Indian Cinema in 1930s

1931 is a landmark year of Indian cinema.India's First Talkie movie Alam Ara was released on 14th March at Majestic Cinema at Bombay. The first Indian talkie was so popular that "police aid had to be summoned to control the crowds.The success of this movie influenced other regional language film makers to make movies in their languages.
This year saw the release of 207 silent films from all over India and 28 Talkies. Out of the 28 talkies 23 were in Hindi, 3 in Bengali, one in Tamil, and one in Telugu. The first Bengali film was Jamai Shashthi by Madan Theatres Calcutta. The first Tamil film was Kalidas produced by Imperial Movietone and the first Telugu talkie Bhakta Prahlada, was directedby H. M. Reddy for Bharat Movietone.
J  Madan who wanted to make first sound movie at calcutta was an established name.His production film SHIRIN FARIHAAD released the same year and did the better business than Alam Ara.

1932 saw J Madan's film INDRASABHA which had 71 songs which is still a record. 30 talking pictures are made in India this year. Eight of them are made by Madan Theatres.This year saw the first Marathi talkie movie AYODHYECHA RAJA directed by V SHANTARAM.The first sound Gujrati movie(NARSINH MEHTA) was released.The East India Film Co started in Calcutta ,The Motion Picture Society Of India was founded.

1933 saw Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani's KARMA which has a distinction first English Film made in India.This year also saw the first coiour film SAIRANDHRI starring Leela and Shakuntla Pranjpye directed by V Shantaram.This year Wadia Movietone Co by JBH Wadia was also started Their first movie LAL-e YAMAN was released and it was very successful.PRAKASH PICTURES also founded this year which was founded by Vijay Bhatt. The First Air Conditioned Cinema Hall REGAL opens in Bombay.

1934 The end of Silent Cinema in India,the last Silent Movie was Melody of Love.Bombay Talkies was established,The first Oriya film SEETA BIBAHA directed by Mohan Sunder Deb Goswamy released.Zubeida and Nanu Bhai Vakil start the Mahalaxmi Cinetone.Kannada film BHAKTA DHRUVA directed by Parshavnath Y Altekar was released.Chaar Darvesh,BOMBAI KI MOHINI
and DAKU KI LADKI were prominent films.
  

Still from K L Sehgal Devdas

1935 Devdas was released It was made by P C Barua starring K L Sehgal. Another hit movie of that year was ANARKALI starring Sulochana.This year also saw of the first Punjabi movie Krishna Dev Mehra's SHEILA starring Baby Noor Jahan . First Assameese movie of Jyotiprasad Agarwala's JOYMATI was also released this year.Some of the hit movies of this year are Hunter Wali,Aurat, Ek Hi Raasta,Watan.

1936 was the year of ACHYOOT KANYA starring Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani,Sohrab Modi started Minerva Movietone his first movie Khoon Ka Khoon was not successful.Other successful movies of the year are Miss Frontier Mail,Mr & Mrs Bombay,Mamta and Jeevan Naiya starring Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani.

Still from Kisankasnya

1937 the first Colour film Kisan Kanya was released,Aspi Irani's film Naujawan became the first hindi sound film without songs some of the prominent films of that year were Duniya Na Maane of V Shantaram,Zameen Ka Chand ,Parakh and Hurricane Hansa of Wadia.












1938 first Malyalam sound film S Nottani's BALAN was released,This year a Social family drama BHABHI was released on 17th December at Bombay's Roxi Cinema it was a hit movie renuka Devi's performance was the highlight she was co starred with P Jairaj, another film STREET SINGER of K L Sehgal was musical superhit it is said that this movie was the greatest hit of Sehgal's career the famous song BABUL MORA NAIYAR CHHOOTO JAYE was of this movie.Other movies were Dharti Maata,Adhikar.Gopal Krishna and Jailor


1939 this year 84 hindi films were released. The film industry celebrated its silver jubilee with the convening of a Motion Picture Congress, conferences and an exhibition.PUKAR of Sohrab Modi was the most successful movie of that year another film AADMI of V Shantaram was successful,Prem Sagar and Punjab Mail were other notable novies of that year.Dushman of K L SEHGAL also released the same year.The film is remembered for some of the most beautiful songs sung by K L Saigal music was given by pankaj mallic.

