Burjor Khurshedji Karanjia (21 December 1919 – 25 June 2012) was an Indian film journalist and editor. He was the editor of ''
Filmfare
''Filmfare'' is an Indian English language, English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, r ...
'' for 18 years, followed by ''
Screen
Screen or Screens may refer to:
Arts
* Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing
* Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry
* Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...
'' which he edited for 10 years. He also remained the chairman of the
National Film Development Corporation of India
The National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) based in Mumbai is the central agency established in 1975, to encourage high quality Indian cinema. It functions in areas of film financing, production and distribution and under Ministr ...
(NFDC).
Early life and background
Karanjia was born and brought up in
Quetta
Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...
(now in Pakistan). He was named after his maternal grandfather, Burjorji Patel, a merchant in the
Baluchistan
Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
region of British India. His family shifted to Bombay (now Mumbai) following the
Partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
in 1947. Here he lived in
South Bombay
South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Anglo-Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahim and Sion neighbour ...
in a building known as 'Quetta Terrace', close to the
Jinnah House
Jinnah House is an unoccupied house in Malabar Hill, a premium neighbourhood of the city of Mumbai in India associated with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. It is also known as South Court and Malabar Hill mansion. It was built by M ...
, along with his brother
R. K. Karanjia, who became a noted investigative journalist and founded ''
Blitz
Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to:
Military uses
*Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign
*The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War
*, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...
''.
[ He studied at ]Wilson College, Mumbai
The Wilson College, established in 1832 in Mumbai, is one of India's oldest colleges; its foundation precedes that of the University of Mumbai, to which it is affiliated, by 25 years. Wilson College was granted autonomy by Mumbai University in ...
and it was here that he first developed interest in films. In 1934, a group of students from the college were taken on a study tour to Bombay Talkies
Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation, Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay.
The studio was established in 1934 by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. After Ra ...
studio in Malad
Malad (Pronunciation: aːlaːɖ is a suburb located in North Mumbai. Malad has a railway station on the Western line (Mumbai Suburban Railway) of the Mumbai Suburban Railway, lying between Kandivali station to the north and Goregaon station t ...
. There he saw the shooting of German director Franz Osten
Franz Osten (23 December 1876 in Munich – 2 December 1956) was a Bavaria, Bavarian filmmaker who along with Himansu Rai was among the first retainers of Bombay Talkies. Osten partnered with Rai on a number of India's earliest blockbuster film ...
's film ''Always Tell Your Wife'' with Najmal Hussain and Devika Rani
Devika Rani Choudhuri (30 March 1908 – 9 March 1994), usually known as Devika Rani, was an Indian actress who was active in Hindi films during the 1930s and 1940s. Widely acknowledged as the first lady of Indian cinema, Devika Rani ha ...
, which left him mesmerised.
Career
Karanjia started his career with the Indian Civil Services
The Civil Services refer to the civil service, career government civil servants who are the permanent Executive (government), executive branch of the Republic of India. Elected cabinet ministers determine policy, and civil servants carry it out ...
(ICS) after passing the exam in 1943, however within a few months of joining, he left services as he didn't enjoyed the work in the Supplies department. He instead joined as a literary assistant in the National War Front organisation in India. Subsequently, he chose to become a film journalist. In between, he also joined the Godrej Group
Godrej Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, which is managed and largely owned by the Godrej family. It was founded by Ardeshir Godrej and Pirojsha Burjorji Godrej in 1897, and operates in sectors including ...
, as publicity manager at their Malayasia factory.
In time he became the editor of film magazines, ''Filmfare
''Filmfare'' is an Indian English language, English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of Indian most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, r ...
'', a Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, t ...
publication, where he worked for the next 18 years. During his tenure, the magazine almost doubled its circulation and he even tried to sort out the scandals associated with the Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Hindi-language film industry of India.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were first introduced by th ...
.[
After his retirement from Filmfare, ]Ramnath Goenka
Ramnath Goenka (22 April 1904 – 5 October 1991) was an Indian newspaper publisher. He launched ''The Indian Express'' in 1932 and created the Indian Express Group with various English and regional language publications.''A doyen of Indian Jou ...
offered him a stint as editor at ''Screen
Screen or Screens may refer to:
Arts
* Screen printing (also called ''silkscreening''), a method of printing
* Big screen, a nickname associated with the motion picture industry
* Split screen (filmmaking), a film composition paradigm in which mul ...
'' of Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...
group. Here for 10 years, he offered constant criticism to the film industry through his editorials. He went on to start two film magazines, ''Cine Voice'' and ''Movie Times''; but these were started without much infrastructure and Karanjia ended up losing lot of his family inheritance in these ventures. He also authored several books on the Indian film industry
The Cinema of India consists of motion pictures produced in India, which had a large effect on world cinema since the late 20th century. Major centers of film production across the country include Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Ko ...
and several biographies.
Karanjia was the founder of the Film Finance Corporation, which later became the NFDC with him as its chairman. In time, it started financing art films made on low budget, initiating what is now known as Parallel cinema
Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema.
Inspired by Italian Neorealism, Parallel Cinema ...
, through the late 1970s and '80s.
The film ''Pestonjee
''Pestonjee'' is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Vijaya Mehta, starring Anupam Kher, Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi, based on a story by film journalist B. K. Karanjia.
At the 35th National Film Awards, it won the award ...
'' starring Anupam Kher, Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare A ...
and Shabana Azmi
Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...
, was based on his story about two Parsi friends. He also wrote dialogue of the film and co-wrote the screenplay with director Vijaya Mehta
Vijaya Mehta (born 4 November 1934), is a noted Indian Marathi film and theatre director and also an actor in many films from the Parallel Cinema. She is a founder member of Mumbai-based theatre group, Rangayan with playwright Vijay Tendulkar, ...
. At the 35th National Film Awards
The 35th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Indian Cinema released in the year 1987. Ceremony took place in Apr ...
, it won the award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. His well-received autobiography, ''Counting My Blessings'' was published in 2005.[
]
Personal life
B. K. Karanjia was married to Abad (Allbless). He lived in Bandra
Bandra (Indian English, æːɳɖɾa also known as Vandre (Help:IPA/Marathi, aːn̪d̪ɾe is an upscale coastal suburb located in Mumbai (Bombay) area of the Konkan division, Maharashtra, India. The suburb is located to the immediate nor ...
, a Mumbai suburb. Later in life, after the death of his wife in 2005, he shifted to Sopan Baug area in Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
in 2007, where he died at Jehangir hospital at the age of 92. He was survived by daughters, Routton and Delshad, and son Yuzud. His elder brother, Russi died five years prior to him.[
]
Bibliography
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karanjia, B. K.
1919 births
2012 deaths
Journalists from Maharashtra
People from Quetta
Indian magazine editors
Parsi people
The Times Group people
Indian Express Limited people
Indian film critics
20th-century Indian biographers
Indian autobiographers
University of Mumbai alumni
The Times of India journalists
20th-century Indian journalists