Babubhai Mistry (5 September 1918 – 20 December 2010) was an Indian film director and

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

pioneer who is best known for his films based on

Hindu mythology Hindu mythology refers to the collection of myths associated with Hinduism, derived from various Hindu texts and traditions. These myths are found in sacred texts such as the Vedas, the Itihasas (the ''Mahabharata'' and the ''Ramayan ...

, such as '' Sampoorna Ramayana'' (1961), ''

Mahabharat The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succes ...

'' (1965), and ''

Parasmani ''Parasmani'' ("Philosopher's stone" that converts iron into gold) is a 1963 Indian Hindi-language film. The film is a musical fantasy drama shot partly in Black and White and partly in colour. It was directed by Babubhai Mistri, who is known as ...

'' (1963) as well as the television series ''

''. In 1999, Mistry received the

Lifetime Achievement Award Lifetime achievement awards are awarded by various organizations, to recognize contributions over the whole of a career, rather than or in addition to single contributions. Such awards, and organizations presenting them, include: A * A.C. ...

at the

Zee Cine Awards The Zee Cine Award (ZCA) is an annual Indian awards ceremony for the Hindi film industry. They were instituted in November 1997 to award "Excellence in cinema – the democratic way". They were first held in Mumbai until 2004, when the ZCA w ...

.Zee awards
''Indian Express'', 1 March 1999. In 2009, he was honored "for his contribution to

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

as the master of special effects" at an event, "Immortal Memories," held to honor the "living legends" of the

Hindi film industry Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Hollywood". The industry, producing films in th ...

Early life and education

Babubhai was born in the area of

Surat Surat (Gujarati Language, Gujarati: ) is a city in the western Indian States and territories of India, state of Gujarat. The word Surat directly translates to ''face'' in Urdu, Gujarati language, Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of t ...

, Gujarat, and studied until class four.

Career

Babubhai was a regular art director for various movies produced by

Wadia Movietone Wadia Movietone was a noted Indian film production company and studio based in Mumbai, established in 1933 by Wadia brothers J. B. H. Wadia and Homi Wadia. It was most known for stunt, fantasy and mythological films, including '' Hunterwali'' ...

owned by JBH and

Homi Wadia Homi Wadia (22 May 1911 – 10 December 2004) was an Indian film director and producer in Bollywood (Hindi cinema). He was the co-founder of Wadia Movietone productions, established in 1933 and later after the closure of Wadiatone, he founded Ba ...

brothers along with

Fearless Nadia Mary Ann Evans (8 January 1908 – 9 January 1996), also known by her stage name Fearless Nadia, was an Australian-Indian actress and stuntwoman, who worked in Indian cinema. She is most remembered as the masked, cloaked adventurer in '' Hunterw ...

. Here he discovered his penchant for handling camera and trick photography. He trained with

Vijay Bhatt Vijay Bhatt (born Vrajlal Jagneshwar Bhatt; 12 May 1907 – 17 October 1993) was a producer-director-screenwriter of Hindi cinema, who made such films as '' Ram Rajya'' (1943), '' Baiju Bawra'' (1952), '' Goonj Uthi Shehnai'' (1959) and '' Hi ...

at Basant Pictures as a special effects director from 1933 to 1937. '' Khwab Ki Duniya'' (1937) came to him after Vijay Bhatt asked him to go and watch the American film ''

The Invisible Man ''The Invisible Man'' is an 1897 science fiction novel by British writer H. G. Wells. Originally serialised in '' Pearson's Weekly'' in 1897, it was published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man to whom the title refers is Griffin, a s ...

'' (1933) and later asked whether he would be able to replicate them for a film, thus starting his career in special effects. Gulzar., p. 490 In fact his special effects in the film earned him the nickname ''Kala Dhaga'' (black thread) for the black threads he used in the film for performing various tricks. Thus ''Khwab Ki Duniya'' was the first film in which he was credited as a "trick photographer". In the coming years, he also received acclaim for his effects in Basant Pictures' ''Hatimtai'' (1956) directed by

and Ellis Duncan's ''

Meera Meera, better known as Mirabai, and venerated as Sant Meerabai, was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna. She is a celebrated Bhakti saint, particularly in the North Indian Hindu tradition. She is mentioned in '' Bhaktama ...

