental Film Manufacturing Company of Bombay with help of Hajimahamad Allarakha, an editor of popular Gujarati magazine Visami Sadi, in 1919. The silent film Narsinh Mehta(1920) produced by Oriental featured Gujarati song, "Vaishnav Jan To" which was sung by audience and musicians in cinema halls with relevant scenes on screen. Dwarkadas Sampat had bought projector and had shows in Rajkot. He established Patankar Friends & Company with Patankar. Raja Sriyal was the first film produced by Patankar Friends but was not released due to defective print. Kach-Devyani(1920) was directed by S. N. Patankar which featured Garba in films marking entry of Gujarati culture in films. Dwarkadas later founded Kohinoor Film Company. Kohinoor produced its first film Sati Parvati(1920) depicting Gujarati culture. It was directed by Vishnupant Divekar featuring Prabha, an actress from Rajkot, in lead role of Parvati. Bhakta Vidur(1921) produced by Kohinoor and directed by Kanjibhai Rathod was implicitly political film. The film featured Dwarkadas Sampat in lead role of Vidur who donned Gandhi cap which referred to Indian independence movement led by Mahatma Gandhi. The film had Gujarati song, "Rudo Maro Rentiyo, Rentiyama Nikle Taar, Taare Taare Thay Bharatno Uddhar" which referred to Rentio used by Indian National Congress in its symbol. It was the first film banned in India by British authorities. It was later re-released under Dharm Vijay title in 1922. Pavagadhnu Patan(The Fall of Pavagadh, 1928) was directed by Nagendra Majumdar and produced by Indulal Yagnik. Yagnik was an independence activist who later headed Mahagujarat Movement demanding separate Gujarat state. Yagnik produced ten films under various banners.[5]
Dwarkadas Sampat's Kohinoor film Company produced large number of films in the silent film era. It produced social films in era dominated by mythological films. Katorabhar Khoon(1920) was its first social film. It produced Manorama(1924) which was directed by Homi Master and was based on Hridaya Triputi, an autobiographical poem by Gujarati poet Kalapi. Gul-E-Bakavali(1924) written by Mohanlal G. Dave and directed by Kanjibhai Rathod successfully ran for fourteen weeks in cinema.[7] Manilal Joshi was an experimental Gujarati director. He directed Abhimanyu(1922) produced by Star Film Company and later Prithivi Vallabh based on novel by Gujarati author K. M. Munshi of same name.[5]
Krishna Film Company established in 1924 and owned by Maneklal Patel produced forty-four films between 1925 and 1931. Sharda Film Company was established in 1925 which was financed by Mayashankar Bhatt and run by Bhogilal Dave and Nanubhai Desai. Mayashanked Bhatt also financed Dadasaheb Phalke's Hindustan Cinema Film Company.[5]
Early talkies(1932–1947)[edit]
Before the first full length sound film of India Alam Ara(1931) released, a short Gujarati sound film Chav Chavno Murabbo was released on 4 February 1931 in Bombay. This film had song Mane Mankad Karde(A bug bites me) which was the first sound in any Indian film. The lyrics and dialogues were written by Natwar Shyam and was produced by Maneklal Patel. The title of film did not have any specific meaning but was the confection of apophthegms.[5]
Before the first full length Gujarati sound film, Narsinh Mehta(1932), two short sound films were released with Hindi talkies. The two-reel short film Krishna–Sudama produced by Imperial Film Company was released with Hindi talkie Nek Abala. Another two-reel short film Mumbai ni Shethani was premiered along with Madan's Shirin Farhad on 9 January 1932 at Wellington Cinema, Bombay. It was produced by Theatres of Calcutta and was based on the story written by Champshi Udeshi. The film starred Mohan, Miss Sharifa and Surajram which also had Gujarati song, Fashion ni Fishiari, Juo, Mumbai ni Shethani.[5]
The first full length Gujarati talkie Narsinh Mehta was released on 9 April 1932 marking the beginning of Gujarati cinema. It was directed by Nanubhai Vakil and produced by Sagar Movietone. The film starred Mohanlala, Marutirao, Master Manhar, and Miss Mehtab. It was of the'saint' genre and was on the life of the saint Narsinh Mehta.[5][6][8]
It was followed by Sati Savitri(1932) based on epic story of Savitri and Satyavan. In 1935, Ghar Jamai directed by Homi Master was a comedy film. The film starred Heera, Jamna, Baby Nurjehan, Amoo, Alimiya, Jamshedji, and Gulam Rasool. It featured a'resident son-in-law' and his escapades as well as his problematic attitude towards the freedom of women.[5]
Gunasundari was thrice made from 1927 to 1948. The film was such a success in its first appearance in 1927, that director Chandulal Shah remade it in 1934. It was remade again in 1948 by Ratilal Punatar. Gunasundari is the story of a poor Indian woman who is disliked by her husband for her moral stand. The woman finally lands in the street where she meets a person who is just like her — a social outcast. The story ends here. The three versions, however, have made some changes here and there to meet the demands of the time.[5]
There were 12 films released between 1932 and 1946. No Gujarati films were produced in 1933, 1937 and 1938. From 1941 to 1946, the films were not produced due to raw material rationing due to World War II.[5]
Post-independence(1946–1970)[edit]
After independence of India in 1947, there was surge in production of Gujarati films. Twenty six films were produced in 1948 only. Between 1946 and 1952, seventy four films were produced including 27 films related to saint, sati or dacoit stories. These stories were targeted at rural audience familiar with such subjects. There were several films produced in this period were associated with mythological or folktales which people are familiar with.[5][9]
Vishnukumar M. Vyas directed Ranakdevi(1946).[10] Nirupa Roy made her debut as an actress in Ranakdevi who later succeed in Hindi film industry for her roles of mothers. Ranakdevi was the queen of Junagadh. Meerabai(1946) was remake of Hindi film directed by Nanubhai Bhatt starring Nirupa Roy.[8][11] Punatar also directed Gunsundari(1948) starring Nirupa Roy. Kariyavar(1948) directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi, introduced Dina Pathak to film industry. Doshi a
