SILENT FILMS ACTRESS / EARLY BOLLYWOOD IN INDIA
Innovative roles of women in Indian films, especially mainstream cinema, are very few. However, some creative directors, working within the mainstream format, have given us some wonderful characters. Several Women Centric Films were made in the early days of Indian cinema. Strong female roles have also been witnessed in parallel cinema. Thus, several filmmakers right from the inception of Indian films, till date, have earnestly tried to portray women in a dignified, realistic, and an intriguing way and have succeeded considerably. Of the recent genre, many filmmakers have given us the best of such women centric films.
Bollywood ActressesSulochana (1907-83)
Sulochana, a former telephone operator, went on to become the highest paid actress of her day. Her finest period was with Imperial Studios where her on-screen pairing with Dinshaw Billimoria was especially popular. They were among the few stars to successfully transit to talkies. The most famous of her films, Wild Cat of Bombay, saw her in eight guises/characters including a gardener and a street brat. Her virtuosity knew no limits and she could have had no better vehicle for her talent. The sound films at Imperial were mainly remakes of her films, Wild Cat of Bombay (1927) was remade as Bambai Ki Billi (1936), Madhuri (1928) reappeared in sound in 1932, Anarkali (1928) was remade in 1935, and the hit film Indira BA (1929) became Indira MA (1934). Sulochana launched Rubi Pics in the mid 1930s which marked her retirement from acting. Ismail Merchant's Mahatma and the Mad Boy (1974) included a tribute to this greatest of the silent screen stars.
Bollywood ActressesSeeta Devi (1912)
Born as Renee Smith, Seeta Devi became a star with Himansu Rai's Prem Sanyas (1925), receiving accolades for her performance and bearing. Seeta Devi's roles in Shiraz (1928) and Prapancha Pash (1929) established her firmly, but many continued to believe that she and her sister Percy Smith alternately appeared on screen as Seeta Devi.
Zubeida (1911-90)
Zubeida was the princess who became a star. She was the daughter of the Nawab of Sachin and Fatima Begum, actress and India's first lady director. One of Zubeida's sisters, Sultana, was also a star while the other, Shahzadi, appeared in films as a teenager. She commenced her acting career at Kohinoor Studios, at the age of 12. Her finest work was for Kohinoor and Laxmi studios, although she did freelance with other studios. She honed the role of the 'pure' courtesan to perfection. Her limpid posture and soft uncertain voice became a tradition continued by Meena Kumari in Pakeezah (1971). Veer Abhimanyu (1922), Gul-e-Bakavali (1924), Indrasabha (1925) and the films directed by her mother Bulbul-e-Paristan (1926), Heer Ranjha (1928) and Milan Dinar are her finest performances. Zubeida played the lead in India's first sound film Alam Ara (1931). In 1934 Zubeida, together with Nanubhai Vakil, launched Mahalakshmi Cinetone. By the late 30s, at the height of her stardom, she had retired, appearing in the rare films thereafter.
Bollywood ActressesPatience Cooper (1905 -83)
Cooper is credited with the first double roles of Indian cinema, as twin sisters in Patni Pratap and as mother and daughter in Kashmiri Sundari. She was a dancer with Bandman's Musical Comedy before her contract with Madan Theatres. Her career followed a smooth pace and she remained at the top till dethroned by Sulochana. Her famous films are Nala Damayanti (1920), Dhruva Charitra (1921), Laila Majnu and Princess Budur (both in 1922), Bilwamangal and Alibaba and the Forty Thieves (both in 1932), Zehari Saap (1933), Khyber Pass (1936), and Iraada (1944). She was usually given the roles of innocent women troubled by the men of her lives. Cooper moreover had the colouring and sharp features that allowed the use of eye-level lighting, rarely used in India.
Bollywood ActressesDevika Rani
The icon of the Thirties and Forties, Devika Rani was the first 'Dream Girl' and the first 'First Lady' of the Indian Screen. This daughter of Colonel Choudhury, later Surgeon General Choudhury, and the grandniece of Rabindranath Tagore was one of the few truly charismatic stars of the world. Her career preference, architecture, led to her involvement with Himansu Rai's film 'A Throw of Dice' as set designer. They married in 1929 towards the end of the film's shooting and the two proceeded to Germany in connection with the film. At UFA, she learned almost everything connected to film making, as well as the diverse and finer points of acting from the producer Max Reinhardt.
She also interacted with Marlene Dietrich on the sets of The Blue Angel. Her diction, perfected at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and Cheltenham College, England, stood her in good stead as star. She was perfect in acting, appearance and speech. Films like Achhut Kanya expressed her skills and set standards of performance and costume. Her attire as the village girl became the norm for all such roles. The public loved her, as did the Press.
