Roop K. Shorey
Roop Kishore Shorey | |
|---|---|
 Shorey c. mid-1940s | |
| Born | January 28, 1914 |
| Died | June 3, 1973 (aged 59) Bombay, Maharashtra, India |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1931–1971 |
| Organisation | Shorey Films |
| Spouses |
|
| Father | Roshan Lal Shorey |
Roop Kishore Shorey (28 January 1914 – 3 June 1973) was an Indian film director and producer. Film historian Sanjit Narwekar credits Shorey as one of the directors who delivered a "lasting contribution" to comedy films during the post-independence era.
Life and career
[edit]Roop Kishore Shorey was born in Quetta to filmmaker Roshan Lal Shorey.[1] He began his career in the Lahore film industry in the early 1930s and rose to prominence with Majnu (1935) and Tarzan Ki Beti (1938).[2] He then produced and directed several box office successes, including Dulla Bhatti (1940) and Mangti (1942),[3] and according to film historian Mushtaq Gazdar, "attained the status of a movie mogul" in pre-independence-era Lahore.[4] In 1944, at Daska, Punjab, Shorey had his first wedding with Savitri, with whom he remained married to death.[5] By the mid-1940s, Shorey had established a modern studio on Lahore's Multan Road, reported to be among the largest film studios in the East,[6] and announced plans to expand into Hollywood with bilingual productions.[7][8]
In 1947, Shorey was forced to abandon his studio and flee from Lahore due to the communal violence during the Partition of India.[9] He settled in Bombay, India, where he established Shorey Films in 1948[1] and frequently collaborated with actress Meena, who became his second wife in 1949.[10] He directed her in screwball comedies such as Ek Thi Larki (1949) and Ek Do Teen (1953),[11] both of which received positive contemporary reviews and commercial success.[12][13] Their final collaboration was on J.C. Anand's Miss 56 (1956), which was filmed in Lahore, Pakistan.[14] The couple separated in 1956, with Meena permanently shifting to Lahore while Shorey returned to Bombay.[14]
He directed only a few films in the 1960s. His final directorial venture was Ek Thi Reeta (1971), a bilingual Hindi-English film starring Tanuja and Vinod Mehra that was aimed at American audiences.[1] Shorey died in Bombay in 1973.[2]
Filmography
[edit]Short films
[edit]Shorey directed more than fifty short films early in his career.[1] Among them was Our Northern Cousins: Life and Customs in a Village of the Punjab, an 11-minute documentary produced by Ezra Mir.[15]
Feature films
[edit]According to The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema (2014):[1]
| Year | Film | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1935 | Majnu | |
| 1938 | Tarzan Ki Beti | |
| 1939 | Khooni Jadugar | |
| 1940 | Dulla Bhatti | |
| Ik Musafir | ||
| 1941 | Himmat | |
| 1942 | Nishani | |
| Mangti | ||
| 1943 | Koel | |
| 1945 | Din Raat | |
| 1946 | Shalimar | |
| 1947 | Paro | |
| 1948 | Chaman | |
| 1949 | Ek Thi Larki | |
| 1951 | Dholak | |
| Mukhda | ||
| 1953 | Aag Ka Dariya | |
| Ek Do Teen | ||
| 1955 | Jalwa | |
| 1956 | Miss 56 | Pakistani release[14] |
| 1961 | Ek Ladki Saat Ladke | |
| Aplam Chaplam | ||
| 1962 | Main Shaadi Karne Chala | |
| 1966 | Akalmand | |
| 1971 | Ek Thi Reeta |
Reception and legacy
[edit]Film historian Sanjit Narwekar credits Shorey as one of the directors who delivered a "lasting contribution to the comic genre" during the post-independence era.[16]
Scholar Salma Siddique devoted a chapter of Evacuee Cinema: Bombay and Lahore in Partition Transit, 1940–1960 (2022; Cambridge University Press) to Shorey's collaborations with Meena and their post-Partition comedy films, arguing that they constituted a body of refugee cinema shaped by migration, displacement and the cultural aftermath of Partition.[17]
Sources
[edit]- Abbasi, Yasir (2018). Yeh Un Dinoñ Ki Baat Hai: Urdu Memoirs of Cinema Legends. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9789387471054.
- Gazdar, Mushtaq (1997). Pakistan Cinema, 1947–1997. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195778175.
- Narwekar, Sanjit (1994). Directory of Indian Film-makers and Films. Flicks Books. ISBN 9780948911408.
- Narwekar, Sanjit (2005). Eena Meena Deeka: The Story of Hindi Film Comedy. Rupa & Company. ISBN 9788129108593.
- Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (2014). The Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. Routledge. ISBN 9781135943257.
- Siddique, Salma (2022). Evacuee Cinema: Bombay and Lahore in Partition Transit, 1940–1960. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781009175524.
- Thorpe, Frances; Pronay, Nicholas (1980). British Official Films in the Second World War: A Descriptive Catalogue. Clio Press. ISBN 9780903450270.
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 Rajadhyaksha & Willemen 2014, p. 216.
- 1 2 Narwekar 1994, p. 309.
- ↑ Siddique 2022, pp. 29–30.
- ↑ Gazdar 1997, p. 18.
- ↑ Abbasi 2018, p. 446.
- ↑ Siddique 2022, p. 30.
- ↑ Stanley, Fred (14 October 1945). "HOLLYWOOD SEEKS AUTHORS; Visitor From India". The New York Times. p. 1. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
- ↑ "India to Enter Field of Hollywood". The Deseret News. 3 October 1945. p. 10. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
- ↑ Gazdar 1997, pp. 18–19.
- ↑ Siddique 2022, p. 150.
- ↑ Siddique 2022, pp. 150, 162.
- ↑ "Shorey-Meena Triumph In Rollicking Slapstick Comedy "Ek Thi Larki": Our Review". The Times of India. 21 January 1950. p. 10. ProQuest 609655304. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
- ↑ ""Ek Do Teen" Still Tops In Popularity At Bombay: Our Film Critic". The Times of India. 24 April 1953. p. 8. ProQuest 595054986. Retrieved 11 July 2026.
- 1 2 3 Gazdar 1997, pp. 52–53.
- ↑ Thorpe & Pronay 1980, p. 231.
- ↑ Narwekar 2005, p. 157.
- ↑ Arora, Anupama (26 May 2024). "Book review: Salma Siddique, Evacuee Cinema: Bombay and Lahore in Partition Transit (1940–1960)". BioScope: South Asian Screen Studies. 15 (1).