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{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
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{{Infobox person
| name = Jamshedji Framji Madan
| image = Jamshedji Framji Madan full.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = 27 April 1857
| birth_place = Bombay
| death_date = {{death date and age|1923|6|28|1856|df=y}}
| death_place =
| other_names =
| occupation =
| known_for =
| spouse =
| relatives =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Jamshedji Framji Madan''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE}} (27 April 1857, [[Bombay]] – 28 June 1923), professionally known as '''J. F. Madan''', was an Indian theatre and film magnate who was one of the pioneers of film production in India, an early exhibitor, distributor and producer of films and plays. He accumulated his wealth on the [[Parsi theatre]] district scene in Bombay in the 1890s where he owned two theatre companies.<ref name="Abel2005">{{cite book|last=Abel|first=Richard|title=Encyclopedia of Early Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9cc71Uekc_EC&pg=PA580|accessdate=3 October 2012|date=12 January 2005|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-415-23440-5|page=580}}</ref> He moved to [[Calcutta]] in 1902 where he founded [[Elphinstone Bioscope Company]], and began producing and exhibiting silent movies including [[Jyotish Sarkar]]'s ''[[Bengal Partition Movement]]'' in 1905.<ref name="Abel2005"/> He expanded his empire considerably after acquiring rights to [[Pathé Frères]] films. He produced ''[[Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra]]'' in 1917 and ''[[Bilwamangal]]'' in 1919.<ref name="Abel2005"/> ''Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra'' was the first feature film to be shot in [[Calcutta]].<ref name="Chakravarty1993">{{cite book|last=Chakravarty|first=Sumita S.|title=National Identity in Indian Popular Cinema, 1947–1987|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l8T0uwJtMxkC&pg=PA39|accessdate=3 October 2012|year=1993|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=978-0-292-71156-3|page=39}}</ref><ref name="Cameron2012">{{cite book|last=Cameron|first=Samuel|title=Handbook on the Economics of Leisure|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gWuMYKzvnOEC&pg=PA302|accessdate=3 October 2012|date=30 January 2012|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|isbn=978-1-84844-404-1|page=302}}</ref>
Elphinstone merged into [[Madan Theatre|Madan Theatres Limited]] in 1919 which brought adapted many of Bengali's most popular literary works to the stage.<ref name="Abel2005"/> Madan Theatres was a major force in Indian theatre throughout the 1920s and 1930s.

==Early life==
He was born into a [[Parsi people|Parsi]] family in [[Bombay]]. Madan's father suffered a huge monetary loss when [[Bombay Reclamation Bank]], which was responsible for reclaiming land between the seven islands of Bombay, failed. JF Madan had to leave school, and he joined Elphinstone Dramatic Club as a [[theatrical property|prop]] boy in 1868. By 1875, this amateur club turned into a professional theatre company staging shows all over India.<ref name=gramo>pp 17–20, The Gramophone Company's First Indian Recordings, 1899–1908, Michael Kinnear, Popular Prakshan, 2004, {{ISBN|81-7154-728-1}}</ref>

==Entrepreneur==
In 1882, Madan left the theatre company and had a short successful stint in business at [[Karachi]]. He moved to [[Calcutta]] in 1883. His success in a business of supplying goods to army cantonments enabled him to buy Corinthian Hall, where theatre shows used to be staged. Also, he took over the [[Elphinstone Theatre Company]], where he started his career, from [[Cooverji Nazir]], one of the founders of the theatre.<ref name=gramo/> Corinthian Hall was turned into [[Corinthian Theatre]], and it became very popular for [[Parsi theatre]] shows, which were full of grandeur and had women actors, a rarity in those days.

In 1902, he started [[bioscope show]]s in a tent in [[Maidan (Kolkata)|Maidan]], Calcutta along with similar shows in Corinthian Theatre. The equipments used were procured from [[Pathé Frères]] of Paris. Most of the films shown in those shows were from Pathé Productions. These bioscope shows were organised under the banner of [[Elphinstone Bioscope Company]].<ref name=gramo/> Elphinstone Bioscope Company produced a number of short films.<ref>[https://hungarian.imdb.com/company/co0117825/ IMDb page on Elphinstone Bioscope Company]</ref> He also started film shows in Alfred Theatre, which he bought in the same year.

