Filmindia (1941)

August 1941 FILMINDIA Motilal is as thick-necked as they make 'em! He's the sort of chap insurance companies run away from because he is too great a risk. LOOKS AT PRETTY GIRLS He is an excellent driver but has met with several accidents because he has a bad habit (very common to most men) of turning to look at pretty girls in the street. As if this isn't enough he has the radio in his car blaring all the time and Motilal keeps time to the music on his accelerator as he drives along at a terrific speed. He is the only man known to perform this remarkable feat and live to tell the story next day. Motilal had four cars before, but now he has discovered that there is such a word as economy, and this being a novelty to him, he has reduced the number to two. These are an ivory coloured Packard Super 8 and an S.S. Jaguar which is also ivory coloured. HIS VANITY RETINUE His other treasured possessionis are his dogs, and he is completely ruled by them. Perhaps they feed his vanity more than others. They are a St. Bernard called "Roma", two poodles called "Jessie" and "James" and a cocker spaniel called "Jimmy". Occasionally Motilal yearns for the sea but the nearest he comes to I being a sailor is to hire a sailing boat at Apollo Bunder and to row a little and then to lie down in it and go to sleep while the boatmen do , the rest. He likes to feel 100% he-man so he professes to dislike having to make-up for the films. By the way, I he always puts on his own make-up \ and does it very efficiently. He j needs to be efficient at this to coni ceal numerous scars on his face which are legacies from his many accidents. He dislikes make-up on women unless it is hardly visible and he likes women who are intelligent but simple. His wife incidentally, is both of these things. I asked him which actress he liked acting with best, but he said he had no preference. He said, "I don't mind how plain the actress is as long as she acts well. After all beauty lies in sincerity of purpose and that is the kind of beauty I admire most". Next I asked Motilal if he liked his career and what roles he preferred. He said "I wouldn't change my present career for any other and I like playing any role that has depth to it". This Ran.iit star has made film news. He has broken a Hollywood record by acting in seven films in two years. So you can imagine what a wellearned and welcome change his recent one month holiday to Kashmir was. It was his first holiday in seven years and did he enjoy it! He gloried in the natural beauty of Kashmir and the more sophisticated allure of the night spots. But no actor as popular as Motilal can travel through India without being mobbed, and sure enough at Lahore ....he has a bad hahit of tiirning to look at pretty girls in tflie street. and Srinagar he was surrounded by cheering admiring crowds who had somehow found out about his holiday. Our Motilal proved he wasn't as dumb as most playboys by giving quite a fine presidential address at the Artistes' Conference at Lahore. A MOONLIGHT PALMIST Motilal loves ballroom dancing and he and his wife or maybe some other Pavlova may often be seen shaking a mean leg at the C.C.I. He is a rhumba specialist. He is quite a good palmist and reads feminine palms exceptionally well — especially in the moonlight, so his good friend Baburao Patel tells me. I asked Motilal what his vices were and he said "Yes, I know what you're thinking, but I tell you lady, I drink only in moderation, and that only when I'm out with a party of bibulous friends. Smoking is my only vice. I have a novel cigarette case which automatically flicks a cigarette between my lips when I open it. This irresponsible, gay Motilal shies away from any serious discussion and talks in the style of a P. G. Wodehouse character with every sentence punctuated by a joke. He laughs his way through life and through films, and this is what makes him so successful in his light modern roles. If he has a genius, it is a genius for treating the most serious problem lightly and getting away with it. He doesn't even take a grown-up view of the money problem. He believes that everybody should make money but not keep it. May be MDtilal hopes that by the time he is too old to act (perish the thought) there will be some pension fund for all the impoverished one-time actors who followed his theory and didn't save. We hope so for his sake anyway. THE DHOBIE— HIS BEST FRIEND At the moment he is a very successful young man who hopes soon to start his own company and direct his own pictures. He said "I have no inferiority complex where my work is concerned and I feel that with all the handicaps provided by the Indian film industry Indian actors and actresses do better than Hollywood stars would under the same circumstances." Well spoken, young man. But Motilal cannot remain serious for long and so he changed the subject abruptly by saying "I like unusual shoes, that's why I like these I've got on". Here he stuck out his feet and I saw the shoes in question. I thought they were pretty awful because I don't like to see white shoes on men, especially fancy ones like those Motilal had. In fact that was the only jarring note in his getup. Otherwise he looked rather nice. Nice shirt, nice tie, nice suit, all {Con. on page 64) 43