FilmIndia (May-Dec 1938)

FILMINDIA November 1938 of December, Mr. V. S. Khandekar that famous playwright and author has surpassed himself in giving a story which is at once pathetic and instructive. The worlds greatest words have been solitaires like: Mother, Home, Love etc. Combining the basic principles of these great words, this excellent author has given a story which will bring tears of joy from all those who see it. To bring home to the world that eloquent fact, that every mother is a heroine of every home, Mr. Khandekar has woven a pathetic story on the rough and sordid canvas of life. The Huns people are by now conspicuous in the world of film production for rare enterprise in giving pictures out of the usual trek. In keeping with this reputation "Devata" is going to be another milestone of rare enterprise, having a unique theme. Such a thought provoking subject in which the principal role demands great psychological heights of portrayal, can only be played by a superb artiste, whose talent should not invite any doubts or questions. Such is the role of Ashok, the hero of the story and who could play it better than Mr. Baburao Pendharkar, easily the greatest of our character actors? "Devata" won't merely be a picture for entertainment, but will prove a message of hope to that crowd of humanity, which suffers from suspicion and dies in misery. It will perhaps be the screen's greatest triumph. THE HOUSE OF KAPURCHAND Students of the history of the Indian film industry, if they would be honest in their impressions, must some day take their hats off to the family of Kapurchand, whose inimitable success in financial undertakings is synchronised with the progress of the film industry in India. Mr. Kapurchand Mehta Mr. Kevalchand Mehta Success has always excited jealousy and such jealous minds have always under-rated the importance and the sacrifice of those who, while serving the industry, have also served their interests. This has been in short, the biography of this family of great financiers, who have supplied finance to several struggling producers from time to time, irr spite of very precarious circumstances. The Indian film industry, until sometime back, was never considered to be a heaven of capitalistic investment. Those industrial magnates who vie with foreign capitalists in other spheres of life, wink at our film industry with an utter indifference and it needed men with rare moral courage to step forward and throw open their coffers even at the risk of losing all they had. The family of Kapurchand did this and gave to the industry a life which it had never known before. It is a family of three brothers, but two of them are known to our industry. One as Mr. Kapurchand Mehta and the other as Mr. Kevalchand Mehta. Is it not in season that on the dawn of the Hindu Commercial New Year, every man in the film industry should ackmowledge the debt which lour film industry owes for its present progress to the House of Kapurchand? We do not expect every one to agree with us in this opinion, but we have still to find perfect human beings and perfect institutions. The world must only recognize the good points of an institution that glares one in the face with its overwhelming success. A CAREER FOR THE MODERN YOUTH! When one sees the huge army of the unemployed educated strolling in the streets of the city, one must feel that our nation has come to the end of her resources. Thousands of graduates who come out of our colleges from year to year hardly realize that there is a career waiting for them in the Indian film industry only if they care to go and search. Discussing affairs the other day with Mr. Jagannath J. Patel, I came to know that with a small capital of Rs. 5000/ and a splendid Bauer projector, any young man from college with a level head can earn between Rs. 300 to 500 every month by becoming an exhibitor in any of the small towns crying for a cinema. People seem to be having funny ideas about showmanship in India. The technical aspect of film exhibition is so easy that students can become perfect projectionists within a small period of three months and the rest is just commonsense. If for this trouble and little capital one has a chance to earn over Rs. 300 a month, I cannot for the world of me understand why people choose to knock themselves about for a job that never comes. Mr. Jagannath Patel undertakes to start any young man on the road to prosperity, if he proves to Mr. Patel his sincerity of purpose. Why not write to him and ask him how one can earn over Rs. 300 a month with a small investment and with a little labour? His address is Roxy Chambers, New Queen's Road, Bombay. 14