FilmIndia (1940)

FILMINDIA August 1940 (Contd. from page45) fession may be different but their methods were the same. And their goal is identical: MONEY. NARSI TAKES HIS BANK BOOK So after five years Narsi, the Bania comes to Bombay with his bank-book and a local Jack-of-all trades as his principal adviser. Narsi knows that the sound in the Bohri's theatre is bad because the walls are made of corrugated iron sheets. So in the new structure which he built on the quiet he has guarded against this by putting up brick walls. As the cheap cane chairs also accommodated bugs in addition to the customers, he has ordered wooden chairs to be made. To please the officials he has a few sofas put in, which had come in lieu of a grocery bill from the local vagabond son of a rich father. In every way within the scope of his intelligence Narsi the Bania has improved on Taher the Bohri. JACK— THE ADVISER He has now to buy a good "talking machine". His adviser, the Jack-of-all-trades, has been a film fan. He reads "filmindia" and knows that Sabita draws over two thousand rupees a month, that Gohar is a partner in Ranjit, that Saigal draws crowds because of his beautiful singing. He also knows some intimate confidence talk about how the girls and the boys in the films live. He overwhelms Narsi with all the news and Narsi knows that he cannot get a better manager than the Jack to beat Taher the Bohri. He feels his bank-book with confidence bequeathed to him by his ancestors. In that bank-book is the power to teach that bearded Bohri a lesson of his life. THE ETERNAL BANIA Narsi is the Bania who has not been beaten and cannot be beaten. In his weak moments he often brags about Mahatma Gandhi also being a Bania, particularly when the old Mahatma has come out triumphant after another historic fast. It brings to mind his great race and he doesn't fail to remind others about it. In such moments Narsi was even known to weigh the ghee less and would apologise profusely 50 when the customer pointed it out. Narsi was so well tuned to his traditions, that even while making mistakes he would err on the safe side. His mistakes were good investments and he knew it. Even now he was sure that it was a mistake for a grocer to be a showman — but he knew it would pay him. Taher the Bohri had made a fool of himself and seemed to be more prosperous. Why shouldn't Narsi have his share of the folly and prosperity both. A— Lall — nevermind, which — lall. A seemingly respectable go-between, who never loses money as a distributor. Narsi doesn't trust the Mahomedan dealer of machinery. He is too sharp and rough for him. So he goes in for a "Bauer" machine. Knowing that a smart patidar of Cambay sells it. The patidar talks his language — the language of practical economics which begins saving money before you even earn it — and Narsi, the Bania, buys the "talking machine." THE BIRTH OF A CINEMA Narsi's cinema is called the Golden Talkies. The gold in his mind, the gold in his life, the gold in his family, the gold round his wife's neck and his envy of gold in the neighbour's house — all suggest the name. Taher the Bohri was a fool to call his theatre "Royal." How can a businessman be royal? He must have gold. And therefore the new cinema must be "golden." The film distributors, the watchdogs of the film trade, know that Golden Talkies has become a better I theatre than the Royal Cinema. So in a moment, the Maganlals and i Chunilals, the Bapubhais and Lalbhais dub Narsi, the Bania as "Narsidas Seth." From a humble grocer Narsi, the Bania becomes Narsidas Seth the proud proprietor of Golden Talkies. The Lalls and the Bhais of the distribution trade said so. THE BOHRI REACTS Taher the Bohri caught cold the day when the Collector of the District opened the Golden Talkies with "Devdas", a New Theatres' picture. "Devdas" ran for four weeks and drew huge crowds. All seemed to go to it except Taher the Bohri. The Bohri's condition is getting worse. He has now fever and discovers that he has rheumatism in addition, due to sitting for years in that hardware shop. He wonders how Narsi didn't get the cramps all j these years. Someone tells him that Narsi gets his wife to massage him with oil every evening. "Yes, yes, that oil he robs from his innocent customers," says Taher and starts thinking. The Bania has beaten the Bohri at his own game. HIS HALF AND HALF PHILOSOPHY The Bohri looks forward to his bed with a romantic relish. His life is divided equally between hisj bed in the home and his hard seat in the shop. To him, half the life is pleasure. So he steps into the^ bed with a clean dress and a pc