'' (1954). Mistry soon became a director and a cameraman. He started his directing career by co-directing his first two films, '' Muqabala'' (1942) and '' Mauj'' (1943) with

Nanabhai Bhatt Nanabhai Bhatt (12 June 1915 – 24 April 1999) was an Indian film director and producer who worked in Hindi cinema, Hindi and Gujarati cinema. He is known for making over a hundred fantasy and mythological films, including ''Mr. X'' (1957), ' ...

, both starred Fearless Nadia. Over the next four decades, he gathered stories from diverse religious, epical and language texts, such ''

Puranas Puranas (Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
(1995 Editio ...

'', and went on to direct over 63 fantasy, mythological and religious films, including '' Sampoorna Ramayana'' (1961), "a milestone in the history of Hindu mythology", ''

'' (1963) and ''Mahabharat'' (1965). Later, he also remained a consultant for

Ramanand Sagar Ramanand Sagar (born Chandramauli Chopra; 29 December 1917 – 12 December 2005) was an Indian film-television director, producer, and writer. He is best known for his contribution to the television serials '' Ramayan'' (1987–1988) and '' Shr ...

's television epic series, '' Ramayan'' (1987–1988). He was also in charge of special effects in B.R. Chopra's

. In 2005, at the annual MAMI festival, he was awarded the Kodak Trophy for Technical Excellence for his contribution to Indian cinema. Dawyer, p. 44

Filmography

;Director * '' Muqabala'' (1942) * '' Mauj'' (1943) * '' Sampoorna Ramayana'' (1961) * ''King Kong'' (1962) * ''

'' (1963) * ''Sunheri Nagin'' (1963) * ''

'' (1965) * ''

Bhagwan Parshuram ''Bhagwan Parshuram'' is a 1970 Indian Hindi language drama film directed by Babubhai Mistry. The film stars Abhi Bhattacharya and Jayshree Gadkar in lead roles. Plot This is the story of Lord Parshuram, who beheads his mother in the beginnin ...

'' (1970) * ''Daku Man Singh'' (1971) * ''

Saat Sawal ''Saat Sawal'' is a List of Bollywood films of 1971, 1971 Bollywood adventure film directed by Babubhai Mistry. The film stars Neville Symons and Heena Kumari. Cast *Naval Kumar as Hatim-Al-Tai *Heena Kumari as Gulnar Pari / Husna Pari *Shyam ...

'' (1971) * '' Hanuman Vijay'' (1974) * ''Alakh Niranjan'' (1975) * '' Maya Maschindra'' (1975) * '' Vir Mangdavalo'' (1976) –

Gujarati film Gujarati cinema, also known as Dhollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema, dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Gujarati language widely spoken in the state of Gujarat. It is based in Ahmedabad. It is one ...

* '' Amar Suhagin'' (1978) * ''

Har Har Gange ''Har Har Gange'' is a 1979 Bollywood film directed by Babubhai Mistri. It stars Neera, Ashish Kumar, Anjana Mumtaz in the lead roles. The music is composed by Ravindra Jain and the lyrics are penned by Bharat Vyas. It is a color remake of th ...

'' (1979) * '' Sant Ravidas Ki Amar Kahani'' (1983) * '' Kalyug Aur Ramayan'' (1987) * '' Hatim Tai'' (1990) *''Mahamayi'' (1991) (Tamil) ;Special effects * '' Khwab Ki Duniya'' (1937) * '' Aladdin Aur Jadui Chirag'' (1952) * '' Jungle Ka Jawahar'' 1953 * '' Hatim Tai'' (1956) * ''

'' (1954) * '' Zimbo'' (1958) * '' Angulimaal'' (1960) * ''

Guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

'' (1980) ;Cinematographer * '' Kaash'' (1993)

Notes

References

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External links