Ardeshir Irani

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Ardeshir Irani
Sir J. J. School of Art
Known for	Early Indian cinema

Khan Bahadur Ardeshir Irani (5 December 1886 – 14 October 1969) was a writer, director, producer, actor, film distributor, film showman and cinematographer in the silent and sound eras of early

agency, and a car agency.

Life and career

Ardeshir Irani was born into a

for over forty years. It was at Alexandera Cinema that Ardeshir Irani learnt the rules of the art of filmmaking and became fascinated by the medium. In 1917, Irani entered the field of film production and produced his first silent feature film, Nala Damayanti, which released in 1920.

In 1922, Irani joined

produced seventeen films before Irani and Dave dissolved the partnership.

In 1924, Irani founded Majestic Films, joined by two talented youngsters, B.P. Mishra and Naval Gandhi. At this establishment, Irani produced the films and either Mishra or Gandhi directed the films. Despite its success, fifteen films later, Majestic Films closed, giving way to the equally short-lived Royal Art Studios which had exactly the same life-span as the earlier two, however, it became famous for a certain type of romantic films. Irani improved on it, using new talent to great effect.

In 1925, Irani founded

(1937). His contribution does not end only with giving voice to the silent cinema and colour to black-and-white films. He gave a new courageous outlook to filmmaking in India and provided such a wide range of choice for stories in films that till date, there are films being made which have a theme relating to one of the one hundred fifty-eight films made by Irani.

In 1933, Irani produced and directed the first Persian

Irani's Imperial Films introduced a number of new actors to Indian Cinema, including

for fifteen days to study sound recording and recorded the sounds of Alam Ara on the basis of this knowledge. In the process, he created a whole new trend unknowingly. In those days, outdoor shootings were shot in the sunlight with the help of reflectors. However, the outdoor undesirable sounds were disturbing him so greatly that he shot the entire sequence in the studio under heavy lights. Thus, he began the trend of shooting under artificial light.

Irani made one hundred fifty-eight films in a long and illustrious career of twenty-five years, between the

for he realised that the war was a time not suitable for the film business and therefore he suspended his film business during that time. He died on 14 October 1969 at the age of eighty-two, in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

President

Indian Motion Picture Producers' Association (IMPPA 1937 to 1939)[4] Became the first president of the Association of

.

Filmography

As director

• 1922 : Veer Abhimanyu- Silent
• 1924: Vir Durgadhar - Silent
• 1924: Paap No Fej - Silent
• 1924: Bombay Ni Sethani (Call of Satan - Silent)
• 1924: Shahjehan - Silent
• 1925: Narsingh Dakoo - Silent
• 1925: Navalsha Hirji - Silent
• 1927: Wild Cat of Bombay - Silent
• 1931: Alam Ara - First Indian Talkie
• 1933: Lor Girl - First film in Persian^[5]
• 1937: "carlos"

As producer

• Anarkali (1928)
• Draupadi (1931)
• Shirin and Farhad
  (1934)
• Kisan Kanya
  - First Indian Colour (1937)

As actor

• Ferdowsi
  (1934)

See also

• H. M. Reddy

References

External links

• Ardeshir Irani at
  IMDb