Abdulally Esoofally

Abdulally Esoofally ( Abdul Ali Yusuf Ali ; * 1884 in Surat , † 1957 ) was an Indian film pioneer. Along with Jamshedji Framji Madan , he was the most important projectionist of the early days of Indian film .

Abdulally Esoofally, like JF Madan at the same time, bought foreign film copies and, equipped with a film projector and tent, showed them in a traveling cinema until they were worn out. From 1908 to 1914 he traveled through Burma , Sumatra , Java , Singapore , Ceylon and India and made cinema known in remote areas.

In 1914 he settled in Bombay down and acquired with financial participation by Ardeshir Irani , the cinemas Alexandra Theater and later the Majestic Theater . He and Irani had an entrepreneurial partnership lasting more than 40 years. While Irani took over the film production, Esoofally took care of the commercial exploitation of the films. In 1926 he helped found Irani's film production company Imperial Films . In Esoofally's Majestic Theater , Alam Ara , the first Indian sound film, premiered on March 14, 1931 .

From 1946, Abdulally Esoofally was an active member of the Cinema Exhibitors Association of India .

Literature (source)

• Ashish Rajadhyaksha, Paul Willemen: Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema , p. 95