Nanabhai Bhatt (12 June 1915 – 24 April 1999) was an Indian film director and producer who worked in

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

and

Gujarati cinema Gujarati cinema, also known as Gollywood or Dhollywood, is the Gujarati language film industry. It is one of the major regional and vernacular film industries of the cinema of India, having produced more than one thousand films since its ince ...

. He is known for making over a hundred fantasy and mythological films, including ''Mr. X'' (1957), ''Zimbo Comes to Town'' (1960), ''Lal Qila'' (1960) and the blockbuster ''Kangan'' (1959) starring

Nirupa Roy Nirupa Roy (born Kokila Kishorechandra Bulsara; 4 January 1931 – 13 October 2004) was an Indian actress who had appeared in Hindi films. Noted for her portrayals of tragedy and sorrow, Roy was known for her acting ability, and was uncharitab ...

and

Ashok Kumar Kumudlal Ganguly (13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), better known by his stage name Ashok Kumar and also by Dadamoni, was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema and who was a member of the cinematic Ganguly family. He ...

. His first film, ''

Muqabala ''Muqabala'' is a 1942 Indian action drama film directed by Batuk Bhatt and Babubhai Mistri, and starring Fearless Nadia, Yakub, Agha, Dalpat, Srinivas and Rajni. Batuk Bhatt started his career as a director by co-directing this film and '' ...

'' (1942), was the first to feature the double-role or "twins" phenomenon in

Indian cinema 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 ...

, wherein lead actress

Fearless Nadia Mary Ann Evans (8 January 1908 – 9 January 1996), also known by her stage name Fearless Nadia, was an Australian-born Indian actress and stuntwoman, who worked in Indian cinema. She is most remembered as the masked, cloaked adventurer in ''Hun ...

alternated between the good sister and the gangster's moll. The formula was subsequently emulated in numerous

Hindi film Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

Early life and career

Bhatt, called Yeshwant Bhatt, was born in a

Nagar Brahmin The Nagar Brahmin is a Hindu Brahmin subcaste mainly from the Indian state of Gujarat. Author T. Sasaki says, Among Brahmins in Gujarat Nagar Brahmins were most prominent subdivision in the political, economic and social activities of this ...

family on 12 June 1915 in

Porbandar Porbandar is a city in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat, perhaps best known for being the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi and Sudama. It is the administrative center of the Porbandar District and it was the former capi ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. He started his early career in films as a sound recordist with Prakash Pictures, working under his brother Balwant Bhatt, and then by writing "scripts and stories" using the name Batuk Bhatt. He began his directorial venture when he joined Homi Wadia's team at Basant Pictures by co-directing two films with Babubhai Mistri, ''

'' (1942) and ''Mauj'' (1943), under the same name. He directed two more films as Batuk Bhatt,

Homi Wadia Homi Wadia (22 May 1911 – 10 December 2004) was an Indian film director and producer in Bollywood (Hindi cinema). He was the co-founder of Wadia Movietone productions, established in 1933 and later after the closure of Wadiatone, he founded Ba ...

's ''

Hunterwali Ki Beti ''Hunterwali Ki Beti'' is a Bollywood film. It was released in 1943, and is the sequel to the 1935 film '' Hunterwali''. Both films starred Fearless Nadia as the heroine and were produced by the Wadia brothers JBH and Homi (Nadia's husband) o ...

'' (1943) and Liberty Pictures ''

Sudhar Gurusar Sudhar is a township in the district of Ludhiana in Punjab, India. It falls in the Raikot sub-division. Demographics According to census 2001 it has a population of 5728, of which 3003 are males and 2725 are females. The number of hou ...

'' (1949). Bhatt left Basant Pictures and started his own production company "Deepak Pictures" in 1946.

Personal life

Bhatt was the patriarch of the Bhatt film family. He had five daughters and four sons, including film director and producer

Mahesh Bhatt Mahesh Bhatt (born 20 September 1948) is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter known for his works in Hindi cinema. A stand-out film from his earlier period is ''Saaransh'' (1984), screened at the 14th Moscow International Film F ...

Mukesh Bhatt Mukesh Bhatt (born 5 June 1952) is an Indian people, Indian film producer and actor who has produced several Bollywood films. He is the younger brother of Mahesh Bhatt, and also the co-owner of the production company Vishesh Films, set up in 19 ...

, and

Robin Bhatt Robin Bhatt is a writer in Bollywood. He is the half-brother of Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt and son of Nanabhai Bhatt. He has written many films and was nominated thrice and won an award for ''Baazigar''. He is honoured with Lifetime Achie ...

. Bhatt died at Nanavati hospital in Mumbai from heart failure on 24 April 1999.

Filmography

Producer

*'' Kabzaa'' (1985)

Director

*''Jaya Parvati Vrat'' (

Gujarati film Gujarati cinema, also known as Gollywood or Dhollywood, is the Gujarati language film industry. It is one of the major regional and vernacular film industries of the cinema of India, having produced more than one thousand films since its inc ...

) (1982) *''Gajara Maru'' (

) (1981) *'' Dharti Mata'' (1976) *''

Balak Aur Janwar ''Balak Aur Janwar'' is a 1975 Bollywood film directed by Nanabhai Bhatt. Cast * Randhawa * Mohan Choti * Dulari * Alankar Joshi *Kanan Kaushal *Baldev Khosa *Usha Solanki Soundtrack All songs were written by Bharat Vyas and ...

