Kohinoor Film Company was an Indian

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...

established in 1918 by Dwarkadas Sampat (1884-1958). Along with

Ranjit Movietone Ranjit Studios, also known as Ranjit Movietone, was an Indian film production company with studio facilities located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It produced films between 1929 and mid-1970s. The studio was founded by Chandulal Shah along wi ...

and the Imperial Film Company it was the largest movie studio when Indian

talkies A sound film is a Film, motion picture with synchronization, synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, bu ...

began in the 1930s. Kohinoor didn't just produce some of the most successful films of its era. The studio also trained such people as Nandlal Jaswantlal and Mohan Bhavnani, and produced artists such as Goharbai, Zebunissa and Rampiyari.

History

In 1918, the film pioneer Dwarkadas Narendas Sampat (1884-1958) established the Kohinoor Film Company. Sampat introduced wooden sets, doing away with the painted sceneries of the past. In 1923, a fire at the studio destroyed negatives of the company's films. However, Eastman Kodak willingly granted further credit for raw film stock.

Filmography

Between 1919 and 1929, Sampat and Kohinoor made 98 films, including *''Vikram Urvashi'' (1920) *''Anusuya'' (1921) *'' Bhakta Vidur'' (1921) ::

Kanjibhai Rathod Kanjibhai Rathod was an Indian film director. Early life Kanjibhai Rathod from Maroli village in Navsari district of south Gujarat, was considered the first successful director in Indian cinema. His rise to fame in an era when most people st ...

directed this mythological

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

, which alluded directly to political issues of the day. In the wake of the ''

Rowlatt Act The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a law, applied during the British India period. It was a legislative council act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on 18 March 1919 ...

'' in 1919, which put restrictions on Indian imports, protests and agitation broke out, thrusting

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

into the national spotlight. This film adapted a section from the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

'' that concerns the fall of an empire at the hands of two warring clans, the

Pandavas The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...

and the

Kaurava ''Kaurava'' is a Sanskrit term which refers to descendants of Kuru, a legendary king of India who is the ancestor of many of the characters of the epic ''Mahabharata''. Usually, the term is used for the 100 sons of King Dhritarashtra and his ...

s. More overtly, the film's main character,

Vidur Vidura (), plays a key role in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is described as the prime minister of the Kuru kingdom and is the paternal uncle of both the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Legend Mandavya's Curse The rishi Mandavya cursed Yam ...

(Dwarkadas Sampat), is a dead ringer for Gandhi, complete with his trademark hat and

khaddar Khadi (, ), derived from khaddar, is a hand-spun and woven natural fibre cloth promoted by Gandhi as ''swadeshi (of homeland)'' for the freedom struggle of India and the term is used throughout the Indian subcontinent.cause célèbre A ( , ; pl. ''causes célèbres'', pronounced like the singular) is an issue or incident arousing widespread controversy, outside campaigning, and heated public debate. The term is sometimes used positively for celebrated legal cases for th ...

'' in India, as it generated a huge censorship controversy and was ultimately banned in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

and

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

. The District Magistrate of Karachi ordered the ban, saying ''it is likely to excite disaffection against the government and incite people to non-cooperation''. *''Kala Nag'' (1924) *''

Kulin Kanta ''Kulin Kanta'' is Indian cinema's 1925 crime thriller silent film directed by Homi Master. Based on a true incident, the Bawla murder case, ''Kulin Kanta'' featured the story of the Tukojirao Holkar III, Maharaja Holkar of Indore, and Mumtaz ...

'' (1925) *'' Mojili Mumbai'' (1925) *''Handsome Blackguard'' (1925) *''Telephone Girl'' (1926)

References

{{reflist

Sources

*Crow, Jonathan; ''Allmovie'' *Garga, B.D.; ''So Many Cinemas'', Eminence Designs Private Limited. *Rajadhyaksh, Ashish & Willeme, Paul; ''Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. Film production companies based in Mumbai Mass media companies established in 1918 1918 establishments in India