Remembering R D BURMAN on his 77th Birth Anniversary

Few R D Burman's indian classical film Songs
Ghar Aaja Ghir Aye Badra (Raga Malgunji)

This is from RD Burman’s first movie as a music director – Chhote Nawab (1961). RD wanted Lata Mangeshkar for his first song, despite knowing that his father SD Burman had not worked with Lata for six long years following a rift. RD sent word to Lata through Jaidev (who was SD’s assistant) and in the process mended fences between SD and Lata. This song is based on a lesser known Raag called Raag Malgunji. The song is picturised on a courtesan who sings this song to her clients viz Mahmood while his wife waits for him in their home.This is one of the master pieces of RDB

Raina Beeti Jaaye (Raga Todi & Khamaj)

The exquisitely tuned ‘Raina Beeti Jaaye’ for Amar Prem (1972) is a case in point. RD fused two ragas –Todi and Khamaj  in the song expertise that had hitherto been attributed only to his father SD Burman. Anand Bakshi’s lyrics blend with notes of this song to create a magical feel.Here is a song from the movie that was sung by Lata and picturised on Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna. Anand Bakshi was the lyricist and R D Burman composed the music

Beeti Na Bitayee Raina (Raga Yaman Kalyan)
Set to the notes of evening raga Yaman Kalyan, the Lata-Bhupinder duet fetched them both a national award for best playback singer that year, besides fetching Gulzar the best lyricist award. This song was picturised on Jaya Bhaduri and Sanjeev Kumar.

 Piya Baawri (Raga Behag)

It is true that RD relied on Asha more for his experimental music and on Lata for his classical numbers, but here is a surprise where Asha sings an authentic Raga Behag based composition by hubby RDB with aplomb. The song is also special for the tabla ‘bols’ by Ashok Kumar:It is sung by Asha Bhonsle and Ashok Kumar and it is picturised on Rekha, Ashok Kumar, Shashikala, Rakesh roshan

Hamein Tumse Pyar Kitna (Raga Bhairavi)

Kudrat (1981) was written and directed by Chetan Anand. RD had composed a song Hamein Tumse Pyaar Kitna based on the morning Raga Bhairavi. Parween Sultana and Kishore Kumar did a solo version each of this song. Kishore Kumar was nominated for a Filmfare Award for his rendering of the song, while Parveen Sultana walked away with the Best Female Playback Award from Filmfare for her version of the song.

Remembering Puncham da on his 77th Birth Anniversary

PART-1

R D Burman was born on 27th June 1939 at Calcutta.Initially, he was nicknamed Tublu by his maternal grandmother.
- RD Burman was nicknamed as Puncham and was popularly addressed by most of his industry friends by the same name. Apparently the nickname was given to him by actor Ashok Kumar when he heard the newborn Rahul saying the word Pa repeatedly
R D Burman was a child prodigy though Music was in his genes but he got the earlier education of music by his father

the great S D Burman.In Mumbai, R. D. Burman was trained by Ustad Ali Akbar Khan (sarod) and Samta Prasad (tabla). He also considered Salil Chowdhury as his guru.He served as an assistant to his father, and often played harmonica in his orchestras.

- RD Burman composed his first song at the age of nine which was taken for the Dev Anand's film FANTOOSH(1956)" Ai Meri Topi Palat Ke Aa" another tune was taken in PYAASA " Sar Jo Tera Chakraye".
R. D. Burman has been credited with revolutionizing the Bollywood music. He incorporated a wide range of influences from several genres in his scores. He also experimented with different musical sounds produced from methods such as rubbing sand paper and knocking bamboo sticks together. He blew into beer bottles to produce the opening beats ofMehbooba, Mehbooba. Similarly, he used cups and saucers to create the tinkling sound for the song Churaliya Hai from the film Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973)
- Popular music director duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal played in the orchestra of RD Burman. RD Burman also gave break to several singers like Kumar Sanu, Abhijeet and Mohammad Aziz

R D Burman and Asha Bhonsle marriage photograph

R d Burman married in 1966 to Rita Patel but got Divorced in 1971. Later he married Asha Bhonsle in 1980.The Asha-RD Burman Pair created magic .Asha Bhonsle in an interview said"Pancham was the only man who understood me. We had tremendous musical compatibility. He gave me the confidence to improvise and sing better than before. He introduced me to the western style of singing.All songs I sung for him are my favorite. However, right now I feel like humming my all-time favorite “Mera Kuch Saamaan” from the film Ijaazat."
It is generally believed that puncham da was expert in giving western music but the fact is that he was equally best on Indian classical.Some of Lata Ji's melodious and semi classical songs were composed by R D Burman

Take RD’s first film itself – Chhote Nawab. The Raag Malgunji based "Ghar aaja ghir aayi badarwa sanwariya"   created a sensation and is still fresh and timeless.

The songs listed below are only representative. But it will give you the drift. Amar Prem had two gems – "Raina beeti jaye" based on Raag Lalit, and "Bada natkhat hai" based on Raag Khamaj.

In the next part watch some of the Videos of R D's classical geniu

Birth of Film Songs in India

Gauhar Jan recording the first song

The songs are integral part of Indian Cinema.Right from the advent of Indian Talkie cinema in 1931, musicals with song numbers have been a regular feature in Indian cinema.Within the first few years itself, Hindi cinema had produced a variety of films which easily categorised into genres such as "historicals", "mythologicals", "devotional, "fantasy" etc. but each having songs embedded in them such that it is incorrect to classify them as "musicals".The first talkie film ALAM ARA(1931) had seven songs

Immediately after Alam Ara another movie SHIHREEN FARIHAD(1931) by J F MADAAN had 42 songs
A film INDRA SABHA released in 1932 had 71 songs which made a record of highest number of songs in a single film till today.
Though Talking cinema started in India 1n 1931 but film songs were played with the films durring the silent movie era.Those days playback music was not born Initially few musicians used to play music durring the screening of the movie but after the invention of gramophone the records were played with the movies.
Experiments in capturing sound on a recording medium for preservation and reproduction began in  during the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. Many pioneering attempts to record and reproduce sound were made during the latter half of the 19th century – notably de Martinville's Phonautograph of 1857 – and these efforts culminated in the invention of the phonograph, patented by Thomas Edison in 1877.
The First recorded film song was sung by GAUHAR JAAN recorded on 2nd November 1902.Though GAUHAR KHAN'S song was the first hindi song recorded but before that few bengali songs were recorded.If you google search we find that the first recording done in India was in 1988.Hemendra Mohan Bose, an Indian entrepreneur, imported the phonograph of Edison and made the cylinder record. The records were popularly known as Bose's record. Rabindranath Tagore recorded the 'Bande Mataram' here in his own voice.
De De Khuda Ke Naam Pyare from Alam Ara carries the credit of being the first song ever to be played on the Hindi film screen. The name of poet is lost in history. The music is composed by Pherozeshah M Mistry. The singing voice is that of Wazir Mohammed Khan, who plays a fakir and a beggar. And he is singing this song

