MORE ARA FOR ALAM
Last week Google’s doodle commemorated India’s first talkie, Alam Ara, turning it into one of online’s hottest hits of the day.
Made 80 years ago, our country’s first ‘all singing, talking and dancing’ movie seems to have been silenced forever, since, it’s last existing print perished in a fire at the National Film Archives of India, 2003.
A milestone for Bollywood, this movie that also set the hallmark for popular Indian cinema with the song and dance routine has another strong Surti connect besides its heroine Zubeida.
“Alam Ara was an instant runaway hit that ran for seven weeks at Mumbai’s Majestic cinema, four annas tickets were black marketed for Rs.5 and Rs.6 an astonishing price in those days.” informs music writer Adil Bhoja,further pointing out that Imperial Movie –tone was co owned by a Surti.”In the silent era, and even much later movies were screened in pitched tents with a screen and a few accompanied musicians. A Surti by the name of Abdullally Esoofally was a leading exhibitor of silent movies. In a bid to settle down, he bought the Alexandra Theatre in Bombay in 1914 and went on to build the Majestic Theatre in 1918 along with his partner- Ardeshir Irani.Together they formed Imperial Film Company and released Alam Ara in 1931.”
Abdullally Esoofally was an enterprising Surti, born here in 1884; this pioneer tent showman traded in global cinema. He would take his projector, folding screen and a fifty by hundred foot tent that could host a thousand spectators and venture to spread the magic of cinema through India and Asia, exhibiting operas, comedies and actualities like travelogues and sports events, with live music from tabla-sarangi and harmonium players.With Alam Ara also began the profession of penning dialogues for cinema; India’s first writer of which was Joseph David, a Bene Israeli Jew .
The script was written in lighter vein to appeal lay audiences similar to the way they are now. David’s great grand daughter, Joanna Ezekiel a writer herself, now settled in the UK says that ,”Although he had minimal schooling and had joined Parsi Imperial theatre as a stagehand who got small improvisational roles as an actor, Joseph David Penkar was soon noticed for his talent with words and music. Fluent in Indian and Hebrew as well as the English language, he had a passion for plays and the influence of mythological tales from all these languages was detectable in Alam Ara.I am proud that my Jewish ancestor wrote a script that was enjoyed alike by Hindus,Muslims,Jews ,Christians and other religions alike. Sentimental? Yes, but then, that’s Bollywood.”
Paging through The Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema proved one thing for certain, that the main lead Master Vithal –superstar of the silent era had little to do in the film; being poor at Hindi diction which was the need of the hour then, he was shown magically dumbstruck and was either in a trance or unconscious through most of the film. It was here that Prithiviraj Kapoor’s thunderous booming voice scored and secured a successful future for this character actor who went on to establish the iconic Kapoor clan.Prithviraj Kapoor played the role of Adil,as Zubeida’s father in the film.
Surat’s Zubeida who played the lead role held centre stage with her enigma. Writer Urvish Kothari, a connoisseur of vintage music who owns a booklet on Alam Ara, printed in Gujarati, points out that, “Alam Ara was the name of the heroine, which is interesting considering the fact that it was not a known name that belonged to any historical /mythological character that people could identify with.”
It was Ardeshir Irani’s belief in this spitfire Surti superstar who went to provide ‘paisa vasool’entertainment for the enthusiastic public.It was she who made it eternal, like it’s name-Alam Ara-Light of the World, glowing in our memory forever.
Showing posts with label zubeida. Show all posts
Showing posts with label zubeida. Show all posts
Monday, March 21, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Google 's Alam Ara Doodle -India's first talkie's hero was actually its heroine.
Surti Siren on Google Doodle
80th Anniversary of India’s first talkie Alam Ara.
Google’s doodle talk is back and how! Post an all women special logo for the 100TH International Women’s Day, Google’s search engine home page for India has now featured Zubeida, the legendary actress from Surat, on its new doodle. As a tribute to India’s first talkie-Alam Ara, on its 80th anniversary, the doodle is an artist’s impression of a scene from the movie.
