Birendranath Sircar
Birendranath Sircar (also Sarkar; 5 July 1901 – 28 November 1980) was an Indian film producer and the founder of New Theatres Calcutta. He made Bengali-language films that were noted for introducing many film directors who later became famous. He was awarded the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1970 and the third highest civilian award in India, the Padma Bhushan, in 1972. Early life B. N. Sircar was born in Bhagalpur to the then Advocate-General of Bengal, Sir N. N. Sircar. After completing his study at Hindu School, Kolkata, he studied Engineering at the University of London and on returning to India he was asked to build a cinema. The project caused him to develop a keen interest in film and he proceeded to build a cinema for the screening of Bengali-language films. Called Chitra, this was opened in Calcutta by Subhas Chandra Bose on 30 December 1930 and was followed by the construction of New Cinema, which showed Hindi films. He then decided to involve himself in making of t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bhagalpur
Bhagalpur is a city in the Indian state of Bihar, situated on the southern banks of the river Ganges. It is the 2nd largest city of Bihar by population and also the headquarters of Bhagalpur district and Bhagalpur division. Known as the Silk City, it is a major educational, commercial, and political center, and listed for development under the Smart City program, a joint venture between Government and industry. The Gangetic plains surrounding the city are very fertile and the main crops include rice, wheat, maize, barley, and oilseeds. The river is home to the Gangetic dolphin, the ''National Aquatic Animal of India'', and the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary is established near the town. The city holds the largest Manasa Puja and one of the largest processions in Kali Puja, an intangible cultural heritage of the region. Demography As of the 2011 India census, the Bhagalpur Urban Agglomeration has a population of 410,210, of which 218,284 were males and 191,926 were f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dena Paona (film)
''Dena Paona'' ( bn, দেনা পাওনা) () is a 1931 Bengali film directed by Premankur Atorthy, starring Amar Mullick, Durgadas Bannerjee, Jahar Ganguly, Nibhanani Devi, and Bhanu Bandopadhyay. Based on a novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and produced by New Theatres, it is credited as the one of first Bengali talkies, and along with Alam Ara, was one of the first sound films produced in India. The film explored the ills of the dowry system and touched on the problems of female oppression in 19th century Bengal. Plot Jibananda is a drunkard Zamindar. Ekkari is his companion in all his sinful deeds and greed for money. Sorashi is the priestess in the local Chandi Temple and the estranged wife of Jibananda. She is adamant and stubborn, but responsible and honest. She has immense influence in certain sections of local society. When Sorashi was young, she was known as Alaka. Circumstances force Sorashi to stay whole night in the drunk Jibananda's house. This creat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prithviraj Kapoor
Prithviraj Kapoor (born Prithvinath Kapoor; 3 November 1906 – 29 May 1972) was an Indian actor who is also considered to be one of the founding figures of Hindi cinema. He was associated with IPTA as one of its founding members and established the Prithvi Theatres in 1944 as a travelling theatre company based in Bombay. He was the patriarch of the Kapoor family of Hindi films, four generations of which, beginning with him, have played active roles in the Hindi film industry, with the youngest generation still active in Bollywood. His father, Basheshwar Nath Kapoor, also played a short role in his movie Awara. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1969 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1971 for his contributions towards Indian cinema. Early life and education Prithviraj Kapoor was born on 3 November 1906 in Samundri, Punjab Province, British India, into a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family of the Kapoor '' gotra''. His father, Basheshwarnath Kapoor, ser ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kanan Devi
