Niranjan Pal (17 August 1889 â€" 9 November 1959) was an Indian
playwright, screenwriter, and director in the Indian film industry in
the silent and early talkie days. He was a close associate of Himanshu
Rai and Franz Osten, with whom he was a founding member of Bombay
Talkies.Born on 17 August 1889 in Calcutta, West Bengal, Niranjan Pal
was born in an illustrious Sylheti family, his father was the noted
freedom fighter, Bipin Chandra Pal, and Niranjan himself as a teenager
was briefly involved in the Indian freedom struggle during an
association with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Madanlal Dhingra in
London. By the late 1910s, he started writing and eventually wrote The
Light of Asia and Shiraz, both of which were performed on stage in
London. Both were commercially successful and attracted the attention
of German filmmaker Franz Osten, who made screen versions in India.
Himanshu Rai, then a lawyer, also acted in one of Niranjan Pal's plays
Goddess also performed in London, though some sources suggest that it
was Devika Rani who first met him, through their common Brahmo Samaj
connections, which paved way for his eventual stake in the creation of
Bombay Talkies.Following the successes of The Light of Asia and Shiraz
1928, Pal moved back to India with his English wife, Lily, and son
Colin Pal, and embarked on a career as the screenplay writer for
Bombay Talkies. He also started directing films, and made among others
Needle's Eye (1931), Pardesia (1932), and Chitthi (1941). His career
as a director was however far less successful than his work as a
screenwriter, in which role he wrote some of India's earliest
blockbusters Achhut Kanya (1936), Janmabhoomi (1936), Jeevan Naiya
(1936) and Jawani Ki Hawa (1935). Of these Achhut Kanya was the most
popular, and continues to be a landmark film as it dealt with the
subject of untouchability.He also collaborated with noted dancer, Uday
Shankar to write a libretto for first Indian ballets, performed by
Anna Pavlova and Uday Shankar himself.
playwright, screenwriter, and director in the Indian film industry in
the silent and early talkie days. He was a close associate of Himanshu
Rai and Franz Osten, with whom he was a founding member of Bombay
Talkies.Born on 17 August 1889 in Calcutta, West Bengal, Niranjan Pal
was born in an illustrious Sylheti family, his father was the noted
freedom fighter, Bipin Chandra Pal, and Niranjan himself as a teenager
was briefly involved in the Indian freedom struggle during an
association with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Madanlal Dhingra in
London. By the late 1910s, he started writing and eventually wrote The
Light of Asia and Shiraz, both of which were performed on stage in
London. Both were commercially successful and attracted the attention
of German filmmaker Franz Osten, who made screen versions in India.
Himanshu Rai, then a lawyer, also acted in one of Niranjan Pal's plays
Goddess also performed in London, though some sources suggest that it
was Devika Rani who first met him, through their common Brahmo Samaj
connections, which paved way for his eventual stake in the creation of
Bombay Talkies.Following the successes of The Light of Asia and Shiraz
1928, Pal moved back to India with his English wife, Lily, and son
Colin Pal, and embarked on a career as the screenplay writer for
Bombay Talkies. He also started directing films, and made among others
Needle's Eye (1931), Pardesia (1932), and Chitthi (1941). His career
as a director was however far less successful than his work as a
screenwriter, in which role he wrote some of India's earliest
blockbusters Achhut Kanya (1936), Janmabhoomi (1936), Jeevan Naiya
(1936) and Jawani Ki Hawa (1935). Of these Achhut Kanya was the most
popular, and continues to be a landmark film as it dealt with the
subject of untouchability.He also collaborated with noted dancer, Uday
Shankar to write a libretto for first Indian ballets, performed by
Anna Pavlova and Uday Shankar himself.
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