A serious satirist

By Subhash Chedda

Roop K Shorey, pioneer of full-length situational comedies.

It is said that in India a full length comedy film is rarely a box office success. Yet, Roop K Shorey was known in industry circles as the wizard of comedy. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth and raised by an English governess, Roop K Shorey acquired an early interest in Western music and English literature. As a child, he was a prolific writer and composer, and followed in the footsteps of his father Roshanlal Shorey in making his first full-length comedy Lucky Lovers at the age of 17. Roop's next venture was Majnu (1935) -- a musical comedy satirising the the old story of Laila Majnu, produced, directed and shot in Lahore with Ghulam Haider as music director. Playing the lead was Roop's childhood friend Harold Lewis, who has since been known by his screen name Majnu. With daring motorbike stunts and special effects, audiences were thrilled at the sight of Majnu trapped on the railway tracks by the villain. The film confirmed his success as a film-maker, and audiences leaving the first show lifted him on their shoulders and danced joyously.

Roop's next film, Tarzan ki Beti 1938) was hailed as the best jungle picture ever produced in India at the time. Filmed in the snowy Himalayas, the film topped its predecessor in its action sequences and placed Punjab on the entertainment map of India and the world. Majnu made a marked return in Nishani (1942), a musical situational comedy with Majnu in a double role. With music scored by Pandit Amernath, and Ragini as the heroine, Roop and his father personally trained the technical staff and musicians, who worked morning to night on a fixed salary.

With a solid reputation in Hindi and Punjabi cinema already established, Roop began to set new trends in comedy film with Ek Thi Ladki (1949, starring Motilal, Meena Shorey, Kuldeep Kaur, Majnu and introducing I S Johar. One of Roop's biggest hits as a producer, it launched Meena Shorey's acting career, known by her screen name of Lara Lappa, and I S Johar's popularity as a comedian. With Partition, Roop and his family lost their film empire in Lahore, but they shifted to Bombay and tenaciously continued as before. In the years following independence, he produced Dr Chaman (Punjabi), starring Meena Shorey, Karan Dewan, Om Prakash and Kuldeep Kaur, Dholak (1951), with Meena Shorey and Ajit in the lead-role, and Ek Do Teen (1953) starring the by-now-familiar Motilal-Meena team. Roop specialised in the pure situational comedy in which the characters were ready to laugh at themselves rather than take pleasure at laughing at others. R K Karanjia, writing for Blitz in 1953, called Roop `The King of Comedy', and litterateur Mulk Raj Anand paid him an eloquent tribute.

Roop soon relinquished his directorial responsibilities, but continued to produce full-length comedies throughout the sixties, including Aplam Chaplam (1961), Main Shadi Karne Chala (1962), Akalmand (1966). In 1971, he produced Ek Thi Rita, a smash hit based on the English play A Girl Called Rita, which launched new talents Vinod Mehra, Yog Raj, Kumar, Madhvi and Pompi.

Despite the closing of Shorey Studios in Lahore, Roop's popularity in Punjabi cinema continued throughout the Partition. Among the Punjabi pictures directed by Roop were Dulla Bhatti, Koel and Mangti. Mangti became very popular for its situational music scored by Govindram, its witty dialogues and healthy humor. This film broke all records of previous Hindi and Punjabi films, running for over 75 weeks in one cinema hall at Lahore. It gained a profit of over 15 lakh, an enormous sum in the forties. Roop Shorey, who passed away at the age of 56 in 1973, will always be remembered for his serious approach to a genre known for its lightheartedness.

Source: Indian Express