Daughter of the Nawab of Sachin and Fatma Begum who was Bollywood’s first lady director, Zubeida made her debut at 12 with the movie Kohinoor and had already made her mark as an actress with Balidaan which was based on Tagore’s Sacrifice.
Highest paid actress of her times, with the title role Alam Ara, she had the box office coffers jingling and a stampede of sorts was created at Mumbai’s Majestic cinema where people thronged to catch a glimpse of her’ All talking, singing and dancing ‘ blockbuster.
Zubeida who plays a gypsy girl in the film,sang most of the songs in the movie, which were recorded, live at night within an indoor studio, to avoid outside noise by ‘microphones hidden in incredible places to keep out of camera range ‘as director Ardeshir Irani had once mentioned.
“Irani was able to foresee the profound impact sound would have on cinema. He raced to complete Alam Ara before several other contemporary sound films. The cast and crew faced a lot of hitches since sound proof stages were unheard of then. Mostly shot indoors and at night, since the studio was close to a railway track, they had to schedule shots between train timings or shoot after their services ceased.” Says music writer Aadil Bhoja.
“Zubeida was a beauty with a sensuous voice, luminescent skin and great presence. Watching her perform popular songs from the film like ‘Badla dilwayega yaar tu ab sitamgaro se” and ‘De de Khuda ke naam pe “(originally sung in the movie by Wazir Mohammed Khan) live during the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Alam Ara at Sanmukhananda Hall was a rare treat.” says Yasin Dalal, 65, ex head of department of Journalism and Mass Communication, at Saurashtra University, a staunch cinema buff from Rajkot, who has a video recording of the event,” Even as she stopped short after singing a few lines and shyly disclosed,”bhul gayi.”,the audience went gaga over this beauty from Gujarat, who said she was honoured and proud to have been part of this great film.”
Directed by Ardeshir Irani, the movie was a remake of the popular play Alam Ara written by Joseph David Penkar, a playwright from The Parsi Imperial Theaterical Company. While Prithviraj Kapoor played a character actor in the film, its lead master Vithal was sued by Sharda Studios for breach of contract by working for Imperial Movietone. M A Jinnah was then appointed to defend him.
Just as master Vithal ogles at Zubeida on the Google doodle, so also he had little to do and nothing to say in this first of its kind ‘All living .Breathing.100 percent talking’ film as it was advertised.Vithal being weak at Hindi diction was mostly shown unconscious or in a trance while the Surti siren held centre stage and sizzled onscreen.
India’s first talkie which was lost in silence when its last existing print was destroyed forever in a fire at the National Film Archives of India, has found a voice again and like it’s name-Alam Ara-proven to be the Light of the World ,glowing in our memory forever.
80th Anniversary of India’s first talkie Alam Ara.
Google’s doodle talk is back and how! Post an all women special logo for the 100TH International Women’s Day, Google’s search engine home page for India has now featured Zubeida, the legendary actress from Surat, on its new doodle. As a tribute to India’s first talkie-Alam Ara, on its 80th anniversary, the doodle is an artist’s impression of a scene from the movie.
Daughter of the Nawab of Sachin and Fatma Begum who was Bollywood’s first lady director, Zubeida made her debut at 12 with the movie Kohinoor and had already made her mark as an actress with Balidaan which was based on Tagore’s Sacrifice.
Highest paid actress of her times, with the title role Alam Ara, she had the box office coffers jingling and a stampede of sorts was created at Mumbai’s Majestic cinema where people thronged to catch a glimpse of her’ All talking, singing and dancing ‘ blockbuster.
Zubeida who plays a gypsy girl in the film,sang most of the songs in the movie, which were recorded, live at night within an indoor studio, to avoid outside noise by ‘microphones hidden in incredible places to keep out of camera range ‘as director Ardeshir Irani had once mentioned.
