| 1 | == Mehboob == |
| 2 | (1906-64) |
| 3 | Aka Mehboob Khan. |
| 4 | |
| 5 | Hindi-Urdu director regarded as one of the most important |
| 6 | influences on post-50s cinema. Born as Ramjan |
| 7 | Khan in Bilimoria, Gujarat. Ran away to |
| 8 | Bombay to join film industry. Started as extra |
| 9 | and factotum in [[Imperial Studio]] where he met |
| 10 | director R.S. Choudhury (later scenarist for |
| 11 | Roti and Aan) and cameraman Faredoon A. |
| 12 | Irani. Acted as one of the thieves in [[Alibaba |
| 13 | and the Forty Thieves]]. Directorial début at |
| 14 | Sagar (1935). Worked in [[National Studios]] |
| 15 | (1940-2) along with [[Kardar]]. Founded |
| 16 | [[Mehboob Prod.]] in 1942 (established as studio |
| 17 | in 1952) using a hammer and sickle emblem |
| 18 | even though formally unassociated with the CP. |
| 19 | Acclaimed first as heir to Imperial’s historicals |
| 20 | (Judgement of Allah, Humayun); he |
| 21 | continued its trend of merging DeMille with the |
| 22 | conventions of the Urdu stage but brought to |
| 23 | the formula a greater self reflexiveness (Roti). |
| 24 | His Mother India (a subcontinental |
| 25 | equivalent of Gone with the Wind which has |
| 26 | been declared India’s most successful film |
| 27 | ever) also evoked Dovzhenko’s lyricised |
| 28 | socialist-realist imagery. Immensely successful |
| 29 | on an international scale, Mehboob’s films |
| 30 | often derive from a clash between pre-capitalist |
| 31 | ruralism (with its blood feuds, debts of honour, |
| 32 | kinship laws etc.) and an increasingly |
| 33 | modernised state with its commercial-industrial |
| 34 | practices and values. His elaboration of |
| 35 | political themes within popular generic |
| 36 | conventions provides the bridge between the |
| 37 | pre-Independence cinema of e.g. Bhavnani |
| 38 | (Mazdoor, 1934) and the social critiques |
| 39 | attempted by Raj Kapoor in the post-1947 |
| 40 | industrial mainstream. With Andaz he made |
| 41 | what was regarded as the first Indian film set in |
| 42 | ‘modern times’ among an affluent middle class, |
| 43 | exerting an enormous influence on later films |
| 44 | (e.g. Awara, 1951). |
| 45 | |
| 46 | FILMOGRAPHY (* only act): 1927: [[Alibaba |
| 47 | and the Forty Thieves]]*; [[Allah Ka Pyara]]*; 1929: |
| 48 | [[Shirin Khushrau]]*; 1930: [[Mewad No Mawali]]*; |
| 49 | 1931: [[Raj Tilak]]*; [[Dilawar]]* (all St); [[Meri Jaan]]*; |
| 50 | [[Veer Abhimanyu]]*; 1932: [[Bulbul-e-Baghdad]]*; |
| 51 | 1933: [[Chandrahasa]]*; [[Pandav Kaurav]]*; [[Mirza Sahiban]]*; [[Premi Pagal]]*; 1934: |
| 52 | [[Grihalakshmi]]*; [[Naachwali]]*; [[Sati Anjani]]*; |
| 53 | 1935: [[Vengeance Is Mine]]*; [[Judgement of |
| 54 | Allah]]; 1936: [[Deccan Queen]]; [[Manmohan]]; |
| 55 | 1937: [[Jagirdar]]; 1938: [[Hum Tum Aur Woh]]; |
| 56 | [[Watan]]; 1939: [[Ek Hi Raasta]]; 1940: [[Alibaba]]; |
| 57 | [[Aurat]]; 1941: [[Bahen]]; 1942: [[Roti]]; 1943: |
| 58 | [[Najma]]; [[Taqdeer]]; 1945: [[Humayun]]; 1946: |
| 59 | [[Anmol Ghadi]]; 1947: [[Elaan]]; 1948: [[Anokhi]] |
| 60 | [[Ada]]; 1949: [[Andaz]]; 1952: [[Aan]]; 1954: [[Amar]]; |
| 61 | 1957: [[Mother India]]; 1962: [[Son of India]]. |
| 62 | |
| 63 | [[Actor]] [[Director]] |