Kanan Devi (22 April 1916 – 17 July 1992) was an Indian actress and singer. She was among the early singing stars of Indian cinema, and is credited popularly as the first star of Bengali cinema. Her singing style, usually in rapid tempo, was used instrumentally in some of the biggest hits of New Theatres, Kolkata. Biography Kanan was born on 22 April 1916 in Howrah, West Bengal. In her autobiography, entitled "Sabaray Ami Nami", Kanan has observed that those she considered as her parents were Ratan Chandra Das and Rajobala, who lived together. After the death of her adoptive father, Ratan Chandra Das, young Kanan and Rajobala were simply left to fend for themselves. Her life story is a true tale of rags to riches. Some say she did her schooling (not completed) from Howrah's St. Agnes' Convent School. A well wisher, Tulsi Banerji, whom she called Kaka babu, introduced Kanan when she was only ten to Madan Theatres/Jyoti Studios, where she was cast in a small role in ''Jaidev'' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dhoop Chhaon (1935 Film)
''Dhoop Chhaon'' or Bhagya Chakra (also Known as 'Sun and Shade' or 'Wheel of Fate') is a 1935 Hindi movie directed by Nitin Bose. It was a remake of the Bengali film Bhagya Chakra. ''Dhoop Chhaon'' was the first Hindi film to use playback singing. It was Bose who came up with the idea of playback singing. He discussed with music director Raichand Boral and Bose's brother Mukul Bose, who was the sound recordist in New Theatres, implemented the idea. Cast * Kapoor as Hiralal * Biswanath Bhadhuri as Shamlal * K.C.Dey as Surdas * Nawab as Manager * Kedar as Asst. Manager * Ajmat as Kallo-Ki-Ma * Pahari Sanyal as Dipak * Uma Devi as Mira * Babulal as Mr. Tewari * Debbala as Mira's mother * Indu Mukherjee as Detective * Shyam Law as Detective * Pramathesh Barua as guest at party (uncredited) * K. L. Saigal Kundan Lal Saigal, often abbreviated as K. L. Saigal (11 April 1904 – 18 January 1947), was an Indian singer and actor who is considered the first superstar of the Hin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Parul Ghosh
Parul Ghosh (; 1915–13 August 1977) was an Indian playback singer. Career Ghosh sang in Hindi and Bengali movies from 1935 to 1951. Hailing from Barisal (now in Bangladesh), she was introduced to playback singing by her brother Anil Biswas. Films in which she featured include '' Jwar Bhata'', ''Milan'', '' Hamaari Baat'' and '' Namaste''. In her early career she was associated with New Theatres, Kolkata. Personal life and death Ghosh was married to the flautist Pannalal Ghosh in 1924. Ghosh died on 13 August 1977 in Malad Malad (Pronunciation: aːlaːɖ is a suburb located in North Mumbai. Malad has a railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on ra ..., Mumbai. References 1977 deaths People from Barisal Indian women playback singers University of Calcutta alumni 20th-century Indian singers 20th-century Indian women singers Singers from Mu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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K C Dey
Krishna Chandra Dey (24 August 1893 – 28 November 1962), better known as K.C. Dey, was an Indian music director, music composer, musician, singer, actor, and music teacher born in Calcutta (now Kolkata). He was S.D. Burman's first musical teacher and mentor. His father's name was Shibchandra Dey. In 1906, at the age of fourteen, he lost his eyesight and became completely blind. He worked for various theatre groups and finally went on to work for New Theatres in Kolkata until 1940. He is best remembered for his Kirtan songs. He was patronized by many elite families of Calcutta at that time. He often sang in jalsa of Rajbari of Sovabazar, Mitra House of Beadon Street and many others. K.C. Dey recorded around 600 songs, mostly in Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and 8 Naats (Muslim religious songs). Dey sang and composed music for movies from 1932 until 1946. He also acted in movies in the same period. Dey used to travel from Calcutta to Bombay (Mumbai) to take part in movies. In ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Nitin Bose
Nitin Bose (26 April 1897 – 14 April 1986) was an Indian film director, cinematographer and screenwriter of the nation's film industry. He was born in Calcutta and died in the same city. In the 1930s and early 1940s, he worked with New Theatres, who made bilingual movies: in both Bengali and Hindi. Later, he moved to Bombay and directed under the banners of Bombay Talkies and Filmistan. The first use of playback singing in Indian films occurred in films directed by Bose in 1935: first in '' Bhagya Chakra'', a Bengali film, and later the same year in its Hindi remake, '' Dhoop Chhaon''. His most well-known work is ''Ganga Jamuna''. Early life Nitin Bose was son of Bengali entrepreneur Hemendra Mohan Bose and Mrinalini. Mrinalini was sister of writer Upendrakishore Raychowdhury, who was father of poet Sukumar Ray and grandfather of film director Satyajit Ray. Bose had a great interest in photography from his childhood. His father, who was a keen photographer himself, nourished ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bhagya Chakra