GAUHER JAN FIRST INDIAN RECORD IN KOLKATTA

Alam Ara (1973) - De De Khuda Ke Naam Pe Pyaare

The Birth of Cinema in India

Luminiere Brothers

Before going to the Birth of Indian cinema let us look back to the Birth of Cinema in the world.In the year 1891 Motion Picture Cameras were invented . The very first patented film camera
 was designed in England by Frenchman Louis Le Prince in 1888. He built and patented an earlier 16 lens camera in 1887 at his workshop in Leeds. The first 8 lenses would be triggered in rapid succession by an electromagnetic shutter on the sensitive film; the film would then be moved forward allowing the other 8 lenses to operate on the film. After much trial and error, he was finally able to develop a single lens camera in 1888, which he used to shoot the first sequences of moving film in the world 
William Kennedy Laurie Dickson, a Scottish inventor and employee of Thomas Edison, designed the Kinetographic Camera in 1891. The camera was powered by an electric motor and was capable of shooting with the new sprocketed film. Because of the limits of technology, films of the 1890s were under a minute long and until 1927 motion pictures were produced without sound. 
In 1895 the Luminiere brothers introduced the art of cinematography in Paris. The Motion Pictures atracted the people and became popular By 1897 First Film Studio was built.
The Birth of Cinema in India can be attributed to the Luminiere Brothers. They came to India in 1896 and brought the prints. The Luminiere brothers held their first public showing at Bombay's Watson's hotel on 7th July 1897.The first show was a silent movie for 10 minutes.6 such short fims (17 meters each) were screened.The success of this show another screening was held in another venue at Novelty Theatre Bombay on 14th July 1887 Total of 24 such 10 minutes fims were screened on that night.This magic of Motion Picture was so fascinated that within a year Harishchandra Sakharam Bhatavdekar popularly known Save Dada and HiraLal Sen made 2 short films by 1899.These short films were mere attempts at capturing live theatrical performances on film.Bhatavdekar was infact the first movie maker of India Irony with him that he had a projector but not a camera .he hired a camera from England to shoot 2 scenes of 3 minutes each which were titeled DO PEHALWANON KI KUSHTI and BANDAR KO NACHATA HUA MADARI. These 2 Films were released in 1989 thus started the journey of Indian Cinema.
F B THANAVALA was the next to make films, his 2 films SPLENDID NEW VIEW OF BOMBAY and TABOOT PROCESSION were released in 1900.
In 1901 Hiralal Sen made his mark as a film producer of historical and mythological films in Calcutta. In 1905 another great personality from Calcutta theatre world J F Madan linked exhibition of cinema with production in 1905 to estabilish Elphinstone Bioscope Company. He was the first businessman to foresee imminent business opportunities of film making in India.In few years he not only build his company like Hollywood Companies but also brought Forign actresses to work in Indian films as heroines because that time Indian ladies were reluctant to work in films.
Durring the early years of 20th century a lot of cinematic entertainment was imported from abroad like Life of Christ (1901), Aladin and the Wonderful Lamp (1902), Alibaba and 40 Thieves (1903) and Napoleon Bonaparte (1904). This was primarily because India was a colony of the British Empire and a large English population lived in the country. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as the availability of foreign cinema not only brought the wondrous technological advancements of the western world to India but also inspired the Indian film makers to venture into making full length feature films.

Still from Raja Harishchandra

The first full length feature film made in India was Dadasaheb Phalke’s silent opus RAJA HARISHCHANDRA  in the year 1913. Main films that followed included - Mohini Bhasmasur (1914), significant for introducing the first woman to act before the cameras - Kamalabai Gokhale, Satyawan Savitri (1914), Satyavadi Raja Harischandra (1917), Lanka Dahan (1917), Shri Krishna Janma (1918) and Kalia Mardan (1919). By 1920 India was producing more than 27 films a year which was a big number. The first Indian film makers turned to ancient epics and puranas for source material. The phenomenal success of Raja Harishchandra was kept up by a series of mythological films. The content of the films would not change for a long time till the advent of talkies and colour in the 1930’s.
The Silent Movie Era continued from 1897-1930 durring this period of 34 years nearly 1200 movies were released in India.Sad part is that very few prints are available now.

Remembering MADAN MOHAN on his Birth Anniversary There is something really sophisticated about his music which has a timeless pull. It is not surprising that due to this quality his work has endured much after he passed away.He was born on 25 June 1924 in Baghdad and started His Film career started as an assistant to Shyam Sunder and also with SD Burman, notably in Do Bhai (1947) and Munimji (1955) .His first Film as an independant composer was ANKHEN in 1950.His next film was "Adaa" which saw the beginning of a long lasting collaboration with Lata Mangeshkar; who would go on to sing for many of his films. Two of composed songs from "Sharabi" "Sawan ke maheeney mein" and the classic song "Kabhi na Kabhi koi na koi toh aayega", both filmed on Dev Anand are among the most well known renditions of the renowned singer Mohammad Rafi

BOMBAY TALKIES-The SOUL OF HINDI CINEMA

The Producer,Director and Actor HIMANSHU RAI had a dream to start a Film Company in India.That dream fulfilled in the year 1934.It was the first movie company to be established in India.
Himanshu Rai who went to England for Studying Law from Calcutta where he completed his studies
and became a barrister .There he met a playwright and screenwriter Niranjan Pal. That association led to making of a film The Light of Asia, which he co-directed with Franz Osten. Rai was also one of the main actors in this film.Before this film he Directed Prem Sanyas/Leuchte Asiens (German Title) in 1925.In 1928 he produced a film Shiraz in which he acted also.