Rai and Rani set up Bombay Talkies in 1934 and she was the star as well as controller of productions. After Rai's death, she took the reins of the studio into her hands, maintaining the standards that the audience now expected of their films. In 1945, she married Svetoslav Roerich, the Russian artist settled in India. But the world and the film industry did not forget her - she received the Padma Shri in 1958 from the President of the country and was the first to be honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1970 for her contribution to the Indian film industry. In 1978, Devika Rani was awarded the Bulgarian Medal of Honour and a special award in 1981 from the Indian Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Nargis
Nargis was born at Allahabad with the name Fatima Rashid. She was the daughter of actress, singer and filmmaker Jaddanbai. At the age of five, her mother introduced her as a child star named Baby Rani. Her screen name was an inspired choice for the fragrant white flower she was named after could well be said to sum up her career. As an actress and star, she had few rivals. Her film career began with Talash-e-Haq as Baby Rani at the tender age of 5 years.
Meena Kumari
Meena Kumari, real name Mahajabeen Ali Bux, was the daughter of the Parsee theatre actor and music teacher Ali Bux and the dancer Iqbal Begum. Having hit upon hard times and living near Rooptara Studios, Ali Bux sought to get his daughters into films. Mahjabeen entered films as Baby Meena in Vijay Bhatt's Leatherface (1939). Her screen name was given to her for the film Baiju Bawra (1952).
Bollywood ActressesNalini Jaywant
Nalini Jaywant was a child actress who went on to become one of India's favourites. Nalini Jaywant was voted as the most photogenic actress by cameramen for a Filmfare poll. Her pixie face and charm captured hearts countrywide. Her singing career commenced with the film Radhika (1941), but the actress in her took precedence over the songstress. One film that brought forth both her talents was Mehboob Khan's Bahen where she played the sister who dealt with the theme of incest and sang the giveaway song 'Nahin khate hain bhaiya mera paan'. Films like Samadhi and Sangram in 1950, Raahi (1952), Munimji (1955), and Awaaz (1956) for Zia Sarhadi, and working with directors like Bimal Roy and Ramesh Saigal, helped her evolution as an actress. Her realism soon came to the fore, the restrained performances of the past giving way to a freer style as seen in Navketan's hit suspense film, Kala Paani (1958). The film testified her talent where she co-starred with Dev Anand and Madhubala, both formidable screen presences.
Smita Patil
Smita Patil was a leading Bollywood actress from the 1970s to the 1980s in both Hindi and Marathi cinema. Her unconventional beauty and arresting screen presence made her the undying symbol of the new wave cinema in India. Born at Pune, Smita Patil worked as a news reader and was also an accomplished photographer when Shyam Benegal discovered her.
Shabana Azmi
Actress and star, Shabana Azmi is synonymous with riveting performances that lift the film right off celluloid, as real as life. Her finest roles have been in the genre known as New Indian Cinema (or Art house Cinema). This was not surprising considering her parentage. Her father, Kaifi Azmi was a highly respected poet and film lyricist and her mother, Shaukat Azmi was a noted stage actress.
Hema Malini
Hema Malini was born into a Brahmin Iyengar family. Hema first tried to enter films in 1964, but was rejected by a Tamil director Sridhar saying that she had no star appeal. However, she was adamant to make it big and hence entered Bollywood with her first movie Sapnon Ka Saudagar (1968), playing a young teen opposite the ageing superstar Raj Kapoor. Paired opposite Dev Anand in Johnny Mera Naam (1970) and with Dharmendra in Seeta aur Geeta (1972), Hema immediately became one of the industry's favourite sought after stars. She was the top female star in Bollywood and became one of the reigning divas of the Bollywood film industry. Her fans called her 'The Dream Girl' of Bollywood.
Jaya Bachchan
Jaya Bachchan, is a Bollywood actress. She is an alumna of the Film and Television Institute of India. Jaya is married to actor Amitabh Bachchan. Jaya was born to Indira and Taroon Kumar Bhaduri, writer, journalist and stage artist. She studied in St. Joseph's Convent School, Bhopal. She started her career with a small role in Satyajit Ray's Mahanagar at the age of 15. After initial success in her native West Bengal, she became a success after the movie Guddi in which she played a schoolgirl obsessed with film star Dharmendra. After this she moved to Mumbai and starred in many Hindi films.
The other famous Actress of Bollywood are Aishwarya Rai , Diana Hayden, Lara Dutta, Sushmita Sen, Yukta Mookhey, Priyanka Chopra, Divya Dutt, Kashmira Shah, Katrina Kaif, Aruna Irani, Gracy Singh, etc.
The story of Fatma Begum, India’s first woman film director
While pulling out playback singer Shamshad Begum’s version of Katiya Karoon, we at TCRC realised that she was one of the earliest female playback singers in the Hindi film industry. This set us off on a search for India’s first woman film director and led us to this interesting piece on Fatma Begum, written by Rohit Vats for IBN Live as a part of their “100 years of Indian cinema” series. Here’s an excerpt from that piece (click here to read the entire story):
Born in an Urdu speaking family, Fatma Begum was related to Nawab Sidi Ibrahim Muhammad Yakut Khan III. She was the mother of Zubeida, Sultana and Shehzadi, who were popular actors of the silent era. She started working in films in 1922 after getting trained in plays. Fatma worked with filmmakers like Ardeshir Irani and Nanubhai Desai before founding her own production company Fatma Films which was later rechristened as Victoria-Fatma Films. ‘Bulbul-E-Paristan’ that released in 1926, became the first Indian film to be directed by a female director. However, acting remained on her wish list and she continued to act till late 1930s.”
