Sagar Movietone, also known as Sagar Films, Sagar Film Company and Sagar Productions, was an Indian company involved in the production of films for Indian cinema. It was launched by Ardeshir Irani with Chimanlal Desai and Dr. Ambalal Patel in 1929 in Bombay, Maharashtra, India. Sagar was initially started as a branch company of Ardeshir's Imperial Film Company. Several key figures from Imperial, such as Mehboob Khan were shifted to Sagar. The studio was in operation from 1930 to 1939. In 1940, it combined with General Pictures to form National Studios. It made "Parsi theatre based films, mythologicals and stunt movies". Sagar fostered the career of many artists who rose to prominence. Early directors such as Prafulla Ghosh, Sarvottam Badami, Ezra Mir and Nanubhai Vakil were promoted by the company. Mehboob Khan got his first break as a director in Al Hilal in 1935. He was referred to as "the most important alumnus" from Sagar, who went on to become one of Indian cinema's "most influential film-makers".
With the launch of the studio, five silent films were produced in 1930. Their first silent film was Dav Pech (The Web) (1930). Their first talkie film was Meri Jaan, also called Romantic Prince (1931). That year Sagar made nine films. The company also produced films in Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali and Punjabi. The first Tamil talkie was produced by Sagar Movietone; Kalidas (1931), directed by H. M. Reddy and starring T. P. Rajalakshmi. However, production reference for Kalidas has also been credited to Imperial Film Company, the parent company of Sagar.SM, p. 61 The first Gujarati Talkie Narsinh Mehta was produced by Sagar in 1932.
Films such as Manmohan (1936), Jagirdar (1937), Hum Tum Aur Woh (1938) and Ek Hi Raasta (1939) were stated to be a notable collaboration between Mehboob Khan as director and Anil Biswas as music composer. Both Mehboob Khan and Biswas worked at Sagar for a long period, with their collaboration extending to National Studios.
History The people involved in the formation of Sagar Movietone were: Ardeshir Irani who started the company as a subsidiary of Imperial Films in 1929; Chimanlal Bhogilal Desai and Dr. Ambalal Patel who joined and took over the company in 1930.
Ardeshir Irani (1886-1969) earlier founded Star Films (1920) with Bhogilal Dave, then Majestic Films (1923), Royal Art Studios (1925) and Imperial Film Company in 1926. Under the banner of Imperial Films, Irani produced the first talkie film of India Alam Ara (1931) and the first colour film Kisan Kanya (1937). According to an interview Mehboob Khan gave to Filmfare on 16 August 1957, Irani wanted to contract actor Master Vithal, who had become popular doing Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief Of Baghdad (1924) style of swashbuckling roles and was known as "The Indian Fairbanks". Vithal at that time was working for Sharda Film Company and it was deemed unethical of a man of Irani's stature to lure Vithal to Imperial. Irani then started Sagar Film Company as a "subsidiary of Imperial Film Company", in 1929, with Mehboob Khan heading the production unit. The matter regarding Vithal was taken to court (1929) when Vithal was forcibly kept in Nanubhai Desai's house in Pune under the say of Bhogilal Dave, who now ran Sharda Film Company. Irani hired lawyer Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who advised Vithal to go for a bid. Sharda Film Company was unable to match Imperial's bid and lost Vithal to them. Chimanlal Desai and Dr. Ambalal Patel joined Irani as partners at Sagar in 1930.SM, p. 36 The Select Film Circuit was owed money by Irani, he instead offered Desai and Patel a partnership for an amount of Rs. 50,000. Once Desai and Patel joined, Irani left Sagar, leaving them as the sole proprietors.
Chimanlal Desai was representative and distributor for Imperial Film Company and Sharada Film Company in South India with his base in Bangalore. Prior to getting into the film distribution business, Desai had worked in coal supply, in printing and then in the textile business. It was while working as a cloth merchant with his brothers in Bangalore that Desai was approached to help with a film distribution concern, Select Film Circuit, owned by Vasantray Desai and managed by Vasantray's younger brother Thakorbhai Desai. Chimanlal Desai decided to invest in the company, inviting his friend Dr. Ambalal Patel to join in with Rs. 5000. The two started distributing films through Select Film Circuit, which now belonged to them. They became the sole distributors for Imperial Films and Sharda Film Company based in Bombay for the South India market. In 1929, when the business hit a snag due to problems in sending films by the film companies, Desai decided to travel to Bombay himself to find a solution. There, he was invited by Ardeshir Irani, who owed money to Desai, to join as a partner in Sagar for a sum of Rs. 50,000. Later, in 1930, Desai and Patel became the sole proprietors, when Irani left to focus on Indian cinema's first talkie, Alam Ara, while Sagar concentrated on their first talkie film, Meri Jaan. Desai remained the active partner in the production department. Ambalal Patel was born in Sojitra, Kheda district, Bombay Presidency (now Gujarat). Leaving his job as a doctor, he joined the Velchand group, who were in bicycles sales. He then joined the Bombay Cycle & Motor Agency that sold cars manufactured by General Motors. After joining Desai as a partner in Select Pictures Circuit in 1925, the company expanded distributing films from Bombay. He joined Desai in Bombay, where they went into partnership in Sagar Movietone in 1930. He left Sagar in 1936, and returned to Bangalore. He was later to help form Sudama Pictures with Sarvottam Badami and Sabita Devi along with Ranjit Studios. Badami was to make three films for Sudama, Sajani (1940), Chingari (1940) and Bambai Ki Sair (1941) before he left Sudama Pictures.SM, p. 120
Production
Work By the time Desai and Patel took over, nearly ten silent films were made starting with Dav Pech (The Web) (1930). Out of a total of 12 silent films, only two; Hoor-E-Misr and Dilawar were made following Desai and Ambalal joining Sagar. From the sixty-six films produced by Sagar, fifty-two were in Hindi, five in Tamil. three in Telugu, four in Gujarati and one in Punjabi.SM, p. 288 When Irani left Sagar in 1930 to concentrate on Alam Ara (1931), Sagar started work on its first talkie Meri Jaan (Romantic Prince) (1931), operating equipment used by Irani during the day for Alam Ara, while Sagar technicians used it during the night. Some of the notable films from Sagar were:
Veer Abhimanyu (1931), directed by Prafulla Ghosh and starring Jal Merchant, Zubeida, Yakub, Jilloobai, and Mehboob Khan. Narsinh Mehta (Gujarati) (1932), directed by Nanubhai Vakil became the first feature film in Gujarati. The cast included Master Manhar, Mohanlala, Marutirao and Mehtab. Chandrahasa (1933), directed by Sarvottam Badami, Farzande Hind (1934), Shaher Ka Jadoo which introduced Motilal.
