20s

Enakshi Rama Rau

The first highly educated woman who joined films was Enakshi Rama Rau, M.A., who shot into fame with the release of Himansu Rai’s “Shiraz” (1929), followed by Nalini Tarkhud.Himalaya Ki Beti (1938)Yangrilla (1938)Jagran (1936)Trapped (1931)Vasantsena (1931)

Fearless Nadia

Fearless Nadia was born as Mary Ann Evans on 8 January 1908 in Perth, Western Australia. She was the daughter of Scotsman Herbertt Evans, a volunteer in the British Army, and Margret. They lived in Australia, before coming to India. Mary was one year old when Herbertt's regiment was seconded to Bombay. Mary came to Bombay in 1913 at the age of five with her father.

In 1915, her father’s untimely death at the hands of Germans during World War I prompted the family’s move to Peshawar (now in Pakistan). She learned horseback riding, hunting, fishing, and shooting during a stay in the North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa). In 1928, she returned to Bombay with her mother and a son, Robert Jones, about whom not much is known, and then studied ballet under Madam Astrova.

She toured India as a theatre artist and began working for Zarko Circus in 1930. She was introduced to Hindi films by Jamshed "J.B.H." Wadia who was the founder of Wadia Movietone, the behemoth of stunts and action in 1930s Bombay. At first, J.B.H. was bemused at Mary's insistence on trying out for the movies, but he took a gamble by giving her a cameo as a slave girl (in a hand-painted colour sequence that accentuated her blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes) in the film Desh Deepak, and then as Princess Parizaad in Noor-e-Yaman. Nadia proved a huge hit with the audience, whereupon, considering her skills at performing circus and other stunts, J.B.H., by then joined by his younger brother Homi, chose to develop her into a star.  She is most remembered as the masked, cloaked adventurer in Hunterwali (Woman with a whip) released in 1935, which was one of the earliest female-lead Indian films.In 1967-68, when she was in her late 50s, she appeared in a James Bond spoof called Khiladi (The Players).

Franz Osten

Franz Osten (23 December 1876 – 2 December 1956) was a German filmmaker who along with Himansu Rai was among the first retainers of Bombay Talkies. Osten partnered with Rai on a number of India's earliest blockbuster films like Achhut Kanya and Jeevan Naiya.Franz Osten's silent films tell varieties of Indian stories. The Light of Asia (1925) dealt with the life of Buddha. Shiraz (1928) dramatises the events that led to the construction of the Taj Mahal. A Throw of Dice (1929) was based on myths and legends drawn from Indian epic Mahabarata. These movies contributed to increasing the understanding of eastern religions and offered a feast for the senses by showing elephants in festive decoration amid thousands of extras. His huge sets were ideal for escaping from reality; dark-skinned women aroused desire, associating sexuality with primitiveness.Since early 2000s, there has been a revived interest in silent films in general and the trilogy of Osten are in focus. Shiraz was shown at the Castro Theatre at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in 2002, Prem Sanyas at the same festival in 2005, and A Throw of Dice in 2008. Prapancha Pash was re-released in 2006.

G M Durrani

Late 1939-40, when the concept of playback singing started he was the first to lend his voice for a film titled Bahurani. The film was made by Sagar Movietone and its music director was Rafiq Ghaznavi. Durrani was then working as a full-time Singer in AIR (Akashvani (radio broadcaster)). Those were British days and they were not allowed to do any private recordings. But Ghaznavi insisted. Durrani laid down some conditions, like; the recording should be fixed on a Sunday night so that no outsiders would be allowed to enter the studio. Secondly, he said that his name shouldn't appear in credit titles or on discs. The song was a duet with Miss Rose, an Anglo-Indian, who didn't have much experience as a singer. He was paid Rs.75 for the song as against his salary of Rs.70 a month at AIR (Akashvani (radio broadcaster)). He then chucked up his job on 31 December 1940 and decided to concentrate fully on his film career.

Thereafter he sang for, among others, noted music directors like Khawaja Khurshid Anwar, friend Naushad, Shankar Rao Vyas and A. R. Qureshi (Better known as Alla Rakha, Pandit Ravi Shanker's famous tabla accompanist) for films like Mirza Ghalib, Humlog, Magroor, Shama, Namaste, Sabak and scores of others. He became very popular. Many singers started their careers with him and he inspired many others too.

