Bombay Talkies
 |
|
| Industry | Entertainment |
|---|---|
| Founded | 22 June 1934 |
| Founders | |
| Defunct | 13 October 1953 |
| Headquarters | Malad, Mumbai, India |
|
Area served
|
undivided India |
| Products | |
Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation the Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay (now known as Mumbai).
The Studio was established in 1934 by Himanshu Rai and the Devika Rani. After Rai's death in 1940, Rani took over the Studio. Besides the founders, Ashok Kumar was the leading actor of the Studio until 1943, when he founded another studio – Filmistan – with Shashadhar Mukherjee. After Rani's retirement, Kumar and Mukherjee took over Bombay Talkies. The last film produced by the Studio was released in June 1954.
For the period in cinematic history it represented, the Bombay Talkies was considered to be an innovative and highly resourced movie studio. In line with international standards, the studios' facilities included sound and echo-proof stages, laboratories, editing rooms and a preview theater. The reputation of the Bombay Talkies was further enhanced by employing experienced European technicians, the most prominent of whom was Franz Osten.
The Bombay Talkies set a high technical standard for film making in India and was credited with introducing a level of professionalism to the medium of movie making and acting, reputedly higher than standards set by rival Indian film production companies. Bombay Talkies acquired a reputation for changing the aesthetic and technology traditionally associated with Indian films. It was also renowned for producing films on (then) controversial topics such as those dealing with love between an untouchable lower caste girl and a high caste Hindu Brahmin boy (Achhut Kanya).
Devika Rani, who became one of Bombay Talkies' most successful actresses, and India's first film diva, appeared in Jawani ki Hawa (1935) and Jeevan Naiya (1936), as well as a number of other highly successful productions by the company. The studio was similarly recognized as having launched the careers of several prominent Indian film industry luminaries including Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar, Leela Chitnis, Mehmood Ali, Madhubala and Dilip Kumar. Madhubala and Dilip Kumar, who co-starred in four Bombay Talkies films, engaged in a long term, highly covert love affair.Raj Kapoor worked as an assistant to Amiya Chakravarty of Bombay Talkies, before becoming a famous director.
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