G Mohanlal Dave

Top silent cinema scenarist; first scenarist to get his name above the title (see e.g. the publicity pamphlets of Kohinoor Film which often give no other credits). Started as an accountant; thenpublicist for Imperial Theatre in Bombay. Apparently honed his craft writing lively synopses in publicity hand-outs for Pathé’s imports. Entered films with S.N. Patankar and moved to National Studio (where he was already paid Rs 10,000 a year to write a minimum of 15 stories) and Kohinoor, where he made his reputation and wrote about one screenplay a week. Thereafter worked at Jayant Pics. and at Imperial with the coming of sound, where he often teamed up with director Jaswantlal. As a professional, he handled all genres, but his narrative style is related to the then emerging popular Gujarati fiction as introduced to the cinema by ex-novelists like Naranji Vassanji Thakkar, Gopalji Delwadekar, Shaida etc. His scripts are said to have included detailed camera movements, fades etc., as in Rathod’s complicated Gul-e-Bakavali (1924), written in 92 scenes. Major early scripts: the politically controversial Bhakta Vidur (1921), the Rathod hit Kala Naag (1924), Chandulal Shah’s début film Panchdanda (1925) and Homi Master’s Fankdo Fituri (1925). His sound films were often rewrites of his own silent hits with dialogue. His major successes were with V.M. Vyas, including the Gujarati film Ranakdevi (1946). Remained a popular writer until the 60s.

Writer