A Scene from Karma

• While making his third film, A Throw of Dice, he met and fell in love with beautiful Devika Rani, a great-grandniece of the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Before this film was complete, he married her.
• By 1932 he was back to India, the idea of starting a studio was still in his mind.He was meeting lots of people trying to convince people to invest in his project but his efforts were not successful.Hunt for looking the Financer completed when he was intoduced to Shri Raj Narain Dube the son of Seth Badriprasad Dube who was a well known financer of that time.Shri Raj Narain Dube was young and was confident enough to the power of Art and Creativity.To invest in a business which was new to them and also not seen as a respectable business.Shri Raj Narain Dube went against the advise of his father for investing in cinema. He took a risk and annoyance of his father he gave Himanshu Rai a green signal to go ahead with his dream .The famous SHASHDHAR MUKARJEE also joined them along with F E Dinshaw and Sir Feroze Sethna.
• On 22nd June 1934 India's First Studio  Bombay Talkies was formed and a studio was built in Malad, on the outskirts of Mumbai. In its quest to set up the most modern film studio in India, Bombay Talkies purchased state-of-the-art equipment from Germany and recruited German and British talent, such as cinematographer Josef Wirsching, art director Karl von Spretti and director Franz Osten.
• The first film of Bombay Talkies was KARMA starring Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani  By 1935, starting with the murder mystery Jawani ki Hawa, Bombay Talkies regularly began producing Hindi films with Devika Rani as its main star. The self-sufficient studio had a board of directors, issued shares to the public, declared dividends and bonuses, and was listed on the stock exchange. In addition, Rai and Rani even started a trainee programme. Each year, Rai interviewed scores of candidates from leading universities and assigned employees to a variety of tasks in all departments of filmmaking.
• Ashok Kumar was the first Star introduced by Bombay Talkies .Later on Ashok Kumar and Devika Rani became a highly successful pair both appeared in many hit movies JEEWAN NAIYA (1936) and ACHHUT KANYA (1936)
• Durring the 2nd World War Film Industries all over the globe were strugling .Bombay Talkies was no exception despite a highly siccessful films the company.was facing financial crisis .At this point 10-15 fims were on production floor which were stalled pretty badly this led to nervous break down of Himanshu Rai.He passed away on 16th May 1940
• After Rai's death, there was a struggle for studio control. His widow Devika Rani was in conflict with Sashadhar Mukherjee. Eventually there was dual control and alternate production of films by the two camps. During this era Mukherjee produced the studio's biggest hitKismet in 1943. Then Mukherjee broke away to form Filmistan Studio in partnership, and Devika Rani, fully in charge of the studio, did not have as much success.
• In 1945 Devika Rani married Svetoslav Roerich and moved away from Bombay and films. Ashok Kumar and Mukherjee made a bid to revive Bombay talkies and produced one big hit in Mahal. Eventually the studio shut down 
• After Devika Rani left the movies in 1945, Ashok Kumar and many others returned to their alma mater in 1947. But the studio was unable to clear its debts despite the success of such films as Majboor (1948), Ziddi (1948), which gave Dev Anand his first big hit and Kishore Kumar his first playback singing chance, and the suspense thriller Mahal (1949).
  
  Though the studio continued making films, Bombay Talkies died a lingering death in the fifties. Its final productions were Bimal Roy’s Maa(1952), with the studio’s one-time heroine Leela Chitnis playing the title role, the Ashok Kumar-Dev Anand-Meena Kumari starrer Tamasha (1952) and the Ashok Kumar-P Bhanumathi vehicle Shamsheer (1953). Even a last-ditch effort, the multi-starrer Baadbaan (1954), made by the Bombay Talkies Workers Industrial Co-operative Society, could not save the studio from shutting down.
• This is the story of India's biggest Film company which produced 102 films and launched 280 legends of all the fields of cinema constucted 400 cinema halls throughout the country and Financed nearly 700 Films.
• Some of the Legends given by Bombay Talkies are-

• 

  LEGENDS GIVEN BY BOMBAY TALKIES-

  Himanshu Rai

  1892 - 16 May 1940

  
  
