Burjor Khurshedji Karanjia (21 December 1919 – 25 June 2012) was an Indian film journalist and editor. He was the editor of ''
Filmfare
''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of India's most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, ...
'' for 18 years, followed by ''
Screen'' which he edited for 10 years. He also remained the chairman of the
National Film Development Corporation of India
The National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) based in Mumbai is the central agency established in 1975, to encourage high quality Indian cinema. It functions in areas of film financing, production and distribution and under the Min ...
(NFDC).
Early life and background
Karanjia was born and brought up in
Quetta
Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...
(now in Pakistan). He was named after his maternal grandfather, Burjorji Patel, a merchant in the
Baluchistan
Balochistan ( ; , ), also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in West and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of de ...
region of British India. His family shifted to Bombay (now Mumbai) following the
Partition of India
The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...
in 1947. Here he lived in
South Bombay in a building known as 'Quetta Terrace', close to the
Jinnah House, along with his brother
R. K. Karanjia, who became a noted investigative journalist and founded ''
Blitz''.
[ He studied at ]Wilson College, Mumbai
The Wilson College, established in 1832 in Mumbai, is one of India's oldest colleges; its foundation precedes that of the University of Mumbai, (to which it is affiliated), by 25 years. Wilson College was granted autonomy by Mumbai University i ...
and it was here that he first developed interest in films. In 1934, a group of students from the college were taken on a study tour to Bombay Talkies
Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation, Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay.
The studio was established in 1934 by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. Afte ...
studio in Malad. There he saw the shooting of German director Franz Osten
Franz Osten (23 December 1876 in Munich – 2 December 1956) was a Bavaria, Bavarian filmmaker who along with Himansu Rai was among the first retainers of Bombay Talkies. Osten partnered with Rai on a number of India's earliest blockbuster film ...
's film ''Always Tell Your Wife'' with Najmal Hussain and Devika Rani, which left him mesmerised.
Career
Karanjia started his career with the Indian Civil Services (ICS) after passing the exam in 1943, however within a few months of joining, he left services as he didn't enjoy the work in the Supplies department. He instead joined as a literary assistant in the National War Front organisation in India. Subsequently, he chose to become a film journalist. In between, he also joined the Godrej Group, as publicity manager at their Malayasia factory.
In time he became the editor of the film magazine ''Filmfare
''Filmfare'' is an Indian English-language fortnightly magazine published by Worldwide Media. Acknowledged as one of India's most popular entertainment magazines, it publishes pieces involving news, interviews, photos, videos, reviews, events, ...
'', a Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
publication, where he worked for the next 18 years. During his tenure, the magazine almost doubled its circulation and he even tried to sort out the scandals associated with the Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...
.[
After his retirement from Filmfare, ]Ramnath Goenka
Ramnath Goenka (22 April 1904 – 5 October 1991) was an Indian newspaper publisher. He bought the majority stake of ''The Indian Express'' in 1930s. He created the Indian Express Group with various English and regional language publications.'' ...
offered him a stint as an editor at '' Screen'' of Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...
group. Here for 10 years, he offered constant criticism to the film industry through his editorials. He went on to start two film magazines, ''Cine Voice'' and ''Movie Times''; but these were started without much infrastructure and Karanjia ended up losing a lot of his family inheritance in these ventures. He also authored several books on the Indian film industry
The cinema of India, consisting of Film, 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 #Cinema by language, film indus ...
and several biographies.
Karanjia was the founder of the Film Finance Corporation, which later became the NFDC with him as its chairman. In time, it started financing art films made on a low budget, initiating what is now known as Parallel cinema
Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Cinema of India, Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema.
Inspired by Italian Neorealism, ...
, through the late 1970s and '80s.
The film '' Pestonjee'' starring Anupam Kher
Anupam Kher (born 7 March 1955) is an Indian actor, director and producer who works primarily in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, he has acted in more than 540 films. A veteran of Indian cinema, Kher is recipient of two Na ...
, Naseeruddin Shah
Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He was notable in Indian parallel cinema and has starred in various international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfa ...
and Shabana Azmi
Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Her career in the Hindi cinema, Hindi film industry has spanned Shabana Azmi filmography, over 160 films, mostly within independent and neorealist paral ...
, was based on his story about two Parsi friends. He also wrote dialogues of the film and co-wrote the screenplay with the director Vijaya Mehta. At the 35th National Film Awards, it won the award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. His well-received autobiography, ''Counting My Blessings'' was published in 2005.[
]
Personal life
B. K. Karanjia was married to Abad (Allbless). He lived in Bandra
Bandra ( æːɳɖɾa is a coastal suburb located in Mumbai, the largest city of the Konkan division in Maharashtra, India. The area is located to the immediate north of the River Mithi, which separates Bandra from the Mumbai City district. It ...
, a Mumbai suburb. Later in life, after the death of his wife in 2005, he shifted to Sopan Baug area in Pune
Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
in 2007, where he died at Jehangir hospital at the age of 92. He was survived by daughters, Routton and Delshad, and son Yuzud. His elder brother, Russi died five years prior to him.[
]
Bibliography
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karanjia, B. K.
1919 births
2012 deaths
People from Quetta
Indian magazine editors
Parsi people
The Times Group people
Indian Express Limited people
Indian film critics
20th-century Indian biographers
Indian autobiographers
University of Mumbai alumni
The Times of India journalists
20th-century Indian journalists
Journalists from Mumbai