@wildcatofbombay A hobby Instagram account to share archival fragments and fun facts about Bombay city and cinema

A feature on my new book is out in the Sunday Midday! Thanks @janeborges87 for a detailed write-up. I am really excited for folks in Bombay to read the book because an in-depth understanding of the history of the film industry will also help counter
In honor of the Notorious RBG I am posting a note about a remarkable self-made woman. In 1935, Esther Victoria Abraham, a Jewish schoolteacher from Calcutta, found herself at a strange crossroads. She was 19, divorced, and a single mom. Esther decide
White Skin vs. White Face 🤷🏾🤯Remarkably, both these publicity items were published in 1943. The first image announces a forthcoming film, White Face or Safed Daku, directed by Balwant Dave. This was a stunt film and the poster promises action, th
The Empire Theater, Calcutta, was built in 1908-1909 by theater impresario Maurice Bandman. Located on the edges of the so-called “White Town”, Empire was the epicenter of a dynamic entertainment district that catered mostly to European a
Recruit this young man! In the 1940s many young people started to send in their photos and details to "filmindia" magazine hoping for a foothold in the film world. Cinema is particularly adept at renewing its labor force, and starry-eyed f
Meet Ratan Bai, glamorous actress of the 1930s, and one of the first talkie actresses who turned producer in a bid for greater financial Independence. Born in Patna in 1912, Ratan Bai Begg joined films at the age of 20, as a mother of two sons. After
I love these dream-like collage images from the publicity campaign for Holiday in Bombay, or Bambai Ki Sair (1941). Directed by Sarvottam Badami the film may be called 1941's "Indian Matchmaking" 🙃 The heroine, Sudha (Sabita Devi), is &quo
V is for.... Victory! Surely you knew that American soldiers camped out in Bombay for months during the Second World War? Here is an informational booklet prepared by the Hospitality Committee in Bombay for American soldiers newly-arrived in the Chin
In 1957 two special effects technicians of Bombay - Dayabhai Patel & Kanchanbhai Patel - shared some of their low-cost sfx techniques with American Cinematographer magazine. They drew sketches from two recent films to explain how they used a cust
I spent 3 glorious years of my childhood in Lonavla as a navy kid. One of our favorite outings was to visit Tiger's Leap, which from the INS Shivaji side looks very different. A local legend circulated, perhaps in diff versions, acc to which the plac
At the age of 15 Simi Garewal made her acting debut in an over-the-top Orientalist extravaganza by MGM - Tarzan Goes to India (1962)! Publicized as "the greatest jungle picture of all time" the film features Tarzan as a globetrotting activi
Professor Mustansir Dalvi just presented a fascinating talk about the multiple & surprising ways in which cities across the Indian Ocean region are connected; through trade, architecture, movies, movement. The first map is an ingenious tracking o
A simple but momentous sentence inscribed on a vintage postcard (1910s?): "I am going back to school tomorrow." In our pandemic world we understand only too well how momentous such a declaration can be. This postcard was probably written
Today's post is on the actress Husn Bano who was born in Singapore in 1922. She debuted in films in the 1930s as a leading lady and most of these films are now lost, such as Flying Ranee, a stunt picture in which she is the eponymous "Flying Ran
"Little Peon in Compound, Great Western Hotel, Bombay". Photograph by Helen Messinger Murdoch, circa 1914. This photo was shot in the Autochrome process, a color process invented by the Lumiere Brothers. Helen Messinger Murdoch has the dist
This image is from a film I've written about before: Fashion (dir. S. F. Hasnain, prod. Fazli Bros., 1943). The publicity booklet announces that "The film 'Fashion' begins where most other films end, i.e., on the ding-dong of marriage bells.&quo
This delightful book by Susan Hapgood contains a careful selection of photographs that tell a visual history of Bombay + a history of little-known Bombay photographers. The cover photo is by Shivshanker Narayen taken in 1873. "Group of mistress
Are you tired of living under lockdown and feel like life has lost its pep, its vim, its zest? Does it feel like it has been 300 days with no end in sight? This comic film from 1938, directed by Sarvottam Badami, describes the plight of a poor little
सीने में जलन, आंखों में तूफ़ान सा क्यों है? The unfolding spectacle of migrant worker distress & death is a national shame. Muzaffar Ali's Gaman (Departure, 1978) helps us process some of this: What does it mean to leave, to arrive, to want to go
Doctor was a hit film from the Calcutta studios, New Theatres, which was remade in a Hindi version in 1941. Remembered for its songs, its social reform message, and its acting, Doctor serves as an uncanny reminder to us today of how the most deadly f

 

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