https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=East_India_Film_CompanyEast India Film Company - Revision history2026-08-01T03:31:33ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=East_India_Film_Company&diff=116286&oldid=prev>Marquardtika at 19:54, 23 April 20212021-04-23T19:54:22Z<p></p>
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The '''East India Film Company''' was an [[Indian film]] [[production company]], based in [[Calcutta]], [[Bengal Presidency]], [[British India]].<ref name=beng/> It was the first Indian film company to screen a movie at an international [[film festival]]. Started in 1932 in Calcutta, by R. L. Khemka, it went on to be a pioneer in producing films across several regional film industries, including [[Cinema of West Bengal|Bengali]], [[Hindi cinema|Hindi]], [[Urdu cinema|Urdu]], [[Telugu cinema|Telugu]], and [[Tamil cinema|Tamil]],<ref name=beng/> in the decade after its founding; till then, production companies were restricted regionally.<ref>{{cite book |title=Indian film|author=Erik Barnouw |author-link=Erik Barnouw|author2=S. Krishnaswamy|author2-link=S. Krishnaswamy|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1980|isbn=0-19-502682-9|page=113 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=J_cKAQAAMAAJ&q=%22East+India+Film+Company%22&dq=%22East+India+Film+Company%22&hl=en&ei=dS4ZTqOwG4f5rQemyNzPAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Pop culture India!: media, arts, and lifestyle|author= Asha Kasbekar|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2006|isbn=1-85109-636-1|page=216 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sv7Uk0UcdM8C&pg=PA216&dq=East+India+Film+Company&hl=en&ei=MioZTuuMO83qrQfhiNCJAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CDcQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=East%20India%20Film%20Company&f=false }}</ref><ref name=beng/><br />
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==History==<br />
The company was formed in 1932 by R. L. Khemka, a local [[Marwari people|Marwari]] businessman in [[Bengal]],<ref name=beng/> after acquiring the [[RCA Photophone]] studio, its location recording equipment, and its [[Mitchell Camera]]s. In 1933, East India Film Company's first [[Cinema of West Bengal|Bengali film]] production, ''Jamuna Puline'', was released, with Priyanath Ganguli as the director after he left the [[Madan Theatre]]. Riding on its success, the company became the first [[Bengal]]i studio to venture into not just [[Hindi films]], but also various [[Cinema of South India|films in South Indian languages]]. East India Film Company was soon producing a dozen movie releases per year, including several hits like ''Savithri'' (Telugu) and ''Ramayan'' (Tamil).<ref name=beng>{{cite book |title=Bengali Cinema: An Other Nation|author=Sharmistha Gooptu|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2010|isbn=0-415-57006-9 |page=69 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pzEdHF5UYcMC&pg=PA69&dq=%22East+India+Film+Company%22+-inpublisher:icon&cd=2#v=onepage&q=%22East%20India%20Film%20Company%22%20-inpublisher%3Aicon&f=false |ref=Ben }}</ref><br />
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The East India Film Company's ''[[Seeta (1934 film)|Seeta]]'', made by [[Debaki Bose]], was the first [[talkie]] shown in an international film festival when it was shown in 1934 at the [[Venice Film Festival]], where it won an honorary diploma.<ref name="SoManyCinemas">{{cite book |title=So many cinemas: the motion picture in India|author=Bhagwan Das Garg|publisher=Eminence Designs|year=1996|isbn=81-900602-1-X |page=86 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wXRZAAAAMAAJ&q=%22East+India+Film+Company%22+-inpublisher:icon&dq=%22East+India+Film+Company%22+-inpublisher:icon&cd=4}}</ref> Subsequently, Bose also made his noted film, ''Sonar Sansar'' (Hindi: Sunhera Sansar) in 1936 under the East India Film Company banner.<ref>{{cite book |title=70 years of Indian cinema, 1913-1983|author=T. M. Ramachandran |publisher=CINEMA India-International |year=1985|isbn=0-86132-090-5 |page=79 }}</ref><br />
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Shot in [[Calcutta]] on a lavish budget of Rs.75,000, East India Film Company's ''[[Savithri (1933 film)|Sati Savithri]]'' in [[Telugu language|Telugu]] was a huge hit. Based on a popular stage play by Mylavaram Bala Bharathi Samajam, the film was directed by debutant [[C. Pullaiah]] and starred stage stalwarts [[Vemuri Gaggaiah]] and [[Dasari Ramathilakam]] as Yama and Savithri, respectively.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-cinemaplus/article871376.ece|title=SATI SAVITHRI (1933)|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=7 November 2010|last=Narasimham|first=M. L.|accessdate=8 July 2011}}</ref> Like ''Seeta'', this film was also shown in [[Venice Film Festival]], where it too won an honorary diploma.<ref name="SoManyCinemas" /><br />
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==Filmography==<br />
*[[Vara Vikrayam (film)|''Vara Vikrayam'']] (1939)<br />
*[[Sati Anasuya|''Anasuya'']] (1936)<br />
*[[Leyli o Majnun (1936 film)|''Leyli o Majnun'']] (1936)<br />
*''[[Sunehra Sansar]]'' (1936)<br />
*''[[Baghi Sipahi]]'' (1936)<br />
*''Murderer'' (1935)<br />
*''[[Selima (film)|Selima]]'' (1935)<br />
*''[[Step Mother]]'' (1935)<br />
*''[[Chandragupta (film)|Chandragupta]]'' (1934)<br />
*''[[Kismet Ki Kasauti]]'' (1934)<br />
*''[[Night Bird]]'' (1934)<br />
*''[[Seeta (1934 film)|Seeta]]'' (1934)<br />
*''[[Sultana (film)|Sultana]]'' (1934)<br />
*''[[Aurat Ka Pyar]]'' (1933)<br />
*''[[King for a Day (1933 film)|King for a Day]]'' (1933)<br />
*''[[Nala Damyanti]]'' (1933)<br />
*''Radha Krishna'' (1933)<br />
*''[[Savithri (1933 film)|Savithri]]'' (1933)<br />
*''Jamuna Puline'' (1933)<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
* {{IMDb company|0002638|East India Films}}<br />
* {{IMDb company|0243348|East India Film Company}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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[[Category:Film production companies based in Kolkata]]<br />
[[Category:Mass media companies established in 1932]]<br />
[[Category:Cinema of Bengal]]<br />
[[Category:Telugu cinema]]<br />
[[Category:Indian companies established in 1932]]</div>>Marquardtika