Ardeshir Irani, who Fatma worked with as an actor, incidentally is the father of Indian talkie films, having made both “Alam Ara” (in Hindi) and “Kalidas” (in Tamil, with songs in Telugu).
We also tried to find an image of Fatma Begum on the web. While we did come across few images, we couldn’t confirm the veracity of any of them. The Whistling Woods (a film school in Mumbai) blog, for instance, features this picture:
Fatma Begum, India’s first woman film director.
Cineplot Enyclopedia, on the other hand, features this image:
Fatma Begum, India’s first woman film director.
Clearly different people, don’t you think? It is interesting (and worrisome) to note that the internet doesn’t have a single undisputed image of the first woman director in one of the world’s largest film industries. On days like these, we at TCRC find renewed vigour in our attempt to archive cinema-related artifacts. Have you found other such examples with respect to information about the early days of cinema? Do share them with us by writing to tcrc.india[at]gmail[dot]com.
LIFE STORY OF SHAH RUKH KHAN
Here is my new attempt. The Life Story of Shah Rukh Khan. I started to write for Japanese readers since there are only few information of him available in Japanese . I know it has no meaning for international readers because there are numerous of such stories covered in English . So, this is just for my own sake to organize his biography and digest the information as well as the writing exercise.
The story is based on several books, interviews and documentaries. Some of them I don't even remember where I got from. So please forgive me if there are, and I'm sure there are lots, any inaccuracy or inappropriate parts. Please take it as a light-hearted attempt of an indiscreet SRK fan.
Here comes "The Life Story of Shah Rukh Khan #1" …
Meer Taj Mohammad Khan, Shah Rukh's father was a beautiful man with tall slim figure, fair skin and bright eyes. He was born in 1928 as the sixth child in a Pathan family who lived near the Qissa Khawani Bazaar(Story teller's Bazaar) in Peshawar. Peshawar was a part of the Indian Empire and ruled by the British Government back then. Meer joined the independent movement from very young age following his brothers. But the family decided to send Meer to Delhi for further study in order to get the Lawyer's certificate. Meer was 18 years old.
Next year, in 1947, the independent movement succeeded but those who wished to establish a Muslim country separated from India was determined and they created Pakistan against the wish of Gandhi and Nehru.
At the border, there were two long long processions of people crossing each other. One was Hindus heading India from Pakistan and the other was Muslims heading Pakistan from India. They left home leaving everything behind.
Peshawar is in Pakistan side and Meer's family was Muslim. However, they were persecuted by the new government because they acted against separation until last minute. Meer's eldest brother was imprisoned for seven long years since the separation. Meer's name was also on the black list and he was refused to enter Pakistan at the border. Then the India Pakistan war had started and Meer Taj lost his home town at the age of 19.
Muslims remained in India were then having hard time with the Hindu fundamentalists attacking them. Meer studying in Delhi was also in danger. His classmates slept around him in a circle to protect him in the dormitory.
Meer attained his lawyer's degree when he was 21 but he never became a lawyer. Nor he didn't become a politician even though he had many offers and actively worked as one of the freedom fighters.Meer was romantic dreamer and idealist, extremely honest person. He had a great sense of humor and was liked by many but rather introverted. Not quite relevant for lawyer or politician but for a poet. He failed in some businesses for he couldn't be tactfully diplomatic or act smart.
When he was around 25, he headed for Mumbai to become an actor just like his own son. The legendary film Mughal-E-Azam was in production and he took audition of a role. When Meer was working in the politics, there were many ladies came to join his political group attracted to Meer's charm. But he couldn't get the role and he was informed to stand in the line of junior artists, extras. I guess he was too proud to either ask for the support from his powerful politician friends or successful actors from his hometown such as Dilip Kumar. He could not settle for a junior artist and strive. He eventually got sick and returned to Delhi one year later.
One day when he was 29, he saw a terrible car accident while walking near the Indian Gate with his friend. The driver crawled out and fled away from the rolled over car. Meer and his friend Major General Shah Nawaz Khan rescued women from the ruined car. One of them was 16 year old Latif Fatima Begum who had burning eyes of passion and charming dimples.
The love story of SRK's parents sounds almost too dramatic to believe. More dramatic than some novels or Bollywood films. It could be exaggerated for Meer is from "The Story Teller's Lane" in Peshawar. Anyway, this is the believed story of their courtship.
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Meer fell in love with Fatima at first sight. Rescued Fatima was severely injured and she was admitted to a hospital right away. She needed blood transmission. As a matter of course, Meer's blood type matched hers and he donated his blood. Surprisingly, Fatima's mother then pregnant with her fifth child miscarried the baby due to the shock she got from her daughter's accident. Meer very generously donated his blood to her as well.
Lateef Fatima Begum was a daughter of a middle class engineer's family in Bangalore. She had Begum in her maiden name which allegedly represents a Muslim female with higher social status. Her family was apparently wealthy. She was in Delhi for extended education but she was already engaged then. Her fiance was a cricketer, Abbas Ali Baig. Their engagement might have been arranged by both families for Begum and Baig makes balanced pair.