Grihalaxmi (1934) was directed by Sarvottam Badami. A family melodrama about an educated wife going through humiliation at the hands of her husband, but continues to stay with him, it starred Sabita Devi, Jal Merchant and Yakub. Badami was known for directing "socially relevant" films for Sagar Movietone. It was a remake of Bhaneli Bhamini (1927), which carried a social message against sexually transmitted disease.
Al Hilal (1935) was the debut direction by Mehboob Khan and introduced Sitara Devi in the leading role opposite Kumar. Dr. Madhurika, a film, though successful at the box-office, got a mixed response from a select audience group, which were disappointed with the female protagonist submitting in the end.
Actors Motilal was born in Simla. While in Bombay he visited a shooting schedule at Sagar Studios. He was spotted by director K. P. Ghosh and offered the lead in Shehar Ka Jadoo (1934). He had no formal training, which acted to his benefit, becoming known for his natural acting. He was to work in several top films produced by Sagar most of them opposite Sabita Devi, Silver King, Dr. Madhurika, Do Diwane, Jagirdar (1937), Kokila, Kulvadhu and Hum Tum Aur Woh. He left Sagar to join Ranjit Studios.SM, p. 215
Sabita Devi was one of the top paid actresses at the time. She started her career in silent films, and with the arrival of talkies learned Hindi. She shifted from British Dominion Films Ltd., Calcutta, to Kinema Arts, and then worked for the Calcutta-based East India Film Company. She moved to Bombay and joined Sagar Film Company. She acted opposite Motilal in his debut film Shaher Ka Jadoo (1934). She was the star of Sagar Movietone and acted in several films produced by them. Her last film for them was Ladies Only (1939). She left Sagar and went into partnership with Dr. Ambalal Patel and Sarvottam Badami at Sudama Pictures.SM, p. 211
Surendra came to Bombay on the insistence of film distributor Lala Alopi Prasad. Mehboob Khan gave him his debut role in Deccan Queen (1935) and Manmohan (1936). Manmohan was made as a Bombay response to the Calcutta-produced Devdas (1935). Surendra's acting and singing were appreciated by the audiences and he went on to act in several roles that show-cased his sensitive appeal. He moved to National with Mehboob Khan giving performances in successful films such as Aurat.SM, p. 221
Bibbo acted in India's first sound film Alam Ara. She worked in thirteen films produced by Sagar. Her popular pairing with Surendra had them acting in several films together, most famous being Manmohan, Gramaphone Singer and Ladies Only. When Sagar shut down, she shifted to Circo Productions.SM, p. 223
Yakub started his acting career as an extra in silent films in Sharda Film Company. He joined Sagar Film Company and was a regular in most films produced by them. He acted in their first talkie, Meri Jaan. He worked with Mehboob Khan in several films and formed a working and friendly relationship with him. He shifted to National Studios with Khan when Sagar shut down acting in Aurat (1940) cited as one of the finest performances in Indian cinema.GulazāraChatterjee2003, p. 638
Other stars who worked with Sagar were Kumar, Maya Banerejee, Snehprabha Pradhan, Wahidan Bai, Kanhaiyalal and popular comedians such as Noor Mohammed Charlie, Bhudo Advani and V. H. Desai. Mukesh the playback singer, first acted in a Sagar production Nirdosh.
Directors Mehboob Khan was shifted from Imperial to Sagar at its formation. He played supporting roles in several initial Sagar films. With the help of his friends cinematographer Faredoon Irani and Gangaram, a laboratory assistant, he developed a story narrating it to Ambalal Patel. The film was Al Hilal (Judgement Of Allah) and it marked the entry of Mehboob as a director. He was to direct several successes for Sagar such as Deccan Queen, Manmohan, Jagirdar, Watan, Hum Tum Aur Woh, Ek Hi Raasta (1939) and Ali Baba. He moved to National Studios on its formation and directed three big hits; Aurat, Bahen (1941) and Roti (1942). He went on to form his own production company Mehboob Productions in 1943 and remade Aurat in 1957 as Mother India (1957), which went on to become a classic.SM, p. 207