Himansu Rai

Himansu Rai ( Bengali : হিমাংশু রাই , Himāṃśu Rāi , Himangshu Rai ; * 1892 ; † May 18, 1940 in Bombay ) was an Indian film director , actor and producer . He is one of the pioneers of Indian film .

Life

Rai was born into a wealthy Bengali family who owned a theater themselves. After graduating from Kolkata University with a law degree and studying with Tagore in Shantiniketan , he began practicing law and acting on the side in London .

Rai met the German Franz Osten , who filmed exotic subjects for his Munich production company Emelka . The ensuing collaboration resulted in three films in German-Indian co-production, which are now among the few Indian silent films that have survived. The first was The Lamp of Asia (Prem Sanyas) (1925), which tells the life story of Gautama Buddha for a Western audience. Himansu Rai himself stars alongside Seeta Devi . The film found worldwide distribution, which ultimately ensured its survival to this day. This was followed by The Tomb of a Great Love (Shiraz) (1928), a historical romance in the Mughal era , and Dice of Fate (Prapancha Pash) (1929). The movie Die Schicksalswürfel was not only a great commercial success, it also boosted the pride of the Indian film industry tremendously because of its opulence .

In 1929 Himansu Rai married Devika Rani , whom he already knew from his time in London and with whom he had worked since Prem Sanyas . With her he shot the film Karma (1933), produced in Hindi and English . The following year both returned to India and founded the independent film production company Bombay Talkies with its own studio in Bombay . Franz Osten and a few German technicians came to Bombay with modern equipment and from 1935 the company began to produce Hindi films of a comparatively high technical standard. Its leading actor was Ashok Kumar .

With the outbreak of the Second World War , East and the other Germans were interned by the British. Rai suffered a nervous breakdown from overwork and mental stress, from which he never recovered. After his death in 1940 Devika Rani took over the company until 1945. Until film production was discontinued in the 1950s, Bombay Talkies Ltd. Success with Ziddi (1948) and Mahal (1949).

Movies

1925: Prem Sanyas (The Light of Asia)
1928: Shiraz (The tomb of a great love / Shiraz)
1929: Prapancha Pash (Schicksalswürfel / A Throw of Dice)
1933: Karma
1936: Achut Kanya

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ TM Ramachandran: 70 years of Indian cinema, 1913-1983 , p. 92

personal data
SURNAME	Rai, Himansu
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Rai, Himanshu
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Indian film director, actor and film producer
DATE OF BIRTH	1892
DATE OF DEATH	May 18, 1940
Place of death	Bombay

[1] TM Ramachandran: 70 years of Indian cinema, 1913-1983 , p. 92