Israel was suddenly in news this week due to the foreign trip of PM. This has been a country admired by many of us due to the resilient character of their leadership down the ages. Their troubled history has made them stronger and the cynosure of the world.
Which set me thinking: Have there been Jews in Hindi films? Sure we've seen Parsis a lot ( the quintessential Bawaji on his vintage car with a young wife being the stereotype depiction), but they are not Jews.
Some research reveals an interesting ( and often, intriguing) history of Jews in Hindi cinema. In fact, it was the Jewish actors who were the earliest prime movers to get the Hindi cinema on tracks, both in silent as well as talkies eras. Surprisingly, they continue to make an impact in Bollywood till date, as you will discover in this blog.
The first and foremost figure in this story is none other than Sulochana ( real name Ruby Myers), a heroine of Jewish origins. In the era when it was a taboo for the Hindu and Muslim girls to act on stage or in films, the more progressive Jewish actresses siezed the opportunity and paved the way for female characters being played by ladies and not gents !
Among her popular films of the silent era were Typist Girl (1926), Balidaan (1927) and Wildcat of Bombay (1927) where she essayed eight roles including a gardener, a policeman, a Hyderabadi gentleman, a street urchin, a banana seller and a European blonde.Three romantic super hits in 1928 - 29 with director R.S. Chaudhari - Madhuri (1928), Anarkali (1928) and Indira B.A. (1929) saw her at her peak of fame in the silent film era. In fact so widespread was her fame that when a short film on Bapu inaugurating a khadi exhibition was shown, alongside it was added a hugely popular dance of Sulochana's from Madhuri, synchronised with sound effects.
Madhuri was remade in the talkies era , which created a hysteria, making Sulochana one of the earliest stars of Bollywood.
Madhuri was remade in the talkies era , which created a hysteria, making Sulochana one of the earliest stars of Bollywood.
The next remarkable actress of Jewish origin was the first Miss India in 1947 !
Pramilla nee Esther Victoria Abraham, a popular actress of the silent era, was from a Baghdadi Jewish family. She won Miss India in 1947. She and her sisters Romilla and Rose were all actresses and in the silent and early talkies period, were very successful. A stunt star, Pramilla also became the first major woman film producer in India, with 16 films under her banner Silver Productions. Morarji Desai, the then Chief Minister of Bombay, had her arrested because she was suspected of spying for Pakistan, due her constant travels to that country. However, it was later proven she travelled to promote her films.
A well-known Jewish film actor was David Abraham. Abraham was popular as a character actor and worked with India’s best film-makers ever. He is best known for his portrayal of John Chacha in the 1954 hit Boot Polish. He did numerous roles in his career and his smiling, affable personality in real life often overlapped with the characters he portrayed on screen.
The most well-known of the Jewish actors was Nadira ( aka Florence Ezekiel), who was spotted by Mehboob Khan, who gave her a lead role in Aan (1952). She was paid Rs.1200,, an unheard amount in those days, by Mehboob. Nadira rose to become one of the leading actors in negative roles, acting in nearly 100 films and continued her career right upto 2000, in the film Josh. She was one of the first actors in Bollywood to have purchased a Rolls-Royce !
Pearl Padamsee was a child of a Christian father and a Jew Mother. Though raised as a Christian, as per Jewish Laws, all children born of Jewish mothers are Jews. She was a stage artiste and later acted in films like Khatta Meetha (1978) and Baaton Baaton Mein ( 1979) . She ran after-school theatre workshops for children. She married Alyque Padamsee, noted English theatre personality and an advertising professional.
There have been other Jews in hindi film industry, though not as actors.
Ezra Mir was one of the early producers and known as father of animation. He was a profilic documentary movie maker and produced the first Hindi film in colour processed in India , called Pamposh.
Bunny Reuben was a known film journalist associated with Filmfare, Star & Style and Movie.
In 1975, Reuben became the founding-editor of the magazine Cine-Blitz, and within a year brought its circulation to 100,000, at par with other established magazines of the day.
When Steven Spielberg decided to shoot portions of his sci-fi adventure Close Encounters of the Third Kind in India, he signed Bunny Reuben as the Director of Publicity, the best name in the field.
In recent years there have been some attempts to bring the Jewish contributions to Indian cinema in limelight. An Associate Professor in Australia’s Deakin University , Danny Ben-Moshe is in the process of producing a documentary film on the subject, titled, Shalom Bollywood
Haider Ali, whom we know as Khopdi of Nukkad , the TV serial of 80s, was son of Pramilla and thus, technically a Jew. He played off-beat roles in TV serials and films.
The three sons of Salome Aaron, the 1973 Miss India are the famous Roy Kapoor Brothers. Salome had her training in Indian and western dances, and is a personality development trainer. She amarried Kumud Roy Kapur and has three sons, all in the film industry.
Kunaal Roy Kapoor started off in 1998 with the serial Just Mohabbat and graduated to films, doing a variety of roles
Aditya Roy Kapoor established himself as a serious actor in Aaashiqui 2 and is active in the film industry
Last but not the least, Siddharth Roy kapoor is an established producer, whose 2016 film Dangal has broken records, world wide.
The Jews are here to stay, undoubtedly.
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