FilmIndia (1940)

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September 1940 FILMINDIA picture through. It is the story and the picture in whole that count and not the individuality of the star. And yet the stars keep on getting huge salaries, entirely disproportionate with their merits. In these days of war stringency, instead of cutting down publicity budgets and technicians' salaries, why not axe the star salaries? The best star in India, assuming that he or she has a life of 10 years' usefulness, ought not to get more than Rs. 1,500' a month. And Sabita Devi, for instance, is drawing Rs. 3,000 1 a month. Why? May we know why the producers are playing this losing game, when it is within their gift to make the losing business a paying one? A 'SECRET' IN MAKING The first Indian picture in English "Raj Nartaki" is getting ready in the Wadia Studios. Modhu Bose in pursuit of his personal ambition to launch his charming wife Sadhona Bose in Hollywood some day is taking every precaution to make the picture as attractive as possible. But contrary to the usual practice followed by producers hitherto whenever they did something new and enterprising, the producers of this English picture seem bent on keeping it a good secret and ultimately the picture will probably be released as a good secret without any publicity. One wonders whether there is something about the picture to be ashamed of. REORGANISING NEW THEATRES My last note on New Theatres, in which I wrote about their gradual decline in quality and production standard, was well received at the New Theatres studios where the general consensus of opinion seemed to be that what I had written did well and truly represent the real state of atfairs. But some film weeklies not being able to realize the sincerity of my writing have chosen to attribute other motives to me and what was in my opinion a perfectly friendly warning to stop and think has been termed as an "attack on New Theatres." My close personal friendship with Mr. B. N. Sircar is in itself a retort to these weekly scandal-mongers. I would be failing in my duty as a friend and journalist who has devoted the best part of his life to the Indian film industry, if I did not sound a note of warning in time. Similar warnings, though of a different nature, have been given before to Prabhat, Ranjit. National Studios etc. and they have taken the hint in time and benefitted by it. No one had then suggested that I was trying to pull down these producing companies. But strangely enough, I have been accused of doing so in case of New Theatres. Abusing me does not lend any quality or standard to pictures like "Street Singer," "Sapera," "Kapal Kundala," "Jawani-Ki-Reet," ' Zindagi" and "Andhi." Ihey still remain the miserable failures which they have been. Mr. Sircar is following the better way to silence mc— that is by overhauling the entire production system. I am sure this will yield better results and we shall soon have the N.T. standard flying high again. SOHRAB PULLS "BHAROSA" DOWN! Sohrab Mody's "Bharosa" has become a good picture — good in comparison with his own standard previously established. As our reviewer says it has more purpose than "Pukar" and it is the best picture Minerva ever produced. And yet Sohrab Mcdy himself is trying to pull the picture down by wildly advertising that "Bharosa" is the Pukar of 1940.'' That is condemning "Bharosa" and praising ' Pukar". "Pukar" may have made more money for Sohrab Mcdy but that doesn't mean that it was a better picture than "Bharosa". "Dnyaneshwar" will collect more money than "Admi" but that doesn't mean that the former s a better picture. Padma Shaligram and Suresh Babu return to the screen in "Devi Devyani" a Saraswati picture. 9