Dwarka Divecha

Dwarka Divecha Biography

Dwarka Divecha was an Indian cinematographer associated with Bollywood in the classic era till 1970s, and is best known for his path breaking work in Sholay (1975). The movie earned him Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award for best cinematographer. He worked as a cinematographer and camera man for about 30 Hindi movies since 1940s and later, and won Filmfare Best Photographer in Black and White award for his work on the film Yasmin.

Dwarkadas Divecha, credited as Dwarka Divecha was born on March 19, 1918 in Mumbai, Maharashtra during British rule. He started off as a cameraman in the early 1940s, and Sanjog in 1943 is his first credited work. Ratan, Nai Reet, Dillagi, Paras and Jeet are his other works in 1940s. He worked as cinematographer, then known as Director of photography for the first time in 1949 and the movie was Jeewan Jyoti. Since 1950s, he became a regular cinematographer of Bollywood. Some of his noted works in the 1950s include - Dil-E-Nadaan, Baap Re Baap, Yasmin, Do Phool, Solva Saal, Chhoti Bahen etc.

In the 1960s, he turned a very successful cinematographer associated with many hit films. He also appeared in a brief role in 1960 movie, Singapore. Some of his memorable films of 1960s include – Sasural, China Town, Professor, Humrahi, Dil Diya Dard Liya, Amrapali, Jhuk Gaya Aasman, Prince, Jeene Ki Raah etc. He continued his success streak with 1970s – Khilona, Sholay, Lal Patthar, Manoranjan, Sholay, Udhar Ka Sindur and Trishna. He was fully active in the profession till his death in 1978, and Trishna was released posthumously.

His best known work is Sholay, which was a trendsetter for many reasons. For this movie he was also involved in creating the sets and special effects, and the quality of the photography contributed to its major success at box office too.

Published: October 15, 2018

Updated: October 15, 2018