Dinshaw Bilimoria

Dinshaw Bilimoria Biography

Dinshaw Bilimoria was an Indian film actor and director of silent era and early talkies. Often referred to as the John Barrymore of Indian cinema, he was most active in the era of 1920s and 1930s and has appeared in a series of films in lead roles during this period. He has acted in both silent films and talkies. He appeared as an actor throughout 1920s and 1930s and moved to directorial ventures in the early 1940s. He directed two films - Azadi-e-Watan (1940) and Jawani Ki Pukar (1942). He passed away in 1942 aged only 38. He was fully active in the entertainment industry till his death. He was the highest paid silent movie star in India.

Dinshaw Bilimoria was born in Khadki, a town near Pune in Maharashtra in the year 1904. He marked his film debut in 1925 at the age of 21. N. D. Sarpotdar's mythological-historical film Chhatrapati Sambhaji was his debut film. It was a silent film. Since then he appeared in around 25 silent films and 21 talkies. He appeared in both the versions of Anarkali released in the years 1928 and 1935, and also Bambai Ki Billi/Wildcat. Many of his silent films shot in the 1920s were later shot as talkies.

He has been frequently paired with popular actress Sulochana in the late 1920s and early 1930s, and their Jodi was very popular. They together played lead roles in both silent movies and talkies, during this time period. They regularly appeared in romantic dramas by R.S. Choudhury. Chandulal Shah, Nanubhai Vakil and Nandlal Jaswantlal are other film directors with whom he has regularly worked. His brother Eddie Bilimoria was also a film actor.  

Published: February 15, 2019

Updated: February 15, 2019