On the other hand, Meer had no family, no money neither proper job. Fatima's parent was bewildered to hear the proposal from the man who rescued two members of the family. They even murmured "Since he donated his blood to Fatima, he and Fatima became a brother and a sister, so you'd better not marry."
However, Fatima already had started to love this romantic tall man with gray eyes Her will was strong enough to convince their parents and relatives. They were finally granted to marry. Fatima became a step daughter of General Shah Nawaz Khan who was with Meer on the day of the accident. It may have been done in order to level their family status I assume. Anyway, they were finally married. Fatima was 19, Meer was 30. Meer blushed like a bride as some of the guests remembers.
Meer and Fatima were as different as night and day. Meer was tall, fair and calm. Fatima was small and plump, as lively as a morning bird. According to SRK they were like following.
"My mother would walk into a party, fight, talk or joke and become the center of attention. My father on the other hand, would sits in a corner, do his bit and go."
What's interesting is that we can clearly see the both qualities in their son.
Well, Meer and Fatima finally could marry but their financial situation was rather weak. He then had a transportation company but he was too honest to sustain the business successfully. He tried several different jobs and sometimes made small success but generally speaking, he was a better poet than a businessman. Fatima took substantial part for the financial stability of the family. Fatima used describe Meer as "Honest Failure" for he maintained his honesty no matter how badly betrayed. But SRK described him as "Successful Failure" for he could spend much time with children and taught valuable lessons.
1960, their first child Shehnaz Lala Rukh was born. And on the second of November 1965, our hero Shah Rukh was born. "Noble cheek of red flower", "Face of the King" were the meaning of their names. The names were allegedly from the horses Meer loved when he was in Peshawar but this could be another fantasy of our tall and handsome story teller.
Shah Rukh's birth was not easy. He had umbilical cord tangled around his neck. It could have been fatal or have led to functional disability but he finally came out without any harm. The nurse said "He must be blessed by Hanumanji."
As shown above, baby Shah Rukh was so adorable. He was very lively and naughty but same time, he could spend hours playing his toy piano by himself. One day when he was about three years old, he had been well behaved so Fatima went out for chore. Then a poison snake came into the room. Rajendra Nagar, where they lived then was jungle and residence still mixed and it wasn't unusual for snakes to come into the houses. When Fatima came home, she found Shah Rukh spilling milk around him to avoid the snake to get closer.
He had series of accidents and diseases. He harmed his back muscle, had malaria, and was frequently bitten by dogs. If I was his mother, I would have been so anxious and stressed to protect his safety. He did pranks and some dangerous experiments like melting Fatima's bangles. At bed time, Meer told him stories. Most of the stories were not fantasy but the true stories of strong willed freedom fighters he knew.
They spent some summers at luxurious house of Fatima's parents' in Bangalore. Though Meer did not join. Shah Rukh sang and danced to the tunes there. Aunts who were watching predicted correctly. "He will be such a lady killer."
6 Grand Father Iftikhar Ahmed with SRK, Lala Rukh and cousin Tasneem Fatima.jpg
Shah Rukh has been maintaining great love and respect towards women since his childhood. His oldest memory is of himself sitting on the fence blowing kisses to the pretty girls passing by. "Hey, sweetheart!"
One day, a girl of 17 to 18 years old came to their house and complained to Meer.
"Your son blows kisses to me."
Meer naturally thought she was confusing with a teenage boy living next door.
"My son is only a small child, dear. You must be coming to a wrong house."
Then Shah Rukh, who had just finished taking a bath came. As soon as he saw the girl, he blew a kiss saying
"Hey, sweetheart!"
You can imagine how Meer was astonished.
No wonder SRK blows kisses so well and always refer to the women as "sweetheart" or "darling" affectionately. No matter If she was an actress, a fan or a staff at a fast food shop.
Another day, an angry looking middle aged woman came.
"Your son whistles and troubles my daughter when she walks by"
Meer responded.
"If your daughter was as attractive as her mother, I wouldn't blame on my son."
The lady withdrew smiling.
I'm 100% sure SRK took over his father's wit at fullest.
Shah Rukh had a happy childhood in Delhi. He was an exceptionally bright, active child and deeply loved by his parents. Although they didn't have much of material luxury, he imbibed honesty, courtesy and Intelligent humour from his father, affection, passion and value of hard work from his mother. Meer was running a cafe and petrol station at some point. He was fluent in six different languages such as English, Pushtu, Hindi, Urdu and could speak to the customers in their mother tongue. The cafe business brought humble success thanks to his talent and knowledge.
Meer and Fatima had difference in how they perceive material luxury. However, they both loved children, helped others and treated friends with abundance. They often had feast of Hyderabad and Peshawar dishes abrim on the table. Shah Rukh was fed by Fatima's fingers mixing food and brought to mouth until quite grown up. He was absolutely doted on.
Their religious education was not very strict. They didn't force him five times of Namaaz but the value of Islam was thoroughly conveyed. "Islam means Tolerance" Meer often said. He introduced vast Islamic culture to SRK. Among which was Urdu poems. Meer recited many of great Islamic poets to his son. It led Shah Rukh to write his own poems from early age.
