Chaturbhuj Doshi (1894–1969) was a

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 ...

and

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

writer-director of

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, ...

. He was one of the top Gujarati screenplay writers, who helped script stories for the Punatar productions. He is stated to be one of the leading figures who launched the Gujarati film industry with work on notable films like ''Gunsundari'' (1948) and ''Nanand Bhojai'' (1948). Doshi, was “well known” for his family socials and had become “a celebrity in his own right”. He made a name for himself as a journalist initially and was referred to as the "famous journalist" and publicist by

Baburao Patel Baburao Patel (1904–1982) was an Indian publisher and writer, associated with films and politics. Career He was the editor and publisher of India's first film trade magazine, ''Filmindia'', the first edition of which was published in 1935. ...

, editor of ''

Filmindia ''filmindia'' is an Indian monthly magazine covering Indian cinema and published in English language. Started by Baburao Patel in 1935, ''filmindia'' was the first English film periodical to be published from Bombay. The magazine was reportedl ...

''. His debut film as a director was '' Gorakh Aya'' (1938), produced by Ranjit Movietone, though he joined Ranjit in 1929, as a scriptwriter. In 1938, he directed another film for Ranjit, a social comedy, ''

The Secretary "The Secretary" is the 95th episode of NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld''. This was the ninth episode for the sixth season, and was the first to use Castle Rock Entertainment's new logo after its acquisition from Turner. It aired on December 8, 1994. Pl ...

'', and both films were box-office successes for Doshi. His forte was socials, regularly adapting stories and novels for films. He worked initially on comedies like ''Secretary'' and ''Musafir'' (1940), but then "shifted to more significant films".

Early life and career

Chaturbhuj Anandji Doshi was born in

Kathiawar Kathiawar () is a peninsula, near the far north of India's west coast, of about bordering the Arabian Sea. It is bounded by the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest and by the Gulf of Khambhat (Gulf of Cambay) in the east. In the northeast, i ...

, Gujarat,

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 was educated at the

University of Bombay The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

, and after graduation he started work as a journalist for a daily, ''Hindustan'' (1926), working for editor Indulal Yagnik. His entry into films was working as a scenarist in the silent era for directors like

Jayant Desai Jayant Desai (born Jayantilal Jhinabhai Desai, 28 February 1909 – 19 April 1976) was an Indian film director and producer. After graduating from the University of Bombay Desai joined Ranjit Studios in 1929 where he directed numerous films inc ...

, Nandlal Jaswantlal, and

Nanubhai Vakil Nanubhai Vakil (23 May 1902 – 29 December 1980) was a Hindi and Gujarati film director. He was the first to make a Gujarati talkie film with a biopic on the saint Narsinh Mehta in 1932. ''Narsinh Mehta's'' (1932) star cast included the actress ...

. He joined Ranjit Movietone in 1929, and wrote stories and screenplay for several of Ranjit films.

Career

'' Gorakh Aya'' (Gorakh has come) in 1938, was the first film directed by Doshi. It was produced by Ranjit Movietone with screenplay by Gunvantrai Acharya and dialogues by P. L. Santoshi. The music, termed "good" was composed by

Gyan Dutt Gyan Dutt was one of the most prominent music directors in Bollywood in the 1940s. He was music director for films such as ''Thokar'' (1939), '' Achhut'' (1940), '' Bhakta Surdas'' (1942), ''Sunehre Din'' (1949) and '' Ghayal'' (1951). Many of hi ...

. Baburao Patel's review in the September 1938 issue was favourable to the director "Directed by a man who enjoys a good reputation as a journalist… Mr. Chaturbhuj Doshi has given an excellent account of himself as a director considering that this is his very first effort", claiming it to be the "best picture coming out during the year from the Ranjit Studio". ''

'' in 1938, was a "riotous comedy", starring Madhuri as a rich heiress in love with her secretary played by

Trilok Kapoor Trilok Kapoor (11 February 1912 23 September 1988) was an Indian actor and a member of the Kapoor family who worked in Bollywood films. He was the younger brother of actor Prithviraj Kapoor. Early and personal life Trilok was born as the sec ...

Charlie Charlie may refer to: Characters * "Charlie," the head of the Townsend Agency', from the ''Charlie's Angels'' franchise * Charlie, a character on signs for the CharlieCard, a smart card issued by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority * ...

played the third angle causing friction, and was described as the "mainstay" of the film. The music was composed by Gyan Dutt, who became a regular in most of the films directed by Doshi. '' Musafir'' in 1940 was a comedy costume drama, which had Charlie playing a prince who on his return finds his kingdom in disarray. Baburao Patel commended his acting in Filmindia, calling him "versatile" and "inimitable". '' Bhakta Surdas'', a devotional film directed by Doshi in 1942, is stated to be the "most famous" of the several versions made. It starred

K. L. Saigal Kundan Lal Saigal, often abbreviated as K. L. Saigal (11 April 1904 – 18 January 1947), was an Indian singer and actor who is considered the first superstar of the Hindi film industry, which was centred in Kolkata during Saigal's time, but is ...

and Khursheed "the singing idol(s) of millions", winning "unprecedented popularity" everywhere. '' Maheman'' (1942) starred Madhuri, Ishwarlal, Shamim and Mubarak. Music director Bulo C. Rani had come to Bombay in 1942, and joined Ranjit Studios assisting

Khemchand Prakash Khemchand Prakash (12 December 1907 – 10 August 1949) was a music composer in the Hindi film industry. He had few peers in 1940s, the decade for Indian film music which started with Saigal very active on the scene and ended with Lata Mangeshkar ...

in music direction. Prakash gave him a song to sing in ''Mehman'', "Rootha Pyar Mein", which was "appreciated" and became a "popular number". Doshi helped enormously in the development of the

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 inc ...

. During 1948-49 he directed three successful Gujarati films which "brought immense success to the industry". The success of the Gujarati film '' Kariyavar'' in 1948, directed by Chaturbhuj Doshi from a story by Shaida, called ''Vanzari Vaav'', helped establish the Gujarati film industry along with other films like ''Vadilo Ne Vanke'' (1948) by Ramchandra Thakur and ''Gadono Bel'' (1950) by Ratibhai Punatar. His next Gujarati film was ''Jesal Toral'' (1948) based on folk-lore, which proved a big box-office success. In 1949, Doshi directed another Gujarati film, ''Vevishal'', an adaptation of Meghani's novel of the same name. He also wrote stories, and one of his stories ''Pati Bhakti'' was used in the Tamil film ''En Kanawar'' (1948) produced by Ajit Pictures, which starred the

Veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps ...

maestro,

S. Balachander Sundaram Balachander (18 January 1927 – 13 April 1990) was an Indian veena player and filmmaker. He directed, produced, and also composed music for a few of his films. Balachander was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1982. He died of a hear ...

, who was also the debut director and music composer for the film.

Death

Chaturbhuj Doshi died on 21 January 1969 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India.

Filmography

List:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chaturbhuj Doshi 1894 births 1969 deaths Film directors from Mumbai 20th-century Indian film directors Indian male screenwriters Film directors from Gujarat Hindi-language film directors Gujarati people 20th-century Indian screenwriters 20th-century Indian male writers