FilmIndia (1945)

February, 1945. Is one artiste usually jealous of another? You bet. Motilal has gone bald thinking of others. K N. PHATAK (Bombay) Marlene Dietrich's ugly leg took the people of Bombay for weeks to see the mediocre picture "Kismet". What is gone wrong with our film-goers? I agree with you that Marlene has an ugly leg and the dance she gave in "Kismet" seemed to me some bastard concoction which belonged neither to the west nor to the east. To our filmgoers anything cheap and frivolous is good diet so long as it is presented well. It is a pity that "Madame Curie", a more sensible picture failed to draw while "Kismet" drew crowds for weeks. I am sure that our film director Kedar Sharma must have seen the picture several times over because of his bare-leg complex. Why is V. M. Vyas producing his picture "Ghar" in Calcutta? To teach the Bengalees what is speed and to show the Bombay people what is quality and incidentally to prove to Baburao Patel that some good can come out from that unholy union known as the DaveVyas pact How did Begum Para impress you in "Chand"? I am so much impressed that I can't rise again. I wonder when the weight would be lifted. Are you fond of poetry? Not when it is written by either Madhok or Pradeep. The former reshuffles the same words while the latter writes a prosaic oration and calls it a lyric. Hasn't Manjula done good work in "Gaali"? Oh yes, but she has not nursed the secret of the director. With childish innocence she let the people see the spots where Director Chowdhary had touched her, thereby turning her success into a director's triumph. R. S. DAVID (Alibag) My "jatwalla" David impresses as 'Shakuni' because of your fine direction in "Draupadi". Don't you think so? I didn't know that David was your "jatwalla". I had always thought that he belonged to my community. Now that I have discovered that he is your "jatwalla", I don't mind taking the credit as his director. Previously I had given him all the credit because of his talent and hard work but that was before blighters like you stepped out to claim him. M. E. BEN DUE (Matunga) Will "J war Bhata" complete a silver jubilee in Bombay? If "P. P. A. Dera" will be carried to a silver jubilee why shouldn't "Jwar Bhata" get the doubtful honour? Do you think "Humayun" will be a great success? Director Mehboob is likely to make "Humayun" a spectacular picture and perhaps a good one. But I doubt whether it will be a great box-office success, because no one is really interested in the FILM INDIA stories of these Moghul emperors. Recent failures were "Shahenshah Babar" and "Shahenshah Akbar" and I don't think "Humayun", the son of one and the father of other will draw more crowds. Biographical pictures of emperors always bore a bit. May I know how many people know of "Vikramaditya" for Prakash to risk so much money on the production? What benefit will they get out of a subject like that? Judge Champaklal Mody will claim the premiere earnings for his "Vikramaditya Memorial" and flatter Vijoo Bhatt by calling him the greatest director of all ages. The average pan-chewing miyan with 'bidi' in his mouth will stand before the Super Talkies and wonder whether Vikramaditya was a saint or a dancer. The eight Evergreens will be more interested in the gold coinage of the ancient Emperor than in his great deeds. They must be wondering whether Vijoo's historical excavation will yield them some buried treasure. K. Ahmed Abbas will want to know whether Vikramaditya was a man or a woman as surely as he enquired from me who was Draupadi. Altogether the picture should have educational value as many people will learn different things from it and little Vijoo will have to find new parties to present him with gold medals. Why have you mentioned that song, "Mare Passe Passe Awe", etc., as the one to be sung by Jamshed Wadia in "Piyamilan"? I have thousands of Parsees as good friends of mine and whenever I have asked several of them to sing an Indian song, they have always sung Nagendra Mujumdar gives a good performance in "Bhartrihari", a Navin picture. 35