Ezra Mir

Ezra Mir Biography

Ezra Mir was an Indian film maker, best known for his documentary films. Edwyn Meyers is his real name. Rickshawala was one of his earliest noted feature film. He started his own studio, Everest Pictures, in 1939. Associated with documentary films, he is best known for his works in the 1940s - Making Money, The Road To Victory and the Voice of Satan. Appointed as Chief Producer of the Ministry of Information's Films Division in 1956, Indian government recognized his works by awarding him Padma Shri in 1970.

Edwyn Myers was born in the year 1903. He changed his name to Ezra Mir as he felt his original name "lacked Indianness". Ezra started his career as a stage actor, moved to New York in 1924. Then he started his career as a film actor and later did the job of film editor as well. His first short film, The Symbolesque (1929) was made when he was in New York. Once he returned to India, he started making Indian movies. Those movies were based on Indian theater. He joined Imperial Film Company in the early 1930s. After his stint in short films, he made his first full-length movie Noorjehan in 1931.

Later he was associated with many production companies like Sagar Movietone, Madan Theatre Studios, Ranjit Movietone etc and popular movies made during this period include Rickshawwala and Zarina. He set up his own studio, Everest Pictures, in 1939. Yet he was interested in documentaries more than movies. So he joined Film Advisory Board and made memorable short films like Making Money, The Road To Victory and the Voice of Satan. When the Advisory Board was replaced by Information Films of India, he continued his association producing newsreels such as Indian News Parade. He has done over 700 documentaries during his life time.

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Updated: November 13, 2015