'' (1975) *''Jeevan Rekha'' (1974) *''Jung Aur Aman'' (1968) *''Baghdad Ki Raatein'' (1967) *'' Shankar Khan'' (1966) *'' Bekhabar'' (1965) *'' Aadhi Raat Ke Baad'' (1965) *''

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

'' (1964) *'' Alapiranthavan'' (1963) *''

Bhootnath ''Bhoothnath'' () is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language supernatural comedy film written and directed by Vivek Sharma, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Aman Siddiqui, Priyanshu Chatterjee and Rajpal Yadav and features Shah Rukh Khan in a c ...

'' (1963) *'' Naag Rani'' (1963) *''

Rocket Girl Rocket Girl is a London-based independent record label. It has released records by Robin Guthrie, Pieter Nooten, God Is an Astronaut, Ulrich Schnauss, A Place to Bury Strangers, Bell Gardens among others, including many artists associated ...

'' (1962) *'' Baghdad Ki Raaten'' (1962) *''

Teen Ustad Adolescence () is a transitional stage of Developmental biology, physical and psychological Human development (biology), development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majo ...

'' (1961) *''

Police Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

'' (1960) *''Lal Quila'' (1960) *''

Zimbo Shaher Mein Zimbo may refer to: Arts and entertainment * TV Zimbo, a television network in Angola * Zimbo (film), a 1958 Bollywood film * Zimbo Trio, a Brazilian instrumental ensemble established in 1964 in São Paulo * a character in the Aaahh!!! Real Monster ...

'' (1960) *''

Daaka ''Daaka'' is an Indian Punjabi-language action comedy film directed by Baljit Singh Deo. The film released on November 1, 2019. Plot Daaka is a movie about two poverty-stricken men who have their own set of problems to deal with. One, named ...

'' (1959) *''

Baazigar ''Baazigar'' () is a 1993 Indian romantic crime thriller film directed by Abbas–Mustan and produced by Venus Movies. It stars Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol in lead roles, while Raakhee, Shilpa Shetty, Dalip Tahil, Siddharth Ray, and Johnny Le ...

'' (1959) *'' Kangan'' (1959) *'' Naya Sansar'' (1959) *''

Madam XYZ Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ...

'' (1959) *''

Son of Sinbad ''Son of Sinbad'' is a 1955 American adventure film directed by Ted Tetzlaff. It takes place in the Middle East and consists of a wide variety of characters, including over 127 women. The film was shot in 1953 and planned to be released in 3 ...

'' (1958) *''

Chaalbaaz ''ChaalBaaz'' (, ) is a 1989 Indian Hindi-language slapstick film directed by Pankaj Parashar and written by Rajesh Mazumdar and Kamlesh Pandey. It stars Sridevi in dual roles, with Sunny Deol and Rajinikanth. The film revolves around twin siste ...

'' (1958) *'' Mr. X'' (1957) *''

Ustad Ustād or ostād (abbreviated as Ust., Ut. or Ud.; from Persian language, Persian ) is an honorific title used in West Asia, North Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is used in various languages such as Persian language, Persian, , Azerbai ...

'' (1957) *'' Kismet'' (1956) *'' Watan'' (1954) *''

Toote Khilone ''Toote Khilone'' () is a 1978 Indian Hindi-language film produced by Prem Sawhney and Mahendra Shah. The film is directed by Ketan Anand. The film stars Ketan's cousin Shekhar Kapur, Shabana Azmi and Utpal Dutt. The film's music is by Bappi L ...

'' (1954) *'' Sinbad Jahazi'' (1952) *'' Apni Izzat'' (1952) *''

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

'' (1952) *''

Lakshmi Narayan Lakshmi Narayana or Lakshmi-Narayan ( sa, लक्ष्मी-नारायण, IAST: ) is the dual representation of the Hindu deities Vishnu, also known as Narayana, and his consort, Lakshmi, traditionally featured in their abode, Vaikunth ...

'' (1951) *'' Ram Janma'' (1951) *'' Daman'' (1951) *''

Lav Kush : ''For the TV Show by Ramanand Sagar watch Luv Kush'' ''Lav Kush'' is a 1997 Indian Hindi-language Hindu mythological film, produced by Dilip Kanikaria under the Devyank Arts banner and directed by V. Madhusudhana Rao. It stars Jeetendra, Jay ...

'' (1951) *''

Janmashtami Krishna Janmashtami , also known simply as Krishnashtami, Janmashtami, or Gokulashtami, is an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar of Vishnu. According to the Hindu lunisolar calendar, it is observed ...

'' (1950) *'' Veer Babruwahan'' (1950) *'' Hamara Ghar'' (1950) *'' Veer Ghatotkach'' (1949) *''

Shaukeen ''Shaukeen'' () is a 1982 Indian Hindi-language comedy film directed by Basu Chatterjee dealing with the psychological aspects of people reaching the dusk of their life. The movie stars Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt, A.K. Hangal, Rati Agnihotri and ...

'' (1949) *'' Maa Baap Ki Laaj'' (1946) *''

Chalis Karod ''Chalis Karod'' (Forty Crores) is a Bollywood film that was released in 1946. The film was directed by Nanabhai Bhatt for Chandra Art Productions. It had music composed by Gobindram and starred Nirmala Devi Nirmala Devi, also known a ...

'' (1946) *'' Mauj'' (1943) *''

'' (1942)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhatt, Nanabhai 1915 births 1999 deaths People from Porbandar Film producers from Gujarat Hindi-language film directors Gujarati people Nanabhai 20th-century Indian film directors Film directors from Gujarat