He was the idol of Mohammed Rafi who imitated him in the initial days. Now what could be a better tribute to singer than that, that the symbol of divinity in the Indian Music Industry, Mohammad Rafi, followed him. In fact, in 1944 Rafi recorded what he considered his first Hindi language song for the film Gaon ki Gori (1944) for Shyam Sunder, "aji dil ho kaaboo mein to dildaar ki aisi taisi" with G. M. Durrani and chorus.

Geeta Dutt  also started her career in her break through movie Do Bhai with the song Aaj Preet Ka Naata toot gaya, a duet with G. M. Durrani for S. D. Burman.

Similarly, Haye Chorre Ki Jaat Badi Bewafa, a duet with G. M. Durrani, was Lata's first song for composer, Naushad.

Durrani has sung many songs during his career. His output later reduced. According to a story he was influenced not to sing for some time after his Hajj visit and Rafi then helped him get back to singing but by then his career was over. Music composer Khawaja Khurshid Anwar in his first film Kurmai (Punjabi-1941) took Durrani as his assistant and later gave him the film Angoori (1943) as music director.

Gemini Ganesan

Gemini Ganesan acted in a few Hindi films, most of which were remakes of his Tamil films. His first Hindi film was Missiamma's remake Miss Mary (1957), where he was paired with Meena Kumari. The film became one of the biggest hits of that year. Notably, he played the lead role in Devta, which was the Hindi version of his own Tamil film Kanavaney Kankanda Deivam. He also acted in the ruritanian epic film Raj Tilak (1958), which was the Hindi remake of his own Vanjikottai Valiban. It was a box office failure, having collapsed within a week of its release. He later appeared in a guest role in Nazrana (1961), the Hindi remake of his own Kalyana Parisu, that had him in the lead. Though the film was an average grosser, it was the 12th highest-grossing film of the year.

Gohar



Gohar Jan

Also known as Gramophone Gohar. She was the first to record for HMV in 1902

Gohar Karnataki

Younger sister of Amirbai karnataki

Gohar Mamajiwala

Gohar Kayoum Mamajiwala (19 November 1910 – 28 September 1985), also known as Miss Gohar, was an Indian singer, actress, producer and studio owner.[

Gohar's father's business almost collapsed and the family funds were seriously depleting when a family friend, Mr. Homi Master working at the time as a director for Kohinoor Films, suggested that Gohar take up acting as a career. Her parents agreed.

Gohar started her career at the age of sixteen with the film Baap Kamai/Fortune and the Fools (1926) directed by Kanjibhai Rathod and the role of the hero was portrayed by Khalil and the film was produced by "Kohinoor Films". The film was a Hit. Gohar along with Jagdish Pasta, Chandulal Shah, Raja Sandow and cameraman Pandurang Naik started the "Shree Sound Studios". In 1929 along with Chandulal Shah she founded the Ranjit Studios which was later known as Ranjit Movietone.

She retired in the 1970s and died in Bombay, Maharashtra on 28 September 1985.

Gope

Gope (1913–1957) was a Hindi film actor of Indian cinema. Starting his career with a small role in Insaan Ya Shaitaan (1933), directed by Moti Gidwani and produced by Eastern Arts Production, Gope went on to act in over one hundred forty films in a career spanning twenty-four years from 1933–1957. Several of his films were released following his death. Best known for his comedy roles, he is stated to be one of Hindi cinema's "most popular comedians". His acting in comic roles won him "critical and popular acclaim" and he soon became "the leading comedian of his time". His popularity assured him of being mentioned in the credit roll of films along with the main cast. He became famous for lip-syncing the popular number from Patanga on-screen in "Mere Piya Gaye Rangoon" (My Beloved Has Gone To Rangoon), playbacked by C. Ramchandra for Gope and by Shamshad Begum for Nigar Sultana.

He formed a popular comic pairing with Yakub, in the "Laurel-and-Hardy" style, making the producers use them in several films. Their most famous films together were Patanga (1949), followed by Bazar (1949), Beqasoor and Sagai (1951)

Govindrao Tembe

Govind Sadashiv Tembe, popularly known as Govindrao Tembe (June 5, 1881 – October 9, 1955), was a harmonium player, stage actor, and music composer. He grew up in Kolhapur and became attached to music early in life. He was largely self-taught as an harmonium player. He has acknowledged the debt of Deval Club for his initial forays into Hindustani classical music. Tembe learnt his art from Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale and, although he never received direct guidance from Alladiya Khan of Jaipur Gharana, Tembe considered Khansaheb as his guru. He used to accompany Pt. Bhaskarbuwa Bakhale, and would also often perform solo, but later gave up harmonium for most part of his career. He composed music for the drama Manapman in 1910, and also for the first Marathi talkie Ayodhyecha Raja (1932). He also acted in both these productions. He was a personal friend of Late Yuvaraja of Mysore, HH Sri. Kanteerva Narasimha Raja Wadiyar. Prof. Tembe was part of a large entourage of Yuvaraja during his trip to Europe in 1939. The Troupe performed before the Pope and at other places during this trip. As World war broke out, they stayed at London for a long time and ultimately returned in Jan 1940 but Yuvaraja died soon at his Palace Anchorage (next to Hotel Taj) in March 1940 and Prof. Tembe lost his patron. He was part-owner of Gandharva Natak Mandali when it was formed in 1913. Two years later, he started his own company named Shivraj Natak Mandali. He wrote dramas and also the padas (songs) in them.

Govind Nilhani

Govind Nihalani (born 19 December 1940 in Karachi) is an Indian film director, cinematographer, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Hindi cinema. He has been the recipient of six National Film Awards (India), and five Bollywood Filmfare Awards. In 1996, his script for Drohkaal was adapted by Kamal Hassan for its Tamil remake, Kuruthipunal which subsequently became India's official entry for the 68th Academy Awards Best Foreign Language Film category.

His first directorial venture was Aakrosh starring Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil and Amrish Puri. The film was scripted by noted Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar. The film shared the Golden Peacock for best film at the International Film Festival of India held in New Delhi in 1981.  He then directed Ardh Satya, based on a story by S. D. Panwalkar. the film has received critical reception for depicting the police-politician-criminal nexus. In 1997, he adapted Bengali novelist, Mahasweta Devi's acclaimed novel by the same name to Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa.

H S Bhatavedkar

H. S. Bhatavdekar was a resident of Mumbai (Bombay). A Maharashtrian portrait photographer by occupation, Bhatavdekar was one of the first witnesses to the Lumiere Brothers film show in 1896 in Mumbai. He soon acquired a movie camera from London and a projector and went on to make some films on day-to-day life of the city as also some important events. He was a Karhade Brahmin."The Wrestlers" was shot during a wrestling match in Mumbai and was the first film to be shot by an Indian. H. S. Bhatavdekar's later films also were all reality films, with "Local Scenes...", "Sir Wrangler..." and "Delhi Darbar..." being of historical significance; since important personalities like R. P. Paranjpe can be seen landing in India from a ship; and the proceedings of the Delhi Durbar (Delhi Royal Court). Bhatavdekar also filmed Lord Curzon at the coronation of King Edward VII in Kolkata (Calcutta) in 1903. Bhatavdekar can be considered the first documentary filmmaker of India, with his films India's first newsreels.

Filmography (as a director)-The Wrestlers (1896),A man and his monkeys (1899), Local Scenes: Landing of M. M. Bhownuggree (1901), Atash Behram (1901)Sir Wrangler Mr. R. P. Paranjpe (1902)

Delhi Durbar of Lord Curzon (1903)Delhi Durbar (1903/I)

Hamida Bano

Hamida Bano was moderately successful singer of the pre-partition era. Before migrating to Pakistan, her repertoire included memorable songs like Teri zaat pak hai ai Khuda (Neik Perveen,1946) and Champa kali hai udaas (Cheen le Azaadi, 1947). Her duets with Mukesh – Ja parwane ja kahin shama jal rahie hai (Rajputani,1946) and Badariya baras gayi us paar (Moorti, 1945 with Khursheed Begum) are still remembered by serious music buffs. It is ironic that she died unsung in Lahore on November 9th, 2006. She is survived by her son, Arshad

Harish Patel

Patel was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is of Indian descent.[1] He began performing at the age of seven, when he played male and female parts in the Hindu epic Ramayana. He made his film debut in Mandi directed by Shyam Benegal in 1983. From 1994 to 2008, Patel worked with the eminent Indian theatre director Satyadev Dubey. In 1995, he joined the Indian National Theatre and appeared in the play Neela Kamra. His repertoire has included classical and modern Indian plays as well as plays by Western writers, e.g., Pinter's The Caretaker, Sartre's No Exit, Camus' Cross Purpose, Ionesco's The Lesson, and Mrozek's Vatzlav. In the spring of 2007, Patel took the lead role of Eeshwar Dutt in Rafta, Rafta..., a comedy written by Ayub Khan-Din and directed by Nicholas Hytner at the National Theatre in London to critical acclaim and sellout audiences.His famous one liner is "Gayi bhains paani mein!" from the 1987 movie Mr. India. His credits include The Buddha of Suburbia, China Gate, Mr India and Run Fatboy Run. In 2009 he appeared in Coronation Street playing the role of Umed, Dev Alahan's uncle. Patel also appeared in Mr Stink, Gangsta Granny, The Boy in the Dress and Billionaire Boy, the TV film adaptations of children's books by David Walliams. He plays shopkeeper Raj in all the films, although they are set in different places. His acting career has taken him all over India, and he has performed in the UK and abroad, in the USA and Dubai among other countries. Patel is a life member of the Cine & TV Artists Association of India.

Hira Lal

Hiralal was a very popular actor who enriched the Indian film world and entertained millions for over four decades, as a hero, villain and character artiste. He started his career in Silent films made in Lahore including Daughters of Today and Safdar Jung. Daughters of Today was the first feature film made in Lahore. The shooting of the film started in 1924 but took three years to complete, mainly due to financial problems. The release of this film established Lahore as one of the main centers of film making in India, now commonly known as Lollywood (Pakistani Film Industry). After the introduction of sound in 1931, Hiralal switched to Talkies and continued working in Hindi films till early 1980s. According to his son Krishen Hiralal Thakur, Hiralal left this world on 27th June, 1982.

Hiroo Samtani

Film-makers have no definite method of finding new faces. A new face may be discovered anywhere and any how. It is usually the discerning eye of the veteran pro­ducer which is most successful, and this is how the three Samtani sisters, Sheela, Hiroo and Koshi, who made promising debuts in Film­istan’s “Abe Hayat,” came to be discovered —without even knowing they would get film roles.

The girls were attending a wedding re­ception at which Director S. K. Ojha, on hobby bent, filmed the ceremony. Later, when direct­ing “Sitara,” Ojha felt he wanted scenes like these for the film. Into the picture went some of the shots he took at the wedding. The Samtani sisters featured prominently in them and some producers at the premiere of “Sitara” talked more about the three beauti­ful girls than about the picture. Frantic in­quiries were made, and one fine morning the sisters had a messenger from Filmistan knock­ing at the door of their flat. After overcoming family opposition, the girls signed a contract with Filmistan. On her first working day at the studio, Hiroo, , found herself the victim of a case of mistaken iden­tity. No sooner did she don her make-up and get into her costume, than she was conducted to the set by one of the studio staff and made to stand before the cameras. The lights were switched on and work commenced. Hiroo was at a loss to know what to do, because she did not know the scene. The as­sistant-director was deferentially asking her whether she had her dialogue lines with her. Hiroo said no, which astonished the as­sistant, and the confusion continued until Bina Rai, who was playing the lead in the pic­ture, arrived on the set. Everyone had mis­taken Hiroo for Bina Rai whom she resembled very closely.

Husn Bano

Daughter of famous actress Sharifan, Husn Bano was born in Singapore in 1922. Fluent in Gujarati, Marathi, Urdu and Hindi and proficient in singing, she made her debut in 1934 under the direction of Nitin Bose (New Theatres) in Daku Mansoor. She learned the rudiments of acting from her mother. She started as a leading lady in ’30s, moved to side roles in mid ’40s and with the advent of the ’50s she was reduced to bit roles. Jawani (1942) could be considered her career’s best film as an actress.  She also sang for Naushad’s debut film as music director – Prem Nagar (1940).

I S Johar

Johar acted in numerous Hindi films from the 1950s through to the early 1980s and played cameos in international films such as Harry Black (1958), North West Frontier (1959), Lawrence of Arabia (1962)[5] and Death on the Nile (1978), besides acting in Maya (1967), a US TV series. He also appeared in Punjabi films, including Chaddian Di Doli (1966), Nanak Naam Jahaaz Hai (1969) with Prithviraj Kapoor, and Yamla Jatt with Helen. Wrote, acted in, and Directed the best partition based Hindi movie Nastik (1954).

I. S. Johar also wrote and directed films, some of which included Johar Mehmood in Goa and Johar Mehmood in Hong Kong in which he co-starred with comedian Mehmood. These were inspired by comedy films of the Bob Hope-Bing Crosby style Road to... series. That being said, Johar was a unique and idiosyncratic individual, a lifelong liberal (if not a libertine: he had five marriages, an extraordinary number by Indian standards, both then and now) who poked fun at all forms of institutionalised self-satisfied smugness – an attitude which did not endear him to the essentially hierarchical and conservative Indian establishment, and might have contributed to being relegated to making B-grade movies all his life, due to a lack of finding financing for his highly individual and quirky screenplays. In many of his films, both those he directed and those he acted in, Sonia Sahni was the leading lady, most notably in Johar Mahmood in Goa, 1964.