“Irani was able to foresee the profound impact sound would have on cinema. He raced to complete Alam Ara before several other contemporary sound films. The cast and crew faced a lot of hitches since sound proof stages were unheard of then. Mostly shot indoors and at night, since the studio was close to a railway track, they had to schedule shots between train timings or shoot after their services ceased.” Says music writer Aadil Bhoja.
“Zubeida was a beauty with a sensuous voice, luminescent skin and great presence. Watching her perform popular songs from the film like ‘Badla dilwayega yaar tu ab sitamgaro se” and ‘De de Khuda ke naam pe “(originally sung in the movie by Wazir Mohammed Khan) live during the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Alam Ara at Sanmukhananda Hall was a rare treat.” says Yasin Dalal, 65, ex head of department of Journalism and Mass Communication, at Saurashtra University, a staunch cinema buff from Rajkot, who has a video recording of the event,” Even as she stopped short after singing a few lines and shyly disclosed,”bhul gayi.”,the audience went gaga over this beauty from Gujarat, who said she was honoured and proud to have been part of this great film.”
Directed by Ardeshir Irani, the movie was a remake of the popular play Alam Ara written by Joseph David Penkar, a playwright from The Parsi Imperial Theaterical Company. While Prithviraj Kapoor played a character actor in the film, its lead master Vithal was sued by Sharda Studios for breach of contract by working for Imperial Movietone. M A Jinnah was then appointed to defend him.
Just as master Vithal ogles at Zubeida on the Google doodle, so also he had little to do and nothing to say in this first of its kind ‘All living .Breathing.100 percent talking’ film as it was advertised.Vithal being weak at Hindi diction was mostly shown unconscious or in a trance while the Surti siren held centre stage and sizzled onscreen.
India’s first talkie which was lost in silence when its last existing print was destroyed forever in a fire at the National Film Archives of India, has found a voice again and like it’s name-Alam Ara-proven to be the Light of the World ,glowing in our memory forever.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
SURTI BOLLYWOOD ME`LANGE
The ‘twitterati’ is wildly abuzz these days. Netizens tweeting about whether ‘phir miley sur’ is a note above or below the original and very popular patriotic number,’Miley sur mera tumhara, toh sur baney hamara.’
In case you have been wondering who on earth is the singer representing Gujarat, its our very own Parthiv Gohil who sprang to fame while singing ‘Yoon shabnami’ in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya.
Even as Indians love and hate and speculate the new version of miley sur, rightly pointing out the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Dr.Abdul Kalam Azaad; lots of people have noticed that it is full of Bollywood stars.
While Salman’s heart touching silent gesture speaks more than a million words, people are wondering what on earth is, Miss. long legs aka Deepika Padukone’s contribution and cause.
All in all, Surtis are left hoping they had someone to represent them on the Bollywood brigade.
Surti hottie, Miss.Namitha Vankawala, our Rander gal who makes men go weak in the knees and is the most widely searched southern siren online, along with a temple in her name is the Goddess down south and was not considered to represent either homeland or work abode.
Surti sweetie Prachi Desai who turned from small screen’s favourite biwi –Mrs.Bani Walia to big screen’s sophisticated Mumbai biwi-Mrs.Sakshi Aditya in Rock On, is still a new kid on the block and despite Rock On rocking the audiences; hence was not yet considered to qualify to the level of state representative.
Contrary to belief, Surat has made some great contributions to Bollywood-
The first-Fatima begum-Bollywood’s first lady director, was a Surti.The lady, an Urdu stage artist, entered film line with her debut in’ Veer Abhmanyu’ in 1922 and within four years went on to writing, producing, directing in Bollywood .She launched her company Fatima films and directed ‘Bulbul-e-Paristan.’Extremely fair skinned ,she shone on screen with dark make up and fancy wigs. Though her marriage to the then Nawab of Sachin stood disputed in court, she was independent and followed her dreams. Her daughters -Sultana, Shazadi and Zubeida too went on to rule silent age of silver screen.
