2 months ago
Birendranath Sircar and the birth of New Theatres
A long time ago in Calcutta, a man named Birendranath Sircar saw a big line of people waiting to watch a movie.
This made him think that movies were very popular.
He decided to start his own movie company called New Theatres.
He bought a lot of land and built a big studio with trees, flowers, and even animals.
He hired many actors, directors, and musicians to work for him.
He also built a special place to develop films and taught actors to speak different languages.
New Theatres made many important movies and helped start the Bengali film industry, which is now called Tollywood.
Birendranath Sircar founded New Theatres in 1931 after being inspired by a long queue at a cinema.
He purchased 10 bighas of land in Tollygunge and built a modern production house with a studio, cinema halls, and a film processing laboratory.
New Theatres employed many notable actors, directors, musicians, and technicians, offering them salaries and benefits.
Sircar introduced innovations like background music, playback singing, and language training for actors.
The studio produced films in multiple languages and distributed them across India, contributing significantly to the Bengali film industry.
- Who
- Birendranath Sircar
- What
- Founded New Theatres, a modern film production house
- Where
- Tollygunge, Calcutta
- When
- 1931
- Why
- To create an independent institution for film production, distribution, and exhibition
Key facts
- Founder
- Birendranath Sircar
- Year Founded
- 1931
- Location
- Tollygunge, Calcutta
- Notable Films
- Chandidas, Devdas
- Notable Employees
- Nitin Bose, Bimal Roy, Pramathesh Chandra Barua, Pankaj Mullick, Raichand Boral
- Innovations
- Background music, playback singing, film processing laboratory
- Nickname Origin
- Tollywood
Quotes
Devajit Bandyopadhyay
Singer and researcher
“In the 1930s, tickets were priced at four annas for the first few rows; the middle rows were priced at eight annas and the back rows at 12. Balcony seats, which were the premium seats, cost ₹1. But in Lighthouse, where English films were screened, balcony seats were priced at ₹2.”
telegraphindia.com
“He envisioned it as a film institute of sorts where actors would receive training. He invited American sound engineer Wilford E. Deming to train sound technicians such as Mukul Bose and Bani Dutta.”
telegraphindia.com
Sources
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