|
Sagar Movietone also Sagar Films, Sagar Film Company and Sagar Productions was an Indian film production company involved in the making of films for Indian cinema. It was launched by Ardeshir Irani with Chimanlal Desai and Dr. Ambalal Patel in 1929 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India. Sagar was initially started as a branch company of Ardeshir's Imperial Film Company. Several key figures from Imperial like Mehboob Khan were shifted to Sagar. The studio was operative from 1930-1939. In 1940, it combined with General Pictures to form National Studios. It made "Parsi theatre based films, mythologicals and stunt movies". Sagar fostered the career of many artists who rose to prominence. Early directors like Prafulla Ghosh, Sarvottam Badami, Ezra Mir and Nanubhai Vakil were promoted by the company. Mehboob Khan got his first break as a director in ''Al Hilal'' in 1935. He was referred to as "the most important alumnus" from Sagar, who went on to become Indian cinema's "most influential film-makers". With the launch of the studio, five silent films were produced in 1930. Their first silent film was ''Dav Pech'' (The Web) (1930). Their first talkie film was ''Meri Jaan'' also called ''Romantic Prince'' (1931). That year Sagar made nine films. The company also produced films in Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Punjabi. The first Tamil talkie was produced by Sagar Movietone, ''Kalidas'' (1931) directed by H. M. Reddy and starring T. P. Rajalakshmi. However production reference for ''Kalidas'' has also been credited to Imperial Film Company, the parent company of Sagar.〔SM, p. 61〕 The first Gujarati Talkie ''Narsinh Mehta'' was produced by Sagar in 1932. Films like ''Manmohan'' (1936), ''Jagirdar'' (1937), ''Hum Tum Aur Woh'' (1938), and ''Ek Hi Raasta'' (1939) were stated to be a notable collaboration between Mehboob Khan as director and Anil Biswas as music composer. Both Mehboob Khan and Biswas worked at Sagar for a long period, with their collaboration extending to National Studios. ==History== The people involved in the formation of Sagar Movietone were: Ardeshir Irani who started the company as a subsidiary of Imperial Films in 1929; Chimanlal Bhogilal Desai and Dr. Ambalal Patel who joined and took over the company in 1930. *Ardeshir Irani (186-1969) earlier founded Star Films (1920) with Bhogilal Dave, then Majestic Films (1923), Royal Art Studios (1925) and Imperial Film Company in 1926. Under the banner of Imperial Films, Irani produced the first talkie film of India ''Alam Ara'' (1931) and the first colour film ''Kisan Kanya'' (1937). According to an interview Mehboob Khan gave to Filmfare on 16 August 1957, Irani wanted to contract actor Master Vithal, who had become popular doing Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief Of Baghdad (1924) style of swashbuckling roles and was known as the Indian Fairbanks. Vithal at that time was working for Sharda Film Company and it was deemed unethical of a man of Irani's stature to lure Vithal to Imperial. Irani then started Sagar Film Company as a "subsidiary of Imperial Film Company", in 1929, with Mehboob Khan heading the production unit.〔 The matter regarding Vithal was taken to court (1929) when Vithal was forcibly kept in Nanubhai Desai's house in Pune under the say of Bhogilal Dave who now ran Sharda Film Company. Irani hired lawyer Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who advised Vithal to go for a bid. Sharda Film Company were unable to match Imperial's bid and lost Vithal to them. Chimanlal Desai and Dr. Ambalal Patel joined Irani as partners at Sagar in 1930.〔SM, p. 36〕 The Select Film Circuit was owed money by Irani, he instead offered Desai and Patel a partnership for an amount of Rs. 50,000. Once Desai and Patel joined, Irani left Sagar, leaving them as the sole proprietors. *Chimanlal Desai was representative and distributor for Imperial Film Company and Sharada Film Company in South India with his base in Bangalore. Prior to getting into the film distribution business, Desai had worked in supplying coal, in printing, and then in the textile business. It was while working as cloth merchants with his brothers in Bangalore that Desai was approached to help with a film distribution concern, Select Film Circuit, owned by Vasantray Desai and managed by Vasantray's younger brother Thakorbhai Desai. Chimanlal Desai decided to invest in the company inviting his friend Dr. Ambalal Patel to join in with Rs. 5000. The two started distributing films through Select Film Circuit, which now belonged to them. They became the sole distributors for Imperial Films and Sharda Film Company based in Bombay for the South India market. In 1929, when the business hit a snag due to problems in sending films by the film companies, Desai decided to travel to Bombay himself to find a solution. There he was invited by Ardeshir Irani, who owed money to Desai, to join as a partner in Sagar for a sum of Rs. 50, 000. Later Desai and Patel became the sole proprieters in 1930, when Irani left to focus on Indian cinema's first talkie ''Alam Ara'', while Sagar concentrated on their first talkie film ''Meri Jaan''. Desai remained the active partner in the production department. *Ambalal Patel was born in Sojitra, Kheda district, Bombay Presidency (now Gujarat). Leaving his job as a doctor, he joined the Velchand group who sold bicycles. He then joined the Bombay Cycle & Motor Agency that sold cars manufactured by General Motors. After joining Desai as a partner in Select Pictures Circuit in 1925, the company expanded distributing films from Bombay. He joined Desai in Bombay, where they went into partnership in Sagar Movietone in 1930. He left Sagar in 1936, and returned to Bangalore. He was later to help form Sudama Pictures with Sarvottam Badami and Sabita Devi along with Ranjit Studios. Badami was to make three films for Sudama, ''Sajani'' (1940), ''Chingari'' (1940), and ''Bambai Ki Sair'' (1941) before he left Sudama Pictures.〔SM, p. 120〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sagar Movietone」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|