The famous-Zubeida-Legendary actress and stunning beauty, debuted at the mere age of 12, at a time when cinema was considered the big bad line for girls. Zubeida, daughter of the Nawab of Sachin and Fatima Begum, was talented at singing and dancing along with the gift of impeccable speech. She went on to become the female lead in India’s first Talkie-Alam Ara.Box office bonanzas jingled cash counters with her strings of successive hits. Highest paid actress of her times, she set the screen on fire with her many characters, from courtesan dancer to mythological ones, from the lead in ‘Sacrifice’-a blockbuster base on Tagore’s ‘Balidaan’, to a circus girl in Zarina, where her steamy scenes sent the censors in a tizzy. Actress Karisma Kapoor acted in and as Zubeida on a movie based on her life. Interestingly, her great grand father, Prithvi Raj Kapoor, was a supporting actor, in Alam Ara. Zubeida later married Maharaj Narsinger Dhanrajgir of Hyderabad and was the mother of eminent corporate figure Humayun Dhanrajgir.
The finest-Sanjeev Kumar-aka Harihar Jethalal Jariwala.Who can ever imagine watching Khilona, Mausam, Aandhi, Anamika, Sholay, Naya din Nayi raat, without the subtle nuances of its sensitive lead hero. An actor par excellence, he was raised in Palsana’s Niyol village, at his maternal uncle’s home- being a child of an estranged home. This superstar who brought to life many brilliantly written characters from Gulzaarsaab and gifted writer Kamleshwar’s scripts along with innumerable other ones, was an unconventional stereotype, whose talent remains unsurpassed in his league. Handsome and a lover of Surti food like ras, rotli, karela, vaal ni daal and idla, Kumar was a down to earth, simpleton who was born to act. Unfortunately, he died much before his time, inspite of having played roles of characters much beyond his age.
The fine tuned-Ismail Durbar-Bold , brash and a complete brat as a child, too, this Surti has the lineage of four generations of musicians .His father owned the Darbar Band and Ismail was trained by his father and later sent to Mumbai, to learn the violin under the expertise of Pt.Ram Prasad Sharma and Shri Ganesh.Since his mother belonged to a family of chefs, few know that Ismail is a great cook himself too and is often handy around the house, giving Biryani and khichdi kadhi a twirl of his other talent . A session violinist for stalwarts like R.D.Burman, Laxmikant Pyaarelal and a host of others, this titan of talent came into his own with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Hum dil de chuke sanam.’ Darbar had played the violin for ‘Khamoshi’, Bhansali’s earlier musical. He surprised Sanjay with a couple of compositions when his name was recommended for ‘Hum dil….’the rest is history.Kisna, Devdaas, are other examples of this genius who refuses to leave the culture rich notes of melodious music in these times where instant rhythm rules the flavour of the week chartbusters .
Surti talent is hard to suppress. Whenever our own have entered Bollywood, they have definitely carved a niche `to be leaders in their league.
The ‘twitterati’ is wildly abuzz these days. Netizens tweeting about whether ‘phir miley sur’ is a note above or below the original and very popular patriotic number,’Miley sur mera tumhara, toh sur baney hamara.’
In case you have been wondering who on earth is the singer representing Gujarat, its our very own Parthiv Gohil who sprang to fame while singing ‘Yoon shabnami’ in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Saawariya.
Even as Indians love and hate and speculate the new version of miley sur, rightly pointing out the absence of Sachin Tendulkar and Dr.Abdul Kalam Azaad; lots of people have noticed that it is full of Bollywood stars.
While Salman’s heart touching silent gesture speaks more than a million words, people are wondering what on earth is, Miss. long legs aka Deepika Padukone’s contribution and cause.
All in all, Surtis are left hoping they had someone to represent them on the Bollywood brigade.
Surti hottie, Miss.Namitha Vankawala, our Rander gal who makes men go weak in the knees and is the most widely searched southern siren online, along with a temple in her name is the Goddess down south and was not considered to represent either homeland or work abode.