  Launched as a lead actor in Bombay Talkies produced film - Achut kanya (1936)

  Padma Bhushan - 1998

  The Dadasaheb Phalke Award - 1988

  National Award - 1

  Filmfare Awards - 3
• Devika Rani  30 March 1908 – 9 March 1994

  Launched In Karma (1934)
  The President Of India honored Devika Rani with a Padma Shri - (1958)
  She Became The First Recipient Of The Prestigious Film Prize, The Dadasaheb Phalke Award - (1969)
• Ashok Kumar 13 October 1911 - 10 December 2001

  Launched as a lead actor in Bombay Talkies produced film - Achut kanya (1936)
  Padma Bhushan – 1998
  The Dadasaheb Phalke Award – 1988
  National Award – 1
  Filmfare Awards - 3
• Dilip Kumar
  

  14 February 1933 - present 23rd June 2016 

  Bombay Talkies  launched his career with - Jhwar Bhatta (1944) 

  Padma Bhushan - 1991

  Dadasaheb Phalke Award - 1994

  Filmfare Best Actor award - 8

  Filmfare  Nominations - 19

  Shriff  Of Mumbai City 1991

  Nominated Member of parliament
• Dev Anand
  

  26 September 1923 – 3 December 2011

  His first hit film came under Bombay Talkies  production - Ziddi (1948)

  Padma Bhushan - 2001

  Dadasaheb Phalke Award - 2002

  National Awards - 2

  Filmfare Awards - 4
• Raj Kapoor

  14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988
  Started working as assistant at Bombay Talkies in - 1935

  Introduced as a lead in Bombay Talkies produced film -  Neel Kamal 1947

  Padma Bhushan award - 1971

  Dadasaheb Phalke Award - 1987

  National Film Awards - 2

  Filmfare Awards - 9

  Filmfare  Nominations - 19.

  2 Films Nominated At The Palme D'or At The Cannes Film Festival

  
  
• Satyajit ray 

  2 May 1921 – 23 April 1992

  Began his career as a assistant to Nitin bose in Bombay Talkies  production -  Mashal (1951)

  The Dadasaheb Phalke Award -  1985

  Bharat ratna - 1992 

  Padma Shri  award - 1958

  Padma bhushan award - 1965

  National film awards - 32
• Madhubala
  

  14 February 1933 – 23 February 1969

  Started her career as a child artist (baby mumtaz) with Bombay Talkies in - Basant (1942)

  Later, Bombay Talkies introduced her as a lead in - Neel kamal (1947)
• Mehmood

  29 september 1932 – 23 july 2004

  Started as a Child artist in Bombay Talkies produced - Kismet (1943)

  Filmfare awards - 5

  Filmfare nominations - 15
• Kishore Kumar

  august 1929 – 13 october 1987

  First opportunity as play back singer in Bombay Talkies production - Ziddi (1948) Introduced as a lead by Bombay Talkies in - Andolan (1951) Filmfare awards - 8 Filmfare nominations - 19
• Lata Mangeshkar

  28 september 1929 - present 

  Started her career as a chorus singer with Bombay Talkies Her first hit came in Bombay Talkies produced film - Mahal (1949) Bharat ratna 1969 Padma bhusan- 1999
  

  Dadasaheb phalke award - 1989

  National awards - 3
  

  Filmfare awards - 4
• Pran

  12 February 1920 – 12 July 2013

  His first hit as a villain came in Bombay Talkies production - Ziddi (1948)
  

  Padma bhushan - 2001

  Dadasaheb Phalke Award - 2013
• Leela Chitins

  9 september 1909 – 14 july 2003

  Launched by Bombay Talkies in Kangan (1939)
• Nalini Jaiwant
  

   18 february 1926 – 20 december 2010

  Her first hit came in a Bombay Talkies film - Sangram (1950)
• Kamini Kaushal

  born 16 january 1927 -  present

  Introduced by Bombay Talkies  in Sangram (1950)

  Filmfare award - 1
• Jairaj

  September 28, 1909 – August 11, 2000

  Got in the lead hero category with Bombay Talkies production - Bhabhi (1938)
  