One of his poem goes...
Parinde udthe hain main dekhta hoon
Log chalte hain main dekhta hoon
Apne huliye ko dekh kar main rota hoon
Kise kya malum main kin sapnon main khota hoon
I watch as the birds fly
I watch as the people walk
I watch myself and cry
Who knows what dream I myself lose
Shah Rukh's poems pleased Meer and he wrote down all of his son's work in a small notebook. Shah Rukh still treasures this notebook with him.
SRK also took part in Ram Leela when he was a child. He acted a monkey soldier of Hanuman. The play extended to 2 or 3 in the morning but his parents allowed it and Shah Rukh had a great time catching bananas acting monkey. He also did some mimic show and poem reading. He even got paid 500 rupees. It was the first paid performance of his career as an actor.
ramlila..jpg
Shah Rukh started to attend St. Columba's, the all boy school run by Irish brothers. The lessons were taught in English and there was subjects like Christian theology. So Shah Rukh learned Islam from his parents, Hindu culture in the neighborhood and Christianity from the school. It was Meer's intention. He told Shah Rukh "you should learn many different religions in many different languages. It will make you respect other religion and also make you proudly Islamic."
FIROZA BEGAM, THE SINGING BIRD
Firoza Begum ,the singing bird was born in Gopalganj on July 28, 1930 to the zamindars of Ratail Ghonaparha. Her father was Khan Bahadur Mohammad Ismail, mother Begum Kaokabunnesa.
At that time it was almost unthinkable for a Bengali Muslim girl to be allowed to train in music. But even before she was ten, National Poet Nazrul Islam was impressed by her vocal talent. They met when Firoza was auditioning at the HMV, at the encouragement of All India Radio's Sunil Bose.
She was the artist with whom Nazrul began his single long play records.
Nazrul was then the chief trainer of HMV. Even when she was in class VI, she set her place in the hearts of Bengali audience by singing two Nazrul songs in the All India Radio. Her first record was published in 1942 from HMV when she was 12.
In the illustrious career that followed, Firoza sang Rabindra Sangeet, "Adhunik Bangla" songs, Gazhal, Kawali and Bhajan for her audience. She performed around 300 solo concerts.
In 1956, Firoza married Kamal Dasgupta, who had been a composer for at least a third of the national poet's songs.
Firoza has been the winner of the Independence Day Award, among numerous other honours.
After Kamal Dasgupta passed away in 1974, she married musician Mansur Ahmed.
Firoza left behind her three sons Tahsin, Hamin and Shafin.
Firoja Begum had been suffering from kidney complications and a heart problem. She was admitted to the hospital on Monday morning with kidney complications.
Family members and musicians Hamin and Shafin Ahmed, Firoza's sons, were present at the hospital at this time.
The crownless queen of Najrul Sangeet, the legend Firoza Begum is no more. She has passed away at Apollo Hospital, Dhaka, around 8:30pm,Tuesday at the age of 84.
Hamin Ahmed said his mother's remains would be preserved at the hospital for the night. She will be taken to her Indira Road home in the morning.
Firoja Begum will be taken to the Central Shaheed Minar at 2pm Wednesday for people to pay their respects until 4pm.
A Namaj-e-Janaza will be held in the afternoon at the Azad Mosque in Gulshan and Firoza Begum will be laid to rest at the Banani graveyard.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have expressed their grief at her death. BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, Finance Minister AMA Muhith also mourned her death in statements.
JEWS ACTRESS ,IN INDIA ,HIDED THEIR IDENTIDIES IN SILENT FILMS ERA
jewish women were Indian cinema's first actresses
Jewish women were an integral part of early Indian cinema, especially the silent era
The Indian Cinema owes a deep debt of gratitude to the Baghdadi Jewish community for its women among all the communities in India were the first to act in films, at a great risk to their reputation, at a time when the participation of women in performing arts was a taboo. During the silent era, most of India’s film stars were Jewish. But they, except a few, could not continue with their successful careers, once the talkies were introduced as they were incapable of delivering dialogues in Hindi because of their Anglicized upbringing.
In this photo-essay, first published on Café Dissensus in December 2014 under the title “Indian Jews in Cinema”, Kenneth X. Robbins draws our attention to the Jewish contributions to Indian cinema. It has been reproduced in full with the permission of the Editors at Café Dissensus.
Indian stamp issued in 2013 in honor of Sulochana (Ruby Meyers). She was a Bagdadi Jew from Poona.
Sulochana
The great actress Sulochana was recently commemorated on an Indian stamp. Since a number of Indian Jews performed and worked in the movie industry, I have decided to follow up the recently published Jews and the Indian National Art Project and Western Jews in India with a volume dealing with this subject. The illustrations are from my ever-growing archival collection.
This article is written to encourage people to email me at rajanawab@comcast.net with information, ideas, documents, and movie memorabilia. As with the previous two volumes, the conclusions will surely emerge after the work is collated.
The study of Jewish artists, art scholars, art critics, and architects in South Asia had confirmed the words of Hermann Goetz: “Part of the most representative artists of every nation prove to be foreigners or semi-foreigners, or at least people with very strong family or cultural links with other countries”. Many of the Jews involved in the Indian art world were Western Jews, but almost no non-Indian Jews played prominent roles in the Indian movie industry. Art can be seen without recognizing his image, but an actor must be seen in a film and must be convincing as an Indian.
