‘Minerva Movietone’ Famed Sohrab Modi Passed Away

Sohrab Modi was a revolutionary cinema thinker of early Bollywood, responsible for producing India’s first technicolour film, Jhansi Ki Rani.

Sohrab Modi in his various roles; Source: Public Domain

Born in November 1897, Sohrab Merwanji Modi was a pioneering force for the early stages of Indian cinema. He was a stage and film actor himself apart from being a director and producer as well.

Modi belonged to Bombay, where he started travelling as an exhibitor along with his elder brother once he finished his schooling. His father was a civil servant. Thus, his frequent postings led young Sohrab to experience different cultures and languages across India.

In Rampur (located in modern-day Uttar Pradesh), he grew fond of Hindi and Urdu, which helped him develop his theatrical skills.

The young Parsi opened his own theatrical company at the age of 26. He was known for his portrayal of Shakespearean acts as a stage actor. Sohrab Modi was also a part of the vintage silent film industry, although theatre masquerades remained his first love. However, once audio films came into existence, both theatre and silent films started struggling to receive the audience that they had previously attracted.

To revamp the dying industry, Sohrab Modi established an innovative amalgamation of the two – the Stage Film Company. Sadly, his cinematic renditions of theatrical plays such as adaptations of Shakespeare’s King John and Hamlet did not do very well at the box office.

In 1936, he launched the Minerva Movietone, which produced films with strong social messages or of historical eras.

His most successful film was Sikander, which starred the ‘Father of Bollywood’, legendary actor Prithviraj Kapoor as its protagonist.

Additionally, Sohrab Modi produced and directed India’s first technicolour picture, Jhansi Ki Rani in 1953, where his second wife Mehtab played the role of the rebellious queen. Although the film did not do too well in terms of the remuneration it generated, the lavish sets and vivid details were considered a landmark in the progress of Indian cinema.

He went on to make a film on the life of Mirza Ghalib, which was appreciated by Jawaharlal Nehru himself.

Sohrab Modi was consumed in his art – to say that he was obsessed with filmmaking, is probably an understatement. He would donate a lot of money towards filmmakers who came to him, but they took undue advantage of his love for the art, which resulted in colossal losses to his family.

In 1982, he was diagnosed with cancer, which eventually led to his death on January 28, 1984. Sohrab Modi’s contributions to Indian cinema were awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke award a few years before he died, in 1980.