''Mojili Mumbai'' (English: ''The Slaves of Luxury'') was 1925 silent social film directed by
Manilal Joshi
Manilal Joshi (1893 – 7 September 1927) was a film director of silent films from Indian cinema.
Biography
Joshi was a school teacher in Bombay before joining cinema. He was trained under cinematographer Vishnu B. Joshi at Kohinoor Studio (19 ...
from India.
Plot
Wealthy businessman Nanavati was charmed by Roshanara, a dancer. Chhotalal who worked as a pimp/agent of Roshanara makes a plan to rob Nanavati who has bought a gold necklace to gift her daughter on her birthday. Chhotalal make Nanavati to visit Roshnara. Roshnara seduces Nanavati and gets the necklace. When Nananvati realises that he is robbed, he confronts Chhotalal who had replaced it with fake necklace by then.
Cast
The cast is as follows:
* Yakbal as Roshanara
*
P. K. Raja Sandow
Raja Sandow (born P. K. Nagalingam) was an Indian actor, film director and producer. He began his career as an actor in silent films and later became a prominent actor and director in Tamil language, Tamil and Hindi films of the 1930s. He is co ...
as Mr. Nanavati
* Jamna
* Ganibabu
* Moti
* Noor Mohammed as Chhotalal
* Baby Saraswati
Production
The film depicted the moral decline in urban middle class and rich people of colonial Mumbai which was one of the first film to depict contemporary culture. It provided the moral commentary on westernized rich and dark side of "modern civilization".
The character of Roshanara was reportedly based on a real-life
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...
dancer Roshnara.
This silent black-and-white film was 8220 feet long.
Reception
The film was one of the Joshi's best known films.
It sparked debate in ''Be Ghadi Mouj'', a journal, about "morality and cinematic realism" between its editor
Shayda
Harji Lavji Damani, better known by his pen name Shayda (24 October 1892 – 31 May 1962) was a Gujarati language poet, novelist, short-story writer and playwright from Gujarat, India. He is known as ''Ghazal Samrat'', the king of ghazal poetry, ...
and Joshi. Joshi defended that he only wanted to make social comment on common incidents in culture of Mumbai by his film.
Several other films such as ''Baap Kamal'' (1925) depicted a character of dancer named Roshanara.
References
External links
* {{IMDb title
1925 films
Indian black-and-white films
1925 drama films
Indian silent films
Films set in Mumbai
Films shot in Mumbai