Joan Roth’s photograph of the actress Nadira with Jewish star and statue of Devimahatmya behind her.
The actors were mostly Baghdadi Jewish women and the rest were from the Bene Israel community, not the Cochini community. That community was small, did not speak Hindi or Urdu, and lived far from the film making cities of Bombay and Calcutta. A single Baghdadi family contributed greatly to Indian films, by giving us the actress-producer Pramila (Esther Victoria Abraham), her sister the actress Romila (Sophie Abraham), and her cousin the starlet Rose (Rose Musleah). Pramila’s son Haider Ali is an actor, who is best known as the co-writer of the blockbuster film Jodhaa Akbar.
The actress-producer Pramila was also the first Miss India.
Pramila
Baghdadi Jewish actresses were known by single Western names (Lillian, Rose), Hindu names (Arati Devi, Pramila, Sulochana) or Muslim names (Firoza Begum, Nadira) rather than the ones identifying them as Jews. Lillian’s birth name was Lillian Ezra.
In India, the Bene Israel often referred to themselves in two ways. They used one or two “Biblical” names or “Biblical” names followed by a “Maharashtrian” surname identifying their ancestral Konkani village. In the movies, they were billed as David or David Abraham rather than David Abraham Cheulkar or Joseph David rather than Joseph David Penkar.
Simply identifying Jews has not been easy. Asha Bhende (once Lily Ezekiel) and Pearl Padamsee (whose mother was a Baghdadi Jew) are actresses who have used the last names of their non-Jewish husbands. Asha Bhende was also a prominent academic, whose works include Demographic and Socio Economic Characteristics of Jews in India.
Actresses like Zeenat Amat and Helen were not Jewish as some think. The backgrounds of Azurie, Leela Chitnis, Patience Cooper, Ermeline, Rinku Jaiswal, Kitty Kelly, Kamlesh Kumari, and Sabita Devi are contested even today and I seek more information about them. Was Vimala, whose birth name was Marcia Solomon and who is never mentioned in the discourse on Jewish actresses, Jewish?
The image from a movie of a Jewish women dancing before Arab Muslims? The actress Helen was not Jewish.
Is this just a lack of information or does it relate to what Priti Ramamurthy called the “interracial origins, and fluid minority religious affiliations” of Anglo-Indian and Baghdadi actresses”? As small minority groups, Diaspora Jews have had to deal with ever-changing political currents and life experiences beyond their own communities. Therefore, it is not surprising to find Jewish actresses in parts dealing with the redefinition of gender roles in a modernizing India dealing with colonial hegemony and the need to integrate many very diverse communities into an emerging national narrative.
On the Indian stage, female parts were acted by men and no respectable woman was seen. As Ramamurthy put it, “racial differentiation was both the condition for women to enter a disreputable profession and the condition for reworking it.” In some cases, Anglo-Indian and Baghdadi Jewish actresses may have been favored for their lighter skin tones.
Arati Devi in Punarianma: A Life Divine. When Rachel Sofaer’s father fell on hard times financially, he permitted his daughter to act under the name Arati Devi. She was accompanied to the set by her mother and married a proper Baghdadi Jewish man in 1933 at age 21, never again acting in a film. Her cousin Abraham Sofaer became a Hollywood character actor.
They played cosmopolitan Indian modern women, who could exercise individual autonomy, be seductive, enter the public domain, and work outside home. They could become another person by changing their clothing, by simply wearing a dress or sari. In Wildcat of Bombay, Sulochana played eight roles ranging from a Hyderabadi gentleman to a European blonde. Some actresses were also assertive off-the screen as both Pramila and Sulochana had their own production companies.
Rose in Western and Indian dress
Neepa Majumdar has discerned a big change in talkie remakes of Sulochana’s silent movies since they placed her “in roles that staged her regulation into norms of Hindu womanhood” rather than those testing limits for women’s activities. Later storylines tended to make a nationalistic contrast between the “good Indian woman” (= mother and companion-wife) and the “bad” over sexualized Westernized “vamp”, whose ethnicity and “race” were seen as more “fluid”.
Nadira in The Guru.
The Baghdadi Jewish actresses Nadira and Pramila were known for such roles. As C.S. Lakshmi put it: “Pramila’s death signifies the end of an era of films that had women and the nation as their core concerns. It was an era that was trying to deal with the educated, independent woman who was considered ‘modern’ by placing her in opposition to a Bharat Nari they were trying to create. Pramila was almost always cast as the educated woman who still had to understand the true values of Bharat. She was the woman who played the piano and fluttered her eyes at the hero. Despite the negativity, such roles put her in, Pramila, with her wit and charm, always managed to outshine the heroine trying to portray the ‘true’ Indian woman.”
The ability to move between different worlds was an asset to Jewish writers and film-makers. Joseph David Penkar was a prolific playwright, screenwriter, director, and lyricist. He wrote and directed in Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, and Urdu while being fluent in Hebrew and English. Like many other members of the Bene Israel community, he lived in the cosmopolitan environment of Bombay without losing either his Jewish or Indian roots.
