Kanjibhai Rathod

Kanjibhai Rathod Biography

Kanjibhai Rathod was a Bollywood Director of yesterdays known for the movies Valiant Princess (1930), Kono Vank (1930) and Ghar ki laxmi (1931). He is widely regarded as the first successful professional director of Indian cinema. Rathod started his career with silent movies and also known to be the director of the controversial movie - Bhakta Vidur, the first Indian movie to face a ban. Rathod belonged to that era of Indian cinema, when movies were regarded as taboo to conservative society. Yet he became successful through his hard work and dedication. He introduced popular actress Zubaida through ‘Gulbakavali’.

Rathod was born into a dalit family in Maroli village of Navsari, Gujarat. Less is known about his childhood and film journey. Rathod began his career as a still photographer with the Oriental Film Company and his experience helped him to reach the glorious Kohinoor Film Company, where he started his film journey. His much controversial movie - Bhakta Vidur faced ban due to its lead character’s resemblance with Mahatma Gandhi. An adaptation of a chapter from Mahabharata, it symbolized British as Kauravas and Mahatma Gandhi as Vidur, the central character of the film. The movie was released in Mumbai and audience welcomed it as a hit. However British couldn’t accept its criticism and the movie faced a ban! Actor Sampat played the role of Vidur who wore a Gandhi cap and Khadi shirt.

Perhaps Rathod was the first director to make crime thrillers on contemporary events. Kala Naag (1924) can be showcased in this category. He made 17 movies in total of which 5 were talkies. But he was not as successful in making talkies. He was active till the era of 1940s.

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Updated: November 13, 2015