Surti sweetie Prachi Desai who turned from small screen’s favourite biwi –Mrs.Bani Walia to big screen’s sophisticated Mumbai biwi-Mrs.Sakshi Aditya in Rock On, is still a new kid on the block and despite Rock On rocking the audiences; hence was not yet considered to qualify to the level of state representative.
Contrary to belief, Surat has made some great contributions to Bollywood-
The first-Fatima begum-Bollywood’s first lady director, was a Surti.The lady, an Urdu stage artist, entered film line with her debut in’ Veer Abhmanyu’ in 1922 and within four years went on to writing, producing, directing in Bollywood .She launched her company Fatima films and directed ‘Bulbul-e-Paristan.’Extremely fair skinned ,she shone on screen with dark make up and fancy wigs. Though her marriage to the then Nawab of Sachin stood disputed in court, she was independent and followed her dreams. Her daughters -Sultana, Shazadi and Zubeida too went on to rule silent age of silver screen.
The famous-Zubeida-Legendary actress and stunning beauty, debuted at the mere age of 12, at a time when cinema was considered the big bad line for girls. Zubeida, daughter of the Nawab of Sachin and Fatima Begum, was talented at singing and dancing along with the gift of impeccable speech. She went on to become the female lead in India’s first Talkie-Alam Ara.Box office bonanzas jingled cash counters with her strings of successive hits. Highest paid actress of her times, she set the screen on fire with her many characters, from courtesan dancer to mythological ones, from the lead in ‘Sacrifice’-a blockbuster base on Tagore’s ‘Balidaan’, to a circus girl in Zarina, where her steamy scenes sent the censors in a tizzy. Actress Karisma Kapoor acted in and as Zubeida on a movie based on her life. Interestingly, her great grand father, Prithvi Raj Kapoor, was a supporting actor, in Alam Ara. Zubeida later married Maharaj Narsinger Dhanrajgir of Hyderabad and was the mother of eminent corporate figure Humayun Dhanrajgir.
The finest-Sanjeev Kumar-aka Harihar Jethalal Jariwala.Who can ever imagine watching Khilona, Mausam, Aandhi, Anamika, Sholay, Naya din Nayi raat, without the subtle nuances of its sensitive lead hero. An actor par excellence, he was raised in Palsana’s Niyol village, at his maternal uncle’s home- being a child of an estranged home. This superstar who brought to life many brilliantly written characters from Gulzaarsaab and gifted writer Kamleshwar’s scripts along with innumerable other ones, was an unconventional stereotype, whose talent remains unsurpassed in his league. Handsome and a lover of Surti food like ras, rotli, karela, vaal ni daal and idla, Kumar was a down to earth, simpleton who was born to act. Unfortunately, he died much before his time, inspite of having played roles of characters much beyond his age.
The fine tuned-Ismail Durbar-Bold , brash and a complete brat as a child, too, this Surti has the lineage of four generations of musicians .His father owned the Darbar Band and Ismail was trained by his father and later sent to Mumbai, to learn the violin under the expertise of Pt.Ram Prasad Sharma and Shri Ganesh.Since his mother belonged to a family of chefs, few know that Ismail is a great cook himself too and is often handy around the house, giving Biryani and khichdi kadhi a twirl of his other talent . A session violinist for stalwarts like R.D.Burman, Laxmikant Pyaarelal and a host of others, this titan of talent came into his own with Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Hum dil de chuke sanam.’ Darbar had played the violin for ‘Khamoshi’, Bhansali’s earlier musical. He surprised Sanjay with a couple of compositions when his name was recommended for ‘Hum dil….’the rest is history.Kisna, Devdaas, are other examples of this genius who refuses to leave the culture rich notes of melodious music in these times where instant rhythm rules the flavour of the week chartbusters .
Surti talent is hard to suppress. Whenever our own have entered Bollywood, they have definitely carved a niche `to be leaders in their league.
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