 |
|
02.11.1897-28.01.1984 Pic. Courtesy: Upperstall.com |
Sohrab Modi. The name brings to mind a man with a powerful voice, whose movies were larger than life. The veteran actor-director was one of the many who joined the fledging film industry and helped it grow and flourish. He brought Shakespeare from stage to film; he made extravagant historicals that brought him international recognition; he made progressive films on social issues. A pioneer by any definition, Sohrab Modi was an auteur who lived for cinema. His beginnings were humble. Sohrab Merwanji Modi was born on 2 November 1897 in Bombay, the eleventh child in a large, conservative Parsi family. As a child, he spent hours learning Urdu, acquiring not just a flair for the language, but excellent diction as well. In an anecdote he often shared, Modi recalled asking his school principal what he should be. The principal, referring to his pupil’s famous baritone, told him he should be an actor or a politician.
 |
|
Sohrab Modi with Kamini Kaushal, Suraiya, Raj Kapoor, Nargis, and Mehtab in the Soviet Union Pic Courtesy: Imprints and Images of Indian Film Music |
His brother, Keki, owned Kismet Cinema, a travelling cinema projection business. At 16, Modi joined him to become a travelling exhibitor in Gwalior. This piqued his interest in cinema, and by the age of 26, he had established the Arya Subodh Natak Mandali, which specialised in adapting Shakespearean plays into Urdu. Trained in the Parsi theatre tradition, Modi was earning himself quite a reputation as a Shakespearean actor.
Soon, however, the popularity of silent films and even
theatre began to wane. Alam Ara (1931), India’s first ‘talkie’,
had taken the country by storm. ‘Talkies’ were here to stay, and Modi realized
that films were the way forward. Keki and he soon set up the Stage Film Company;
their first film was Khoon ka Khoon (1935),
a direct adaptation of his Urdu play scripted by Mehdi Hassan Ahsaan, who adapted
Shakespeare’s Hamlet into Urdu.
 |
|
Shooting of Khoon ka Khoon Source: Wikipedia |
The next year, Modi set up Minerva Movietone. The first film under this new banner was also the adaptation of a Shakespeare play – Saeed-e-Havas, adapted from The Life and Death of King John. While both films were critically acclaimed, they were not commercially successful. Modi soon realized that film-making was different from theatre, and shifted his attention to contemporary social issues – Jailor, Talaq and Meetha Zahar (all in 1938) dealt with infidelity and the chilling portrayal of a man who turns into a tyrant; a woman’s right to divorce; and the evils of alcoholism, respectively. In many ways, Modi had realized the power of film to delve into social evils and pass on a progressive message.
It was around this time that Modi’s interest in history was awakened. A self-confessed hater of history in school, Modi soon realized that there were lessons to be learnt from the past if only we were to pay attention. He aimed to bring history alive to a generation of youngster who, like him, may not have taken history seriously in school.
 |
| Prithviraj Kapoor in and as Sikandar |
Over the next five years, he produced a trilogy of films based on historical events: Pukar (scripted by Kamal Amrohi and based on Emperor Jehangir’s famed code of justice), Sikandar (1941) where, as Raja Puru (Porus) Modi has a confrontation with Prithviraj Kapoor (as Sikandar/Alexander the Great), and Prithvi Vallabh (1943), based on a novel by Kanaiyalal Munshi, was the story of a Parmar king Prithvi Vallabh Munj (Modi) and his love for Mrinalvati (Durga Khote), the widowed sister of his enemy, King Tailap.
But Modi refused to confine himself to any one genre of films. He made Bharosa (1940), a film on a taboo topic like incest, a religious film Narasimha Avatar (1949), Kundan (1955), an adaptation of Victor Hugo’s literary classic, Les Misérables, a swashbuckling period film Raj Hath (1956), a costume drama Nausherwan-e-Adil (1957), etc.
All this while, Modi’s magnum opus had been on the
backburner. Conceived in 1942, Jhansi ki Rani finally saw the light of
day in 1953. Both Sikandar and Jhansi ki Rani were critically acclaimed; neither of them were commercial successes.
But, to Modi, success and failure made no difference. His passion for cinema was unparalleled. Almost immediately, he set out to make Mirza Ghalib (1954), based on the life of the great poet who lived during the reign of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor.
 |
|
Suraiya and Bharat Bhushan in Mirza Ghalib Source: National Film Archive of India |
A critical and commercial success when it was first released, the film is
celebrated today for being a window into a period where the influence of the Mughal
court was declining, but where poets like Ghalib, Zauq and Momin still recited their couplets.
Modi’s career spanned half a century as an actor, director
and producer. While his later movies may not have reached the heights he set
for himself, he has indubitably carved out a place for himself in the annals of
Indian film history. In 1980, he was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. He was also honoured with a stamp by the postal department in 2013.
Today, on his birth anniversary, a chronological look at some of the important films from his oeuvre.
Khoon ka Khoon (1935)
 |
| Pic Courtesy: NFAI Archive |
Khoon ka Khoon was the first Hindi/Urdu sound adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. It was an adaptation of an Urdu play by Mehdi Hasan Ahsaan, which had already been filmed as Khoon-e-Nahak (1928) as a silent movie. Ahsaan is credited for both story and script for the film which was filmed as a recording of a play on stage.
Starring Modi as the Prince of Denmark, the film saw the debut of one of the most beautiful actresses of all time – Naseem Banu – as Ophelia. {The film also starred Naseem’s mother, Shamshad Begum, as Gertrude.] Though the film was not a success, Modi's performance came in for plaudits as did the play's Urdu dialogues.