In 1907, he established Elphinstone Picture Palace (currently known as Chaplin Cinema), which was the first permanent show house in Calcutta. He also opened Madan Theatre and Palace of Varieties (now known as Elite Cinema).<ref name=gramo/>

During the First World War, he helped as a supplier to Supply and Transport Corps in the British Indian Army in [[Lucknow]]. He was appointed an Officer of the [[Order of the British Empire]] in the [[1918 Birthday Honours]] for his support,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=30730 |date=7 June 1918 |page=6717 |supp=y}}</ref> and was invested as a Commander of the Order in 1923.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=32830 |date=1 June 1923 |page=3950 |supp=y}}</ref>

After the war, his business started growing rapidly. In 1919, his film production business became a [[joint stock company]] with the name of Madan Theatres Limited. [[Madan Theatre]]s and its associates had great control over theatre houses in India during that period. In 1919, Madan produced the first Bengali feature film, ''[[Bilwamangal]]''. It was first screened in the Cornwallis Theatre (now known as the Sree Cinema).

The Electric Theatre (now known as Regal Cinema), Grand Opera House (currently known as Globe Cinema) and Crown Cinema (now known as Uttara Cinema) were all owned by Madan Theatres.

==Strategies for success==
His films were marked by a high degree of technical sophistication, facilitated by his employment of experienced foreign directors like [[Eugenio de Liguoro]], [[Camille Le Grand]] and [[Georgio Mannini]]. Such expertise was complemented by grand sets and popular mythological storylines which ensured good returns. Many of these films were versions of earlier popular theatrical forms. Liguoro directed ''Nala Damayanti'' (1920) and ''Dhruva Charitra'' (1921), Le Grand directed ''Ratnavali'' (1922), and Mannini directed ''Savitri Satyavan'' (1923). [[Patience Cooper]], one of the early stars of Indian Cinema, acted in many of the movies produced by Madan Theatres.

Madan also took the initiative in obtaining the film rights for works of stalwarts of [[Bengali literature]] like [[Bankim Chandra Chatterjee]] and [[Rabindranath Tagore]]. Madan Theatres produced films like ''Bishabriksha'' (1922 and 1928), ''Durgesh Nandini'' (1927) and ''Radharani'' (1930) based on Bankim Chandra's works. ''Giribala'' (1929) was based on Tagore's work.

==Legacy==
Madan and his relatives were involved in a variety of businesses including liquor imports, food, pharmaceutical products, real estate, insurance, etc. But among all these, Madan Theatre was the most well-known and most well-established. It spread over [[Burma]] and [[Ceylon]], which were part of [[British India]].<ref>[http://www.bfjaawards.com/archives/articles/198801.htm BFJA page on five pillars of Indian Cinema] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080502101907/http://www.bfjaawards.com/archives/articles/198801.htm |date= 2 May 2008 }}</ref>

[[J. J. Madan]], third son of J. F. Madan, became managing director of Madan Theatres after the latter's death in 1923. Madan Theatres reached a peak in the late 1920s when it owned 127 theatres and controlled half of the country's box office.<ref>p 520, The SAGE Handbook of Media Studies, John H Downing et al., SAGE, 2004, {{ISBN|0-7619-2169-9}}</ref> Madan Theatres produced a number of popular and landmark films until 1937.

[[Indian-American]] actor [[Erick Avari]] is a great-great-grandson of J. F. Madan (and great-grandson of J. J. Madan).<ref>{{imdb name|0042805|Erick Avari}}</ref>

Cyrus J. Madan is also the great-great grandson of J.F. Madan. He lives in Kolkata (India) <ref>https://www.kolkataonwheels.com/post/parsees-keystone-of-our-cultural-fabric</ref> with his wife Trista Madan. They have three children Jamshed, Shara and Tashya. Cyrus is a reputed figure in the Indian Horse Racing <ref>http://www.ft.lk/sports/Indian-horseracing-stalwart-Cyrus-Madan-optimistic-of-RTC-s-comeback-effort/23-713219</ref> and theatre circles.<ref>https://parsikhabar.net/festivities/kolkata-zoroastrian-community-rings-in-the-new-year-on-virtual-platform-in-covid-times/23971/</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{imdb name|id=1339421|name=J F Madan}}
*{{imdb company|0013479|Madan Theatres (in)}} at the Internet Movie Database
*[http://www.abasar.net/filmMadan.htm Bengali article on J F Madan at abasar.net]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Madan, Jamshedji Framji}}
[[Category:1856 births]]
[[Category:1923 deaths]]
[[Category:Film producers from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Bengali film producers]]
[[Category:Parsi people from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Indian theatre managers and producers]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian businesspeople]]
[[Category:Film directors from Mumbai]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian businesspeople]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian film directors]]
[[Category:Indian silent film directors]]
[[Category:Indian silent film producers]]

Jamshedji Framji Madan - Revision history

CleanupBot at 05:26, 11 December 2022