On the other hand, R. J. Minney and many other Baghdadi Jews in India did not see themselves as Indians. Minney was a biographer, writer, screenwriter, film producer, and journalist best known for books written in English in the voice of an Englishman and films like Clive of India made in Britain and Hollywood. Some Baghdadis like the prolific film maker Ezra Mir did emphasize their Indian roots. He returned from Hollywood to make major films like Noorjehan and Zarina as well as hundreds of documentaries.
Photograph courtesy of Nissim Moses. The book will also deal with Jewish film critics, technicians, musicians, directors, and choreographers, dramatists, and film makers.
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci Ranked #6
on Maxim magazine's Hot 50 Women of 1999 list.
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci
Born September 30, 1964 in Città di Castello, Umbria, Italy
Birth Name Monica Anna Maria Bellucci
Height 5' 7¼" (1.71 m)
Mini Bio (1)
Monica Anna Maria Bellucci was born on September 30, 1964 in the Italian village of Città di Castello, Umbria, the only child of Brunella Briganti and Pasquale Bellucci. She originally pursued a career in the legal profession. While attending the University of Perugia, she modeled on the side to earn money for school, and this led to her modeling career. In 1988, she moved to one of Europe's fashion centers, Milan, and joined Elite Model Management. Although enjoying great success as a model, she made her acting debut on television in 1990, and her American film debut in Bram Stoker's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). Her role in the French thriller The Apartment (1996), shot her to stardom as she won the French equivalent of an Oscar nomination. Other credits include Malèna (2000), Under Suspicion (2000) and Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001).
- IMDb Mini Biography By: anonymous
Spouse (2)
Vincent Cassel (3 August 1999 - 26 August 2013) (divorced) (2 children)
Claudio Carlos Basso (3 January 1990 - 25 June 1994) (divorced)
Trade Mark (3)
Natural brunette hair
Voluptuous figure
Deep, sultry voice
Trivia (42)
She appeared in a black and white TV commercial for Dolce & Gabbana. The director was Giuseppe Tornatore, who also directed her in the movie Malèna (2000).
Is fluent in Italian, English, French, Persian and Spanish. She also speaks a little Portuguese that she learned when she moved to Rio de Janeiro in 2013.
Daughter-in-law of Jean-Pierre Cassel.
Made a nude calendar for the Italian magazine Max in 1998 and another one for the Italian magazine GQ in 2000.
Was originally cast as Mina Harker in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) but had to drop out due to a scheduling conflict. The role then went to Peta Wilson.
Studied jurisprudence for a short time.
Gave birth to her 1st child at age 39, a daughter Deva Cassel on September 12, 2004. Child's father is her now estranged 2nd husband, Vincent Cassel.
She was elected the most beautiful woman in the world by French viewers on a television show "La Plus belle femme du monde" on November 8, 2004.
Also a successful fashion model represented by Elite and Storm Model Management.
Her favourite poem is "A Silvia" by Giacomo Leopardi.
Has her lookalike puppet on the French comedy show Les guignols de l'info (1988).
Ranked #6 on Maxim magazine's Hot 50 Women of 1999 list.
Ranked #9 on Maxim magazine's Hot 100 Women of 2002 list.
Ranked #1 in Ask men's top 99 "most desirable" women of 2002.
Is an Italian citizen.
Favorite movie is A Special Day (1977) by Ettore Scola.
Her role as Chantal Hearst in Under Suspicion (2000) was held by Romy Schneider in the original film Garde à vue (1981).
Owns an apartment in London, England.
Doesn't always live with her husband Vincent Cassel, for avoiding routine, the two live in separate apartments. she lives most of the time in Rome and he lives in Paris.
Bellucci is a typical surname from center Italy, it comes from the Latin word "Bellutus", and has the same root as surnames like Belluto, Belluti, Belluzzo, Belluccio, or the aristocratic surname of Belluzzi.
She speaks to her daughter Deva Cassel in Italian.
She has said in an interview that Sophia Loren and Claudia Cardinale have inspired her acting career.
Ranked #89 in FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement.
Is a member of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.
Is a supporter of the Italian football team.
Has a wax statue in the Grevin Museum in Paris.
Her parents are Luigi Bellucci and Maria Gustinelli.
She's an only child.
Ranked #5 on E! Entertainment Networks list of "101 Sexiest Celebrity Bodies" list of 2006.
Attended University of Perugia.
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#35) (2007).
Best friends with Ilaria D'Amico.
Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 45, a daughter Léonie Cassel on May 21, 2010. Child's father is her now estranged 2nd husband, Vincent Cassel.
Was four months pregnant with her daughter Léonie when she completed filming The Whistleblower (2010).
Returned to work five months after giving birth to her daughter Deva in order to begin filming How Much Do You Love Me? (2005).
Returned to work four months after giving birth to her daughter Léonie in order to begin filming The Ages of Love (2011).
Sister-in-law of Rockin' Squat. Stepsister-in-law of Cécile Cassel.