''Bhagya Chakra'' (''Wheel of Fate'') is a 1935 Indian Bengali-language film directed by Nitin Bose. The film was remade in Hindi in the same year, titled '' Dhoop Chhaon''. Cast * Biswanath Bhadhuri as Shamlal * Haricharan Bandyopadhyay as Hiralal * K.C.Dey as Surdas * Nivanani Debi as Paanchir Ma * Amar Mullick as Theatre Manager * Keshto Das as Assistant Manager * Pahari Sanyal as Dipak * Durgadas Bannerjee as Mr.Ray * Umasashi as Mira * Debabala as Mira's mother * Indu Mukherjee as Detective * Shyam Law as Detective * Pramathesh Barua Pramathesh Chandra Barua (24 October 1903 – 29 November 1951) was an Indian actor, director, and screenwriter of Indian films in the pre-independence era, born in Gauripur, Dhubri, Assam. Early life Barua was the son of the royal family of ... as guest at party * Vikram Nahar as guest#2 * Nagendrabala as Nurse * Sailen Pal as 'Stage'- Dipak * Ahi Sanyal as bad singer References External links * Bengali-language Indian films ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Playback Singing
A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not appear on the screen. South Asia South Asian films produced in the Indian subcontinent frequently use this technique. A majority of Indian films as well as Pakistani films typically include six or seven songs. After ''Alam Ara'' (1931), the first Indian talkie film, for many years singers made dual recordings for a film, one during the shoot, and later in the recording studio, until 1952 or 1953. Popular playback singers in India enjoy the same status as popular actors and music directors and receive wide public admiration. Most of the playback singers are initially trained in classical music, but they later often expand their range. Mohammed Rafi and Ahmed Rushdi are regarded as two of the most influential playback singers in South Asia. T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Devdas
''Devdas'' ( bn, দেবদাস, transliterated as ''Debdās'') is a Bengali romance novel written by Sarat Chandra Chatterjee. The story pivots a tragic triangle linking Devdas, an archetypal lover in viraha (separation); Paro, his forbidden childhood love; and Chandramukhi, a reformed courtesan. Devdas has been adapted on screen 20 times for film and 5 times for single song. The character of Parvati was based on a real life second wife of zamindar Bhuvan Mohan Chowdhury, it was said that even the writer visited the village. According to sources, the original village was called Hatipota. Plot summary Devdas is a young man from a wealthy Bengali family in India in the early 1900s. Parvati (Paro) is a young woman from a middle class Bengali Brahmin family. The two families live in a village called Taalshonapur in Bengal, and Devdas and Parvati are childhood friends. Devdas goes away for a couple of years to live and study in the city of Calcutta (now Kolkata). During vacatio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Saratchandra Chatterjee
Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, alternatively spelt as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee ( bn, শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায়; 15 September 1876 or ৩১ শে ভাদ্র ১২৮৩ বঙ্গাব্দ – 16 January 1938), was a Bengali novelist and short story writer of the early 20th century. Most of his works deal with the lifestyle, tragedy and struggle of the village people and the contemporary social practices that prevailed in Bengal. He remains the most popular, translated, and adapted Indian author of all time. Early life Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay was born on 15 September 1876 (৩১ শে ভাদ্র, ১২৮৩ বঙ্গাব্দ), in a Bengali Brahmin family in Debanandapur, a small village in Hooghly, West Bengal. Sarat Chandra spent most of his childhood at his maternal uncle's home in Bhagalpur, Bihar. Chandra spent his childhood in extreme poverty. Chandra was a daring, adventure-loving boy. His educa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |