Master Vithal or Vithal (1906-1969) was an actor in

Indian cinema The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on p ...

, best known as the hero of India's first talkie ''

Alam Ara ''Alam Ara'' () is a 1931 Indian Hindustani-language historical fantasy film directed and produced by Ardeshir Irani. It revolves around a king and his two wives, Navbahaar and Dilbahaar, who are childless; soon, a ''fakir'' (Wazir Muhammad K ...

'' (1931) and of

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

silent stunt films (

silent films A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

had cue cards in a particular language), which gave him the epithet as the

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor and filmmaker best known for being the first actor to play the masked Vigilante Zorro and other swashbuckler film, swashbu ...

of India. Vithal started his film career in Marathi films in 1924 and worked as a film technician and dancer. He was cast as the male lead in ''Ratan Manjari'' (1926) and followed with the swashbuckling roles of many silent stunt films and became a very popular actor. Though he was the male lead of ''Alam Ara'', he hardly had any dialogue due to poor Hindi diction. He returned to silent films and then to talkie Marathi films from 1932 till his last film in 1966. He also directed two films and gave music score to one film. He acted in more than 90 films during his career of 42 years from 1924 to 1966.

Pre 1930 career

Master Vithal's début was on the stage as a child artist with ''Raja Pur Ka Natak Mandali''. He then started his career as a film editor with the film company in Maharashtra Films,

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Kolhapur is one of the most significant cities in South Maharashtra and has been a hub of historical, religious, and cultural a ...

which was owned by

Baburao Painter Baburao Krishnarao Mestry, popularly known as Baburao Painter (3 June 1890 – 16 January 1954) was an Indian Filmmaking, filmmaker and artist. He was a man of many talents with proficiency in painting, sculpture, film production, photography, ...

. His first film role was as a female dancer in '' Kalyan Khajina'', the silent era film directed by Painter. He continued to work as film editor and a dancer and played minor roles in films. His first break as a male lead was in the film '' Ratan Manjari'' (1926) produced by Sharda Studios whom he had joined earlier in 1925. After that, he was a permanent fixture in the role of a hero and he was the star attraction of the Sharda Studios, owned by Nanubhai Desai, Anand Prasad Kapoor and Harshadrai Mehta. Nanubhai Desai was the studio founder and director of many stunt films produced by the company in which Vithal appeared in swashbuckling roles with Zebunissa as his heroine. A professional wrestler, he became a very popular fearless hero acting in films in historical themes related to

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

and Maharashtra; thus giving him the title "the Indian

", a title Vithal hated. Audience adored him in his stunt hero role, which became his "forte". By 1930, he was the highest paid male star in Indian cinema industry.

Post 1930 career

In 1930, Vithal's popularity in Marathi films attracted

Ardeshir Irani Khan Bahadur Ardeshir Irani (5 December 1886 – 14 October 1969) was a writer, director, producer, actor, film distributor, film showman and cinematographer in the silent and sound eras of early Indian cinema. He is considered one of the gre ...

of Imperial Film Company to invite him to join his company to make India's first talkie, though

Mehboob Khan Mehboob Khan Ramzan Khan (9 September 1907
at filmreference.com. – 28 May 1964) was a pr ...

was also vying for the role. Vithal, who was quite excited by Irani's offer, accepted and moved to Irani's newly formed film company Sagar Studios in Bombay, breaking his contract with Sharda Studios. Sharda Studios sued him and he was defended by the lawyer

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...

, who would later become the founder of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Vithal won the case. The following year, Vithal played the hero in the first Indian talkie ''

'' with

Zubeida Zubeida Begum Dhanrajgir (1911 – 21 September 1988) was an Indian actress. Early in her career, she starred in a number of silent films, which were followed by a breakthrough in the first Indian talkie ''Alam Ara'' (1931). Her other notable ...

as the female lead. ''Alam Ara'' was also the first film in which music was introduced, as many as ten music scores were part of the film. As his Hindi diction was poor, he could not deliver the dialogues properly; his acting quality in histrionic roles was also questioned. He was thus shown mostly in a state of trans or semi consciousness in the film and hardly had any dialogue. It is said that Vithal could not adopt himself to the new genre of talking-singing films in Hindi as he was "reduced to a hero who is ''(was)'' magically stuck dumb in ''Alam Ara''." His talkie debut ended without any demand for his acting roles in Hindi films. In 1932, he switched back to silent films, which were no more in flavour. The talkies led to his decline in Hindi films; Vithal would never get a major role in Hindi films again. From 1934 onward, he switched back to Marathi films realizing his limitations. From the 1940s onward, he regularly appeared in films by

Bhalji Pendharkar Bhalji Pendharkar (3 May 1897 – 26 November 1994) was an Indian film director and producer, and a recipient of Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the most prestigious award in the field. Early life and family He was born to Radhabai and Gopal Pendha ...

and those featuring

Lalita Pawar Lalita Pawar (née Amba Laxmanrao Shagun; 18 April 1916 – 24 February 1998) was a prolific Indian actress, who later became famous as a character actress, appearing in over 700 films in Bollywood, Hindi, Marathi cinema, Marathi and Gujarati c ...

and

Durga Khote Durga Khote (née Vita Lad; 14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her time. She remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starr ...

. He also played in a side role in the 1944 blockbuster film '' Ramshastri''. Towards the end, he played only minor roles in Marathi films; his last film appearance was in 1966. In 1933, Master Vithal introduced the concept of double role in Hindi talkie cinema by his directorial début ''Raja'' (in Marathi) and '' Awara Shahzada'' (Hindi), in which the role of a prince and a pauper was played by Shahu Modak, whereas Vithal played his first double role in the silent film ''Raj Tarang'' (1928).

Films

Master Vithal acted in more than 90 films, directed two films ('' Swarajyacha Shiledar'' and '' Awara Shahzada''), and composed music for only one film, (''Kashmir Ki Kali''). The list of his movies, in the descending order of their release, has the following names. * ''Sheras Savva Sher'' (1966) * ''Shodha Mhanje Sapdel'' (1966) * ''Sadhi Manse'' (1965) * ''Vavtal'' (1965) * ''Mohityanchi Manjula'' (1963) * ''Vanakesari'' (1960) * ''Akashganga'' (1959) * ''Matevin Bal'' (1958) * ''Naikinicha Sazza'' (1957) * ''Pavankhind'' (1956) * ''Tai Teleen'' (1953) * ''Vaadal'' (1953) * '' Chhatrapati Shivaji'' (1952) * ''Mard Maratha'' (1952) * ''Mayecha Pazhar'' (1952) * ''Narveer Tanaji'' (1952) * ''Swarajyacha Shiledar'' (1951) * ''Shilanganache Sone'' (1950) * ''Vikram Shashikala'' (1949) * ''Garibanche Rajya'' (1948) * ''Jai Bhawani'' (1947) * '' Jadugar'' (1946) * ''Kashmir Ki Kali'' (1946) * '' Rukmini Swayamvar'' (1946) * ''Sasurvaas'' (1946) * ''Nagma-E-Sahra'' (1945) * ''Pannadai'' (1945) * '' Ramshastri'' (1944) * ''Bahirji Naik'' (1943) * ''Soonbai'' (1942) * ''

Amrit Amrit (), the classical antiquity, classical Marathus (, ''Marathos''), was a Phoenicians, Phoenician port located near present-day Tartus in Syria. Founded in the third millenniumBC, Marat (, ) was the northernmost important city of ancient Ph ...

'' (1941) as Vilas * ''Jagat Mohini'' (1940) * ''Mohini'' (1940) * ''Netaji Palkar'' (1939) * ''Asiai Sitara'' (1937) * '' Hind Mahila'' (1936) * ''Raj Tarang'' (1935) * ''Rangila Nawab'' (1935) * ''Bhedi Rajkumar'' (1934) * '' Chhatrapati Sambhaji'' (1934) * ''Burkhewala'' (1932) * ''Kalo Bhoot'' (1932) * ''Zalim Jawani'' (1932) as Pratap * ''Alam Ara'' (1931) as Adil * ''Anangsena'' (1931) * ''Daulat Ka Nasha'' (1931) * ''Dilawar'' (1931) * ''Gulam'' (1931) * ''Hoor-E-Misar'' (1931) * ''Meri Jaan'' (1931) * ''Arunodaya'' (1930) * ''Dav Pech'' (1930) * ''Josh-E-Jawani'' (1930) * ''Veer Na Ver'' (1930) * ''Bhedi Sawar'' (1929) * ''Chirage Kohistan'' (1929) * ''Mirza Sahiban'' (1929) * ''Nishan Danka'' (1929) * ''Ranghelo Rajput'' (1929) * ''Rank Nu Ratan'' (1929) * ''Gul Badan'' (1928) * ''Heer Sundari'' (1928) * ''Kanak Kanta'' (1928) * ''Karuna Kumari'' (1928) * ''Raj Tarang'' (1928) * ''Sassi Punnu'' (1928) * ''Saundarya Sura''(1928) * ''Sohni Mahiwal'' (1927/II) * ''Asuri Lalsa'' (1927) * '' Balidan'' (1927) * ''Bansari Bala'' (1927) * ''Bhedi Trishul'' (1927) * ''Jaan-e-alam Anjuman Ara'' (1927) * ''Kala Pahad'' * ''Mahasati Ansuya'' * ''Shiraz-Ud-Dowla'' (1927) * ''Swadesh Seva'' (1927) * ''Vande Mataram Ashram'' (1927) * ''Veer Garjana'' (1927) * ''Gunial Gulab'' (1926) * ''Madan Kala'' (1926) * ''Ratan Manjari'' (1926) * ''Suvarna Kamal'' (1926) * ''Vasant Bala'' (1926) * ''Bajirao Mastani'' (1925) * '' Kalyan Khajina'' (1924) as a dancing girl

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vithal, Master Male actors in Marathi cinema Male actors in Hindi cinema Indian male film actors Indian male silent film actors 1969 deaths 20th-century Indian male actors Indian male child actors 1906 births