Jailor (1938/1958)
 |
| Pic Courtesy: Rashid Ashraf, Flickr |
I must confess that I'm torn between wondering if Jailer was a mystifying sordid mess of a movie or whether, given the period in which it was made, it had a deep philosophical point to make. Sohrab Modi evidently thought so, since he remade it himself, twenty years after the first version. The first film had Leela Chitnis as his unfaithful wife, the second has Kamini Kaushal. Modi's portrayal of a man haunted by the infidelity and his deterioration into a sadistic tyrant were well done. The second version also had wonderful music by Madan Mohan, but it was difficult to sit through. The motivation for him to change so drastically, the torture he imposes on his penitent wife and the prisoners under his care, the overnight change to kindness, his redemption - nothing made sense. But Jailer is an important film nevertheless for Modi's willingness to delve into the darkness of the human psyche.
Pukar (1939)
In my review of this film, I wrote that Pukar was "a well-mounted film, directed with finesse and told in a compelling manner." The film debated a rigid system of justice, questioning the principle of ‘a life for a life’ that eventually affects the emperor's life and marriage.
Modi plays Sangram Singh, a Rajput, whose son becomes the target of Emperor Jehangir's famed justice. Now, fate has given him an opportunity to test whether the emperor's principles will withstand the storm that awaits.
Bharosa (1940)
Sohrab Modi showed a penchant for diving into what many would consider even today to be taboo topics. Bharosa is an interesting film in that sense - after all, how many movies can you remember that dealt with incest as its theme? Starring Mazhar Khan, Chandramohan and Sardar Akhtar, the film dealt with a brother and sister who fall in love with each other, not knowing they are related.
When he goes to Africa, Gyan (Mazhar Khan) is forced to leave his wife Shobha (Sardar Akhtar) behind, due to her ill health. He entrusts her to the care of his friend, Rasik (Chandramohan) and his wife, Rambha (Maya Devi). Rasik and Shobha have an affair and she gives birth to a daughter, Indira (Sheela). Gyan is ecstatic at his daughter's birth and when she grows up, decides to arrange her marriage with Rasik's son, Madan (Naval) with whom she has fallen in love.
Even the mercurial Baburao Patel who had a beef with Sohrab Modi, praised Bharosa as 'a good picture' though he had only nasty things to say about Sheela and Naval, who play the siblings.
Sikandar (1941)
Sikandar, based on the historical conflict between Alexander the Great and King Puru, may not score high on historical accuracy but the characterisation is fabulous. Prithviraj's Alexander comes off as almost naïvely arrogant in his belief that he must be the ruler of the world, but he is obedient to his teacher, Aristotle. Prithviraj plays him as a flawed human, and his skill as an orator comes in handy when it is time to declaim his dialogues. Moreover, he had a fine physique, and was imposing as the Macedonian hero.
Sikander provided a platform for two theatre thespians to confront each other and evoked the pomp and grandeur of a bygone era, while simultaneously arousing a sense of national pride. Such was its influence that despite the Censor Board certifying the film, Sikander was banned in Army Cantonments.
Jhansi ki Rani (1953)
This was Sohrab Modi's magnum opus. Conceived in 1942, the film took nearly 11 years to come to fruition. Jhansi ki Rani, made in both Hindi and English (The Tiger and the Flame), was India’s first technicolour film. Modi spared no expense to bring his vision to life: he had technicians flown in from Hollywood, including Ernest Haller, the cameraman of Gone with the Wind. His wife, Mehtab, whom he had married in 1946, donned the role of Lakshmi Bai, while he essayed the role of her Rajguru.
The film was noted for its historical authenticity; Modi actually sent his art directors Rusi Banker and Pandit Dubey to Jhansi and surrounding sites. Shooting began in black and white before Modi decided to shoot the film in colour. (The colour negative of the film has been lost.)
Its spectacular battle scenes were shot in Kolhapur. Mehtab’s stirring performance (though she was too old for the role), the lavish sets, excellent production values that equalled Hollywood, and exciting battle scenes gained Modi international recognition and acclaim. Unfortunately, the film was not a commercial success and Modi had to mortgage Minerva Movietone.
Mirza Ghalib (1954)
Modi bounced back with Mirza Ghalib, a fictional tale about the poet's love affair with a tawaif. The film isn't perfect by any means, but Modi does infuse the film with many details from Ghalib's life. He also gets much of the 'look' of the period right, and the songs, Ghalib's own ghazals in the main, set to music by Ghulam Mohammed, are achingly beautiful.
 |
| Pic Courtesy: Film History Pics |
This film was Suraiya's tour de force, both as an actor and as singer. Her voice is filled with love and longing and loss and heartbreak and infuse Ghalib's ghazals with life itself. Upon hearing her rendition, Jawaharlal Nehru is said to have complimented her: Tumne Ghalib ke rooh ko zinda kar diya. It was no exaggeration.
Mirza Ghalib also has the distinction of receiving the President's Gold Medal for All India Best Feature Film and the President's Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi.
Kundan (1955)
Based on Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, Kundan was adapted by Pandit Sudarshan. Modi plays the titular character, based on Hugo's Jean Valjean, arrested for stealing a loaf of bread and then jailed for more than 14 years for his attempts to escape from prison.
The other characters and situations are Indianised (for want of a better word), and we have Amrit (Sunil Dutt, in his second major role) and Uma (Nimmi, in a double role) as the young couple in love, only here, they get a happy ending. As was his wont, Modi had Rusi Banker, his art director, design an underground sewer similar to that in Les Misérables (1952).
What films or performances of Sohrab Modi's do you like? Let me know in the comments below.
No comments:
Post a Comment