Jamshedji Framji Madan

Jamshedji Framji Madan
Born27 April 1857
Bombay, British India
Died28 June 1923(1923-06-28) (aged 66–67)
Calcutta, British India

Jamshedji Framji 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.[1] 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.[1] He expanded his empire considerably after acquiring rights to Pathé Frères films. He produced Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra in 1917 and Bilwamangal in 1919.[1] Satyavadi Raja Harishchandra was the first feature film to be shot in Calcutta.[2][3] Elphinstone merged into Madan Theatres Limited in 1919 which brought adapted many of Bengali's most popular literary works to the stage.[1] Madan Theatres was a major force in Indian theatre throughout the 1920s and 1930s.

  1. ^ a b c d Abel, Richard (12 January 2005). Encyclopedia of Early Cinema. Taylor & Francis. p. 580. ISBN 978-0-415-23440-5. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  2. ^ Chakravarty, Sumita S. (1993). National Identity in Indian Popular Cinema, 1947–1987. University of Texas Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-292-71156-3. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  3. ^ Cameron, Samuel (30 January 2012). Handbook on the Economics of Leisure. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 302. ISBN 978-1-84844-404-1. Retrieved 3 October 2012.