Bhagwan Das Varma

Bhagwan Das Varma
Bhagwan Das Varma in the 1950s
Born1907
Punjab Province of British India.
Died1962 (aged 55)
Bombay, India
Occupations
  • producer
  • distributor
  • director
Spouses
  • Tarawanti
    ​
    (m. 1935)​
  • ​
    (m. 1954)​

Bhagwan Das Varma (1907-1962) was a Bollywood film producer and director. He was one of six brothers that were founders/partners of Varma Films, a company predominantly involved with the production and distribution of Hindi language films. After the Varma Films banner was retired in the mid-1950s, Bhagwan Das continued his film production and distribution activities with two affiliated companies: Varma Pictures and V. P. Productions.

During his 11-year career span, starting from its inception with the release of the film Suhaag Raat[1] in 1948, to the release of his last film, Main Nashe Mein Hoon[2] in 1959, Bhagwas Das Varma directed 3 films: Aurat (1953),[3] Pooja (1954)[4] and Baghi Sipahi (1958).[5] A sample of the careers of 3129 movie directors shows that about 63% directors made only one movie, and only about 7% directors made 3 or more movies.[6] A more recent but smaller sample of the careers of 193 movie directors shows that about 34% directors make only one movie and only about 14% made 3 or more movies.[7] With Bhagwan Das’s career including 3 movies as a director, the above comparison benchmarks are indicators of the notability of Bhagwan Das arising from his prolific directional proclivity.

  1. ^ "Suhaag Raat (1948)". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Main Nashe Mein Hoon (1959)". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Aurat (1953) Cast - Actor, Actress, Director, Producer, Music Director". Cinestaan. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Pooja (1954)". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Baghi Sipahi (1958)". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  6. ^ De Vany, Arthur (2003). "Motion Picture Directors: Luck, Talent and Rewards". Economics of Art and Culture Invited Papers at the 12th International Conference of the Association of Cultural Economics International. Contributions to Economic Analysis. Vol. 260. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. pp. 2–17. doi:10.1108/S0573-8555(2003)0000260004. ISBN 978-0-44450-995-6.
  7. ^ John, Kose; Ravid, S. Abraham; Sunder, Jayanthi (2017). "Managerial Ability and Success: Evidence from the Career Paths of Film Directors". Journal of Corporate Finance. 44. Elsevier: 425–439. doi:10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2014.11.001. ISSN 0929-1199.