Modhu Bose (1900-69)

Bengali and Hindi director-scenarist born in Calcutta; grandson of the historian R.C. Dutt. Studied at Shantiniketan and Bidyasagar College, Calcutta, under Sisir Bhaduri. Entered film briefly as actor at Madan Theatres (1923). Assisted J.J. Madan on the making of Turki Hoor (1924); assisted on Himansu Rai’s Prem Sanyas (1925). Went to London and assisted cameraman Baron Gaetano Ventigmilia on a Hitchcock film for Balcon/Gainsborough? (1926; probably The Mountain Eagle) and worked briefly with Karl Freund at UFA (probably on Lang’s Metropolis, 1925). Shot a Burmese film for the London Film Company, Rangoon, in 1927.

Started the Calcutta Amateur Players (CAP) theatre group (1927). Production manager and actor in Prapancha Pash (1929). Married actress Sadhona Bose. Early films produced by Madan Theatres. Made Khyber Falcon for the Punjab Film Corp. in Lahore. Best-known work for Bombay-based Wadia Movietone and Sagar. Developed an influential generic hybrid from Rabindranath Tagore’s ballets (Dahlia) and Khirode Prasad Vidyavinode’s Alibaba, both starring his wife, Sadhona Bose. Made Orientalist song-dance-adventure spectaculars, indigenous variants of British 19th C. Ruritanian comedies (Selima, Kumkum, Raj Nartaki) and several Tagore adaptations. After 1936, when the CAP turned professional, concentrated mainly on stage work, e.g. Niranjan Pal’s Zarina, Manmatha Ray’s The Dreams of Omar Khayyam. Also film biographicals of Girishchandra Ghosh, Michael Madhusudhan Dutt and Swami Vivekananda. Wrote autobiography: Amar Jeeban (1967).

FILMOGRAPHY: 1930: Giribala; Dahlia; 1932: Khyber Falcon (all St); 1935: Selima; 1936: Bala Ki Raat; 1937: Alibaba (also act); 1938: Abhinaya; 1940: Kumkum/Kumkum? the Dancer; 1941: Raj Nartaki/Court? Dancer; 1942: Meenakshi; 1947: Giribala; 1950: Michael Madhusudhan; 1953: Raakhi; Shesher Kabita; 1954: Vikram Urvashi; 1956: Mahakavi Girishchandra; Paradhin; Shubha Lagna; 1964: Bireshwar Vivekananda.

Director