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Sohrab Merwanji Modi(1897-1984)
Hindi-Urdu director, actor and producer; born in Bombay. Son of a civil servant; after education in Rampur, UP, and in Bombay, started as a travelling exhibitor in Gwalior (1914) with brother K.M. Modi. Elder brother Rustom Modi, together with Ittefaq, set up Arya Subodh Natya Mandali theatre group (1923). Sohrab played Jehangir (Hamlet) opposite Naseem Banu (Ophelia) in Khoon Ka Khoon, one of the biggest Urdu stage hits of the 20s. Rustom Modi started Stage Films (1935) mainly to adapt their plays to the cinema. The film version of Khoon Ka Khoon was followed by Aga Hashr Kashmiri’s Shakespeare adaptation, Saeed-e-Havas. Broke away to found Minerva Movietone (1936). Although Modi went beyond the Parsee theatre for his choice of themes, his formal approach remained tied to it and evokes the way Parsee theatre looked and sounded, using frontal composition and staging the narrative in spatial layers. Also copious use of Urdu dialogues. Regarded as the man who brought Shakespeare to the Indian screen. Best-known for his spectacular costumed historicals (together with Asif and Amrohi), which, after Pukar, he alternated with contemporary psychodramas that often dealt with marital problems from a misogynist viewpoint (e.g. Jailor, Talaaq, Bharosa). Acted in all the films he directed and wrote most of them. Started acting for other directors after Bimal Roy’s Yahudi.
FILMOGRAPHY (* only act): 1935: Khoon Ka Khoon; 1936: Saeed-e-Havas; 1937: Atma Tarang; Khan Bahadur; 1938: Jailor; Talaaq; Meetha Zaher; 1939: Pukar; 1940: Bharosa; 1941: Sikandar; 1942: Phir Milenge; 1943: Prithvi Vallabh; 1944: Parakh; 1945: Ek Din Ka Sultan; 1947: Manjdhar; 1949: Daulat; Narasinh Avatar; 1950: Sheesh Mahal; 1953: Jhansi Ki Rani; 1954: Mirza Ghalib; 1955: Kundan; 1956: Rajhaath; 1957: Nausherwan-e-Adil; 1958: Jailor; Farishta*; Yahudi*; 1959: Minister*; Pehli Raat*; 1960: Ghar Ki Laaj*; Mera Ghar Mere Bachche; 1965: Bharat Milap*; 1967: Woh Koi Aur Hoga*; 1969: Samay Bada Balwan; 1970: Jwala*; 1971: Ek Nari Ek Brahmachari*; 1975: Tanariri*; 1979: Ghar Ki Laaj*; Meena Kumari Ki Amar Kahani; 1981: Ganga Maang Rahi Balidan*; 1982: Rustom*; 1983: Razia Sultan*.