Shares birthday with fellow actresses Deborah Kerr, Angie Dickinson, Marion Cotillard and actor Ezra Miller.
Separated from her second husband of 14 years Vincent Cassel. [August 2013]
Appearing in the James Bond movie Spectre (2015) as "Lucia Sciarra" at age 51 she becomes the oldest actress to play a Bond Girl. Honor Blackman at age 39 had previously been the oldest actress to play a Bond Girl with her role as "Pussy Galore" in Goldfinger (1964). However, Blackman is still the oldest actress ever to play a lead Bond girl, since Bellucci's role is only a brief cameo.
Ranked as having one of the "Most Beautiful Famous Faces" by TC Candler's list of the "100 Most Beautiful Famous Faces From Around the World" for 18 consecutive years (1999-2016). Ranked #2 in 2004.
She auditioned for the role of Mrs. Paris McKenna Carver in the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) . That part was later portrayed in the finished product by Teri Hatcher but Miss Bellucci eventually did play a James Bond girl 18 years later in the role of Donna Lucia Sciarra for the 007 adventure Spectre (2015).
Personal Quotes (27)
My body is so important to me... my face, my arms, my legs, my hands, my eyes, everything. I use everything I have.
When I eat with my friends, it is a moment of real pleasure, when I really enjoy my life.
I come from a Catholic religion, but I'm not Catholic.
[on her daughter Deva] I didn't have familiarity with children. I'm learning day after day, with her. And what impress me the most is that she, Deva, is an individual person. But in miniature, she seems to be a special effect.
After love, the man sleeps, while the woman reflects.
Beauty becomes alive and interesting when it's habited.
Being an actress is the sublimation of feminity.
The human intelligence has progressed at the technological level; not a the level of feelings.
It is a handicap if you're stupid, but not if you are intelligent and know how to use your beauty.
I feel fine and comfortable with myself, but not because I'm beautiful. I know many beautiful people and their lives are just so terrible. They feel so uncomfortable with themselves. Being comfortable is not about what you look like, but how you feel. I'm a lucky person because I've been loved a lot. I have a great family.
Acting is not words. Holly Hunter didn't speak in The Piano (1993) and she won an Oscar.
I live in Paris but I feel I am a daughter of Europe.
When I'll be old, I'd rather watch my children than my films.
My career, at the moment, is very exciting, but love comes first because it balances me.
I listen to "young" music, the one from my age. I adore soul, rap and funky.
[on her husband's support when Irreversible (2002) was released] Vincent was so incredible, so sweet. When we went to Cannes for the film, you know the moment when I come out from the tunnel and we see me for the first time completely with blood all over, he was crying. I said, "Vincent, come on. It's just a movie. We know it's not real."
As a European, I need to stay in Europe and I make Italian movies, French movies. Then to come to America is something interesting for me.
[on reality television] I think this is something that touches every country - America, Italy, France, England, all over. You will see all these people, they don't know how to sing, they don't know how to dance, and still they become famous. You know, just celebrities. And I think this is a very dangerous process.
This is what I like about America, because you have very big budget movie, and also independent movies, so you have many different choices. But I know that I'm European... Being European, it is not easy to find the right project, because you may look different, you sound different, and you have to find the right character.
[on How Much Do You Love Me? (2005)] As a woman I am so curious about prostitutes because of the idea that they know men better than you. Also, it's such a strange way to live. But at the same time there are prostitutes who just want to be prostitutes, and this is this woman, nobody pushed her to do it. She's a prostitute because she wants to be a prostitute.
It's her philosophy of life.
I'm not scared by nudity, because for me, nothing is more beautiful than a body. You can have such an amazing emotion from a body. In Irreversible (2002), I treated my body like it was an object and it's great when you can have this kind of relation with your body, it's a part of your job, an object you can work with. When you can have this kind of freedom it's the moment where you can give your best as an actress.
In 10 years, I've done so many things. In the beginning I didn't know if I was still a model, if I was an actress. I knew I wanted to be an actress, but it was so difficult to be believed. Now things are going better and better and the proposals I have are much more interesting than five years ago. It's like getting older is getting better.
Maybe the reason I work a lot is because each director thinks that I'll be better with him. Maybe the moment where I'll be completely accepted I won't work any more.
[on why she will not move to Hollywood to further her film career]: I could never live there. They are obsessed with youth and beauty even more than us. There is this thing in America where actresses reach 40 and go mad. The film industry wants all these young people. They also like a different sort of woman (to me). I will never be skinny. I also had a child a year ago, and I have been lazy. I love to eat. Who cares? I am natural.
I am at a stage in my life where if I don't go out, I don't feel I'm missing something. I get bored surrounded by people smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol. And I'm not so interested now in going to premieres or being photographed on the red carpet. I want to be with my daughter.
I am an agnostic, even though I respect and am interested in all religions. If there's something I believe in, it's a mysterious energy; the one that fills the oceans during tides, the one that unites nature and beings.
I know that beauty invites a certain curiosity. But, as Oscar Wilde said, beauty is just five minutes long if you don't have anything else to sustain that curiosity. I don't think that I would have made this kind of career if I were just beautiful. Directors don't call you for your beauty but for your talent.
