FilmIndia (May-Dec 1938)

FILM INDIA May 1938 "MEETHA ZAHAR" Produced by: Minerva Movietone Released at: Minerva Talkies, Bombay. Date of Release: 5th March 1938. Bombay Circuit Distributors: Evergreen Pictures, Bombay. Cast: Schrab Modi, Gajanan Jagirdar, Naseem, Shanta Dutt, Sheela. Screen Play: (By G. Jagirdar). As a story the picture is interesting and well woven. The name "Meetha Zahar" however, is misguiding. The intention in the title of the picture is not pursued in the screen play. The scenario is sketchy at places and could have improved with a little more care. Language; (Light Urdu). (By Munshi Abdul Baqi). Quite good. The songs which are composed by Irshad Ahmed are common. Music: (By B. S. Hoogan). Tunes of songs Nos. 6 and 9 are popular. The rest of the music is quite good. Photography: (By Y. S. Sarpotdar). Not consistent throughout. Old fashioned shots were in prominence. The laboratory work being bad the photography seemed to have suffered a lot. Recording: (By M. Eduljee). Ordinary and not enterprising and defective at places. The songs, barring two, are however well recorded. Direction: (By Sohrab Modi). Mr. Modi has not improved even a wee bit inspite of all the experience he has got so far. The direction of this picture is not at 28 all enterprising and lacks imagination. We think that Mr. Modi will be a better organiser than a director. Direction requires new flights of imagination. Mr. Modi is still travelling in the old rut. Performances: Gajanan Jagirdar gave the best performances. His work was polished while his diction was superb. Practically he carried the picture on his shoulders. Sohrab Modi was stagy and unconvincing. His mannerism has become boring and tiresome. His jerky movements made the scenes look unnatural. Naseem was an utter failure in expressions and songs. Her attempt to depict pathos was more pathetic than her acting. Naseem is a rank failure as a screen artiste. Her beautiful face seems to be made of wax and is incapable of betraying any emotion or feeling. Shanta Dutt sings well but her acting is affected and artiticial. Sheela is really good, both in music and performance. The others were not worth noting. Publicity: Erratic and illogical. The name "Meetha Zahar" turned out to be a liability instead of being an asset. Box Office Value: Quite a good picture for a bi-weekly change. "SEVA SADAN" Produced by: The Madras United Artists Corporation <S The Chandraprabha Cinetone, Madras. Released at: The Paragon Talkies, Madras. Date of Release: 2nd May 1938. Casf: Miss M. S. Subbulakshml, Mr. F. G. Natesa Iyer, Mrs. Ja yalakshmi, Varadachar, Rampyari and others. Screen Play: This is an adaptation of Pandit Premchand's novel of the same name with slight changes to suit local colour. The picture is too long providing a programme of ZVz hours. This makes the picture boring at several places. Language: (Tamil). Good and snappy. The comic dialogues are commendable. Music: Good and attractive enough for every music lover. Photography: (By Sailen Bose). Not very enterprising and slightly good at some places. Recording: (By Jyotish Sinha). Quite good. Direction: (By K. Subramaniam) Barring the extraordinary length of the picture, the sequences are decently directed. The picture needed drastic editing, which could have improved the entertainment value of the same. Performances: Miss M. S. Subbulakshmi has given beautiful music, though she has sung too many songs. Her acting is also good. Natesa Iyer as Iswara Sarma is really good and gives a bold promise to be a good character actor in future. Rampyari is not convincing. Muthuswamy gives a good performance. The rest are not much. Box Office Value: Subbulakshmi who happens to be a favourite will prove a great factor in the success of the picture. The comic element in the picture will also be a draw. The picture will pay well in Tamil districts.