FilmIndia (1945)

October, 1945. FILMlNDt A Mr. Svetoslav Roerich, the Russian artist who married Devika Rani glamour boys. I showed him the photograph of the boy with the Charles Boyer look whom "filmindia" had recommended in its July issue. The gentleman went suddenly witty for reasons unknown and remarked "Oh! the camera has got only one eye and the producers can't rely upon it. Tell me some in Bombay." "Whether he has been successful in his mission. I don't know. He didn't turn up since then, though he had promised to come the other day to return the copy of "filmindia" borrowed from me. "But his remark throws light on one of the most important topics. If camera with its one but sure eye cannot be relied upon what brilliant and satisfactory results have these producers put forth v/ith their one thousand and one pairs of eyes? Has India run short of glamour in boys and the best of them which the one thousand and one pairs of eyes have picked up is in the shape of Jairajs, Aruns, Nandrekars and Ullhases etc.! But it is surprising that the very same producers with the same pairs of eyes hit the mark in case of female 'finds'. Almost every day a producer brings up on the horizon of our film industry some new siren. Does it, in any way, show that the girls are of greater utility for the producers than meeting the demands of the screen? If so I'll request and urge "filmindia" to encourage women producers, so that they, too, may discover greater utilities in glamour boys and thus make up the deficiency." BOMBAY. Ikhlas Mustafa Khan. 0UITE WISE "Benares, though being one of the principal cities of India, has got only three Indian cinemas where new pictures are released. Over and above this small number they aie in the habit of showing pictures for a much longer period than necessary. No picture runs there for less than a month; an average run of two months may be safely concluded. The city thus gets only twenty new pictures a year to show. If we assume that a hundred pictures a year are produced in India then Benares will be able to exhibit a single year's production in five years. In short we shall always be seeing old pictures in Benares. "Benares urgently needs four more cinemas at least to show the best of the present productions and, moreover, no picture should be allowed to run for more than a month. But will they listen?" MEERUT. L. D. Tewari. PRAY FOR HER "The stupendous failure of 'Panna Dai' does not seem to have in the least cooled down the zeal of Mrs. Kamlabai Mangalorekar for film ventures. She is reported to have launched upon a fresh production "Rukmini Swayamvar" with the same old staff which let down 'Panna Dai.' Who knows whether the mountain with all its thunders and ramblings will not bring forth another mouse this time also?" LAHORE. Prithi Paul Singh. INTELLIGENCE & PRODUCERS? "Being a student of history, I make it a point to see every historical picture produced in India. It is sad to note that our producers usually make a mess of all such pictures where history is concerned. The wrong presentation of the true facts mislead the masses. By producing such pictures our producers are apt to lose their prestige in the eyes of the intelligentsia. I shall suggest that whenever a historical subject is produced the services of a historian should be procured." MEERUT CANTT. Rahat Ali Khan. SYMPATHY FROM SHARKS ? "In these days mostly all the film fans are complaining for not receiving autographed photos of film stars. Considering the war at our door, it would be rather expensive for stars to send their photos to all film fans. In Hollywood the publicity department handles the huge fan mail and Devika Rani has once again become a bride. She has wedded art — Russian art. this problem is solved by the Studios who take up the entire expense and responsibility of supplying fans with autographed photos. Today our producers are making lakhs of rupees and therefore should they not show a concession to their audiences by supplying autographed photos of the stars who work in their pictures?" DAR-ES-SALAAM. A. Abdulkader. MISGUIDED "It appears our producers are determined to put religion into every picture, whether the film-goer wants it or not. Respect yes, but not this overdose of fervour as is often expressed in music and dialogues alike. The cinema is for entertainment pure and simple and films should be used for that purpose. People don't go to pictures as if they are going to visit a mosque or a temple. There is time and place for that." BOMBAY. Gul. G. Ray. UNFORTUNATE "The indiscreet advertisement of Mehboob's "Humayun" displaying the bogey of communalism has caused a deep consternation among the intelligentsia. It was not expected that a man of Mehboob's calibre would indulge in communalism, which was not visible in the Film Industry. Does Mr. Mehbctab realise that his achievement is all due to the helping hands of 'Artistes', who have made him an Ace-director from a mere gatekeeper? India has already suffered due to the intransigent policy adopted by Mr Jinnah. The communal 'bogey 41