FilmIndia (Feb-Dec 1949)

il, 1949 den date. And yet V. Shantaram shouts that the year 9 belongs to him. That though Manu's magic box is named ' Liberty has still the stink of the British boot the way guests re asked to come in a lounge suit for the inauguration the cinema. That is why perhaps Minister Morarji sai could not be invited. That Editor Baburao Patel refused to attend the inural show saying that he did not possess a lounge t. Editor Patel, of course, doesn't change the coses as frequently as V. Shantaram. That V. Shantaram checked up the list of guests made sure that no ministers were attending bet ore agreed to make an appearance in a lounge suit. The hru jacket would have made a bad mascot for Manu's gic box. That Keki Modi, the theatre multimillionaire, has urned from America, we are told, with a bag full ot ncies from Hollywood. Hope it is not a bag of peats! What a great national service anyway! And nks for returning! We would have missed him so ch. That brother Sohrab Modi seems to have become cretive guy after his marriage. His " Mera Munna '" pt at the Minerva for a week and crept out quietly, d no one even knew about it. That Sohrab seems to have lost all interest in pice production these days the way he is seen takMehtab round the race course and establishing his utation as a great sportsman. That is how Lhandulai ah also began and now his workers are waiting lor bonus promised three years ago. That the theatre multi-millionaire Keki Modi has o purchased some race horses in his wife's name to e Mrs. Modi some compulsory weight reducing exere round the race course. Racing is such a strenuous ercise both for the horses and the horse-owners that perlluous weight becomes so much water in no time. That Keki Modi is very generous that way and ps every one running about till they run out ot sight, t is why we don't see any producers at the Central udios these days. That little Dewan probably exercises s producers too much till they become too slim in purand physique. That the latest landlady amongst film stars is the lar-old Geeta Bali who is reported to have purchased house at Versova. That is a long distance for the softliced Kedar Sharma to go for a mere rehearsal. That another one that is planning and designing a :tle palace of her own is Ranjana. And they say that it income-tax officers are working over-time! That the news of the month is that little Nargis is wadays allowed to go out alone for parties. When m folks met her alone at Kamini Kaushal's birthday irty the other night, they all fell on their knees and :ayed for Jaddan Bai's long life. That even Suraiya was seen alone recently without :r pan-chewing nanny. Times are improving and the rls too! It is such a relief to see overgrown girls gog about without apron strings. That even Munnawar Sultana has a mother who hatIndian pictures but not the money that comes frsro friLM INDIA them. Strangely enough, Munnawar's sister, Suraiya Sultana, also gets a large income from films without making a single screen appearance. Some girls are lucky. That Bombay is definitely going to be a cleaner city from April s/.eing that Pandit Indra, Seth Chandulal's Marwari bard, fias signed up with South India's Vasan for two years. Well, Madras won't be worse than it is already. Can't we send some more to Madras? That with the departure of Pandit Indra, Sardar Chandulal won't have anyone to hear all the diplomatic abuse the generous Sardar showers daily on Editor Patel's head. Why not invite the Editor himslf to hear the music directly once in a while? That Sardar Chandulal need not feel so hopeless about the situation as Pandit Indra has left behind his brother and his son-in-law still working in the Ranjit Studios. These boys can officiate during the absence of Panditji and Chandulal can still exercise his lungs. That following the Soviet principles, the M. & T. (Makhkhan & Toast) have prepared a five-year plan for producing a dozen great hits. The great hits ot the last year were '" Delhi Darwaza " and " Chungroo " both pictures which never travelled outside the covers of " lilmindia ". That while politicians and Congressmen are fast forgetting Candhiji, the film producers have suddenly started showing great regard and affection for the lather of our nation. Like his ashes, which were distributed all over the world, the producers are cutting out bits from his funeral and grafting them to their pictures. Gandbiji has always been good business to film producers and he deserves this tor calling films an evil. That Bapsey Sabavalla does not seem to have liked " Khidki " because her old friend Morarji Desai seems to have liked it. She is now searching for a house without a window so that what she shouts inside can't be heard even by Morarji unless, of course, some little girl goes and reports it to him. In that case busy Bapsey won't mind apologising all over again. That the best way to punish Bapsey for her strong views on pictures and other things is to appoint her on the Censor Board. That is four hours work every morning and after a year of Indian pictures Bapsey won't mind leaving the world in peace. That Vijoo Bhatt has at last passed on his monopoly of Ramayana to Prem Adib the celluloid Ram of India and thus given a fresh lease to our long torture which we thought had ended with the inglorious failure of " Ram Baan ". That Chunibhai Desai of Supreme has suddenly developed a concern for Islam the way he has made new prints of his old junk " Ghazi Salahuddin " for release in Pakistan. Now Chunibhai will be made the next mayor of Karachi and given another dancing '* hoor " as a tease for his old age. That quite a few pictures are changing their names and complexions these days to suit the Islamic climate of the Garden of Allah. The latest to be rechristened is reported to be " Chandrashekhar ". It is called ' Mir Kasim ' and with this name it expects a goodwill passport to Pakistan. Who says that our fiJrn producers don't know business?