Sohrab Modi

1.1 When did he live?

Sohrab Modi was born on 2 November 1897 in Bombay. He died on 28 January 1984 in Mumbai. He was 86.

1.2 Where did he start?

He began on the stage. He was an actor trained in the Parsi theatre tradition. He often performed Shakespeare’s plays translated into Urdu.

1.3 How long was his film career?

It lasted 48 years. It ended with Kamal Amrohi’s Razia Sultan in 1983.

2.1 Why did he leave the stage?

Sound films were becoming popular. Theatre was losing its audience. Modi saw this and started the Stage Film Company in 1935.

2.2 What was his first film?

His first film was Khoon Ka Khoon in 1935. It was a direct adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. He had already played it on stage.

2.3 What was Minerva Movietone?

In 1936 he launched his own company, Minerva Movietone. It became known for big-budget historical films. Several of its early films were social melodramas such as Jailor, Talaq and Meetha Zahar (all 1938).

3.1 Which films made him famous?

His historical trilogy was Pukar (1939), Sikandar (1941) and Prithvi Vallabh (1943). The trilogy was a huge success.

Years are as given by Cinemaazi, Scroll and Google Arts & Culture.

3.2 What is Pukar about?

Pukar has long speeches about the idea of justice.

3.3 What happened with Sikandar?

Sikandar shows Alexander’s fight with Porus on the Jhelum river. Prithviraj Kapoor played Alexander. Modi played Porus. Battles were shot in the fields of Kolhapur with thousands of extras and elephants. Scroll calls it an allegory of the freedom struggle. The film was banned from theatres in army cantonments.

4.1 Where did the idea come from?

Modi had not liked history as a student. Then he read Vrindavan Lal Varma’s novel on the queen of Jhansi. He saw a grand film in it. He began work on it in 1942.

4.2 Who played the Rani?

His wife, the actress Mehtab, played Rani Lakshmibai. He played the Rani’s teacher, Rajguru.

4.3 When did shooting begin?

KM Cariappa, the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of the Army, held the muhurat on 18 January 1951.

5.1 What was the first?

Jhansi Ki Rani was the first Indian film shot in Technicolor. Modi shot about an hour of the film in black and white before he decided to switch.

5.2 Was it India’s first colour film?

No. India’s first colour feature film was Kisan Kanya in 1937. Jhansi Ki Rani was the first in Technicolor. This difference is a favourite exam trap.

5.3 Who helped with the colour?

Ernest Haller shot the film. He had won an Oscar for Gone With The Wind. George Jenkins, a Hollywood colour consultant, helped with the war scenes and songs. Indian labs were not yet equipped to process Technicolor. So Modi stayed in London for weeks to finish the film.

6.1 How much did it cost?

It was the most expensive film of its time. Sources give different figures.

The sources do not agree. Use the word “about” and learn the range, not one number.

6.2 What happened at the box office?

The film was released on 24 January 1953. It was a flop. Mehelli Modi, his son, said it could not have made its money back even if everyone in India had seen it. Modi had to mortgage his studio.

6.3 Does the full film survive?

Not in full. The original colour negative was lost. No print of the untruncated Technicolor version is known. Of the Hindi version, only a black-and-white pan-and-scan print survives. An English version, The Tiger and the Flame, was released in the USA in 1956.

7.1 How did he recover?

The year after Jhansi Ki Rani, he made Mirza Ghalib (1954). It was another historical film. Scroll says he bounced back.

7.2 What awards did Mirza Ghalib win?

It won the President’s Gold Medal for All India Best Feature Film. Cinemaazi adds that it also won the President’s Silver Medal for Best Feature Film in Hindi. It is the only film to win both.

7.3 What honour did he get in 1980?

He received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1980. His last film as director was Meena Kumari Ki Amar Kahani (1979).

8.1 Which traps come up most?

• Colour or Technicolor? Kisan Kanya (1937) was the first colour film. Jhansi Ki Rani (1953) was the first Technicolor film.
• Two honours: Mirza Ghalib won the President’s Gold Medal (1954 film). He got the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1980.
• Studio name: Minerva Movietone, founded in 1936.
• Cost: sources say about 60 lakh to about one crore. Learn the range.

8.2 What is the film-to-person link?

Pukar, Sikandar and Prithvi Vallabh are his historical trilogy. Jhansi Ki Rani starred his wife, Mehtab. Remember the pair: Modi and Mehtab.