He also starred in films with his own surname in the title such as Mera Naam Johar, Johar in Kashmir and Johar in Bombay, which is a testament both to his immense egotism, as well as his popularity with the common masses – for whom a movie with the Johar name was a guarantee of easy laughs, as well as subtle ironic or frankly sarcastic jibes at Indian customs, mores, superstitions and institutions. His film Nasbandi (Vasectomy) was a spoof on Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's failed policy of population control by coerced vasectomies during the period of Emergency and was "banned" when it was first released. Yash Chopra started his film career as an assistant director with I. S. Johar.

In 1963 he starred as "Gopal" in two Italian films directed by Mario Camerini: "Kali Yug, la dea della vendetta" (Kali Yug, Goddess of vengeance) and "Il Mistero del tempio indiano" (The secret of the Hindu temple).

He died in Bombay, on 10 March 1984.

Iftekhar

Iftekhar was born in Jallandhar and was the eldest among four brothers and a sister. After completing his matriculation Iftekhar did a diploma course in painting from Lucknow College Of Arts. Iftekhar had a passion for singing and was impressed with the famous singer Kundanlal Sehgal. In his 20s, Iftekhar travelled to Calcutta for an audition conducted by the music composer Kamal Dasgupta who was then serving for HMV. Dasgupta was so impressed by Iftekhar's personality that he recommended his name to M. P. Production as an actor. Iftekhar made his debut in the 1944 film Taqraar, which was made under the banner of Art Films-Kolkata. Many of Iftekhar's close relatives, including his parents and siblings, migrated to Pakistan during partition. He preferred to stay in India but rioting forced him to leave Calcutta. Along with his wife and daughters, he moved to Bombay, where they struggled to make ends meet. Iftekhar had been introduced to actor Ashok Kumar during his time in Calcutta and contacted him in Bombay, gaining a role in the Bombay Talkies movie Muqaddar (1950). Iftekhar acted in over 400 films in a career that spanned from the 1940s through to the early 1990s. Like many of the older character actors who populated the Bollywood universe of the 1960s and 1970s, Iftekhar had been a lead actor in his youth during the 'golden age' of Bollywood in the 1940s and 1950s. His roles ranged from father, uncle, great-uncle, grandfather, police officer, police commissioner, courtroom judge and doctor. He also did negative roles in Bandini, Sawan Bhadon, Khel Khel Mein and Agent Vinod.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Iftekhar graduated to playing uncle, father, and what came to be his speciality: police inspector roles, doctor or senior advocate. Generally he played 'sympathetic' characters but, on occasion, he played the heavy. One of his most memorable roles as a heavy was as Amitabh Bachchan's corrupt industrialist mentor in Yash Chopra's classic Deewaar (1975). Another of Iftekhar's classic roles was as the police inspector in Prakash Mehra's Zanjeer. It was a small part, but the scene where Iftekhar reprimands the near-hysteric Amitabh Bachchan for taking the law into his own hands is incredibly powerful. Another important role as a police officer was played by him in 1978 hit film Don.Some of his major roles came in Rajesh Khanna films like Joroo Ka Ghulam, Mehboob Ki Mehndi, The Train , Khamoshi, Safar, Raja Rani, Ittefaq, Rajput, Awam.

Besides Deewaar and Zanjeer Iftekar had character roles in many of the classics of 1960s, 1970s, 1980s Bollywood cinema: Bimal Roy's Bandini, Raj Kapoor's Sangam, Manoj Kumar's Shaheed, Teesri Manzil, Teesri Kasam, Johny Mera Naam, Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Don, The Gambler and Sholay to name but a few. Apart from Hindi films he appeared in two episodes of the American TV series Maya in 1967 as well the English language films Bombay Talkie (1970) and City of Joy (1992).

His sister Veena, original name Tajour Sultana (1926–2004), was an actress who won a Best Supporting Actress award for Taj Mahal.

Indra Bansal, as jonny walker's wife in Chori chori

Indira Bansal was born on December 3, 1932 in Rawalpindi, Punjab, Pakistan. She is an actress, known for Brahmachari (1968), Chori Chori (1956) and Woh Kaun Thi? (1964).

Indra Billi

Indira, also known as Indira Billi, is/was an Indian actress. She acted in many Punjabi films as a heroine and played minor roles in many Hindi films. She married Shiv Kumar who is/was also an actor.

Indurani

https://memsaabstory.com/2016/02/16/guest-post-indurani-a-star-of-the-1930s/