  Dadasaheb Phalke Award - 1980

  Padma bhusan - 1980
• Hansa Wadkar
  

  24 january 1924 - 23 august 1971

  Introduced by Bombay Talkies  in Navjeean (1939)
• Kamal Amrohi

  17 January 1918 - 11 February 1993

  Began his journey as a director in Bombay Talkies film - Mahaal (1949)

  Filmfare Award - 1
• Bimal roy

  12 jul 1909 - 8 jan 1965

  Bombay Talkies produced his first hindi film -  Maa (1952)

  National awards - 2

  Filmfare awards - 11

  Also the International prize of the cannes film festival.
• Nitin Bose
  

   26 April 1897 - 14 April 1986

  Made his first hindi film under Bombay Talkies  production - Milan (1947)

  Dadasaheb Phalke Award - 1977
• Ameya Chakrabarti

  1901–1986

  Started his career by working as a writer in Bombay Talkies produced - Bandhaan (1940) Introduced as a director in Bombay Talkies production - Anjaan (1943)
• Shakti Samnta

  3rd January 1926 – 9th  April 2009

  Started his career with assisting Gyna mukherjee in Bombay Talkies  produced film - Sangram (1950)

  Filmfare awards - 3
• Shashadhar Mukheerji

  29 September 1909 - 3 November 1990

  Started as manager of Bombay Talkies  - 1934
• Khwaja Ahmed Abbas

  7 June 1914 – 1 June 1987

  Introduced by Bombay Talkies as a writer in -  Naya Sansar (1941)
• Lv  Prasad
  

   17 January 1908 – 22 June 1994

  Started as lab incharge for Bombay Talkies - 1935

  Dadasaheb Phalke Award award - 1982
• Kishore Sahu

  22 November 1915 - 22 August 1980

  Introduced by Bombay Talkies in - Jeevan Prabhat (1937)
  

  Filmfare Award - 1
• Niranjan Pal

  17 August 1889 – 9 November 1959

  Top technician and first writer of Bombay Talkies - The Light Of Asia (Prem Sanyas) (1935)
• Saraswati Devi

  1912 – 1980

  First female music director of Asia and first music director of Bombay Talkies - Jawani Ki Hawa (1935)
• Tarachand Barjatya

  10 May 1914 - 21 September 1992

  Started as managing distribution and exhibition department of Bombay Talkies - 1940
• P. L. Santoshi

  August 7, 1916 - September 7, 1978

  Began his journey as a writer in Bombay Talkies produced film - Jhoola (1941)
• Abhi Bhattacharya

  1921–1993

  Launched as a lead in Bombay Talkies Bengali venture - Naukadubi (1947)

  Filmfare award - 1956
• Mukri

  5th January 1922 – 4th September 2000

  Bombay Talkies  launched his career with - Pratima (1945)
• Sachin Dev Burman (S.D Burman)
  

  1 October 1906 – 31 October 1975

  His First hit Hindi film as a music director came under Bombay Talkies production - Mashal (1951)

  National film awards - 2

  Filmfare awards - 7
• Hrishikesh Mukherjee

  30 September 1922–27 August 2006

  Started his journey by  assisting Bimal roy  in Bombay Talkies  produced film -  Maa (1952)

  Padma bhushan - 2001

  Dadasaheb Phalke Award award - 1999
• Guru Dutt

  9 July 1925 – 10 October 1964

  Started his career with assisting Gyan Mukherjee in Bombay Talkies  produced film - Sangram (1950)
• Salil Chowdhary

  19 November 1922 – 5 September 1995

  Began his career by assisting music director  S.K. Pal in Bombay Talkies  produced film - Maa (1952)
• Manna Dey

  1 May 1919 − 24 October 2013

  Started with assisting  S. D. Burman Mashaal (1951)

  Dadasaheb Phalke Award - 2007
• Joseph Whirshing

  22 March 1903 –11 June 1967

  Started as the first cameraman of Bombay Talkies  in Light Of Asia (Prem Sanyas) (1935)
• Sita Devi
  

  1912–1983

  Leading Lady for the first film produced by Bombay Talkies  - Light Of Asia (Prem Sanyas) (1935)
• Gemini Ganeshan

  17 November 1920 – 22 March 2005

  Bombay Talkies gave him his first hindi film - Maharani (1946)

  Padma shri award - 1971
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