Filmindia (1941)

riLMINDIA November 1941 — or the private life of the author of the article against me — there is not much I can say. But I cannot allow certain observations about my professional career to go unchallenged. The alleged "Pandit Indra" has tried to create the impression that before "filmindia" picked me up from a gutter and for some obscure altruistic journalism, for whom "the film world was a closed book" and for whom 30 rupees for an article was a windfall from heaven, the only means of keeping the wolf away from the door. I hate to blow my own trumpet and I have not the slightest intention of belittling the importance of "filmindia" but, as objective statements of fact, I may mention that: HIS CREDENTIALS Before "filmindia" was even born (in 1934) my articles were appearing in papers like "Review of Reviews" (London); without the "polish and preening at Baburao's expert hands", for many years before I wrote for "filmindia" my contributions have been appearing in "Asia" (New York), "Photoplay" (New York), "Life and Lf.tters Today" (London), besides Indian papers like "Statesman", "Times of India", "Illustrated Weekly", "Pioneer", "Leader", "Hindustan Times", "Bombay Chronicle", etc. (Of course, these names mean nothing to those whose literary horizon is limited to the pages of "filmIndia".); Before the "closed book of films" was revealed to me by "filmindia", I had already worked for a year as Publicity Manager of the Bombay Talkies in which capacity I was instrumental in persuading the executives of that studio to resume advertising in "filmindia"; Before I got used to "Thirty-rupee pickings" from "filmindia", I had received as much as 75 dollars (nearly 300 rupees!!) for a single article from "Asia". And, finally, far from "not knowing that there was any life beyond his paper", the "obscure and starving Ahmad Abbas" had already travelled round the world — at his own expense — shaken hands with Mrs. Roosevelt made friends with Upton Sinclair, Ethel Mannin and Louis Bromfield, lunched at Hollywood studios broadcast to the world from Hollywood and, on his return, written a book about it all. And all this a year ahead of the tour, of the million-dollar personality who retraced Ahmad Abbas' steps the other way about. The alleged "Pandit Indra" seems to be very sore over the fact that some of my scenarios have been taken by different studios. But he should have atleast spared men like Shantaram, Mukherjee, Kardar and Baburao Patel. Does he not insult their intelligence by suggesting Miss Laxmi in "Vana Mohinl" South's best jungle thriller. that they can be "manoeuvred" into buying my stories? And surely it is nothing but stupidity if the author of "Omar Khayyam" raises a mere "clerk" to the status of colleague and collaborator. Not even his worst enemy can accuse Baburao Patel of such rank folly! There are a lot of similar untruths, half-truths and misrepresentations in the article and, according to a lawyer friend, sufficient material for several libel suits. It is a good thing that these shafts of slander were only aimed at me and not at an enemy of "filmindia" otherwise the author of the article had certainly landed India's best and most popular film magazine in a pretty legal mess! "Pandit Indra" makes much of my alleged transition from "a drab chawl near Victoria Gardens" to "a sumptuous flat". It might interest him to know that I continue to live in exactly the same place with the same friends — call it a "drab chawl" or "a sumptuous flat"! WeU, then, Sir, this is my reply. Pandit Indra or whoever he is shall not succeed in provoking me to reply in his own language. (Con. from page 20) give parties for you and all the nice picture papers will have pictures of you looking brave and soon a nice director will come along and say in a humble voice "Would you consider becoming a star" and you'll say in a lofty voice "Perhaps" and immediately all the nice film companies will be fighting for you and waving nice exciting contracts under your aristocratic nose. If you are a strong willed creature and want to approach a director or a producer in a more business like manner, you have two methods from which to choose. HIGH PRESSURE METHOD Either get to know something about his murky past and unearth that skeleton in his cupboard so you can blackmail him into signing a contract, or choose the more direct method and buy yourself a gun and use a little Al Caponic pressure to make him sign that contract. If things get too hot for you and you find the police on your track you can always go and shoot yourself with the gun. Then there will at least have been a drama in your final fade-out. If you try out all these methods and find yourself still working in the same small store on the same small salary, don't be too hard on us because we warned you at the beginning that we didn't know how to be a film star either. If we did we wouldn't be sitting here writing this with our tongue in our cheek. 68