Page 8 - Seniorstoday November 2022 Issue

restrictive system and went freelance. By joined the theatre caravan with Papaji, so
then, he was a major star, so there was no
resistance.
The biggest film of his career till then was
released in 1941—Sohrab Modi’s Sikander,
in which he played Alexander The Great,
with Modi playing King Porus. With the
single-minded dedication he was known
for, he sent his family to Peshawar for
three months and worked on building his
physique and fleshing out the character in
his mind. By the time the film went on the
floors, he ‘became’ Alexander The Great,
so much so that history textbooks used his
photograph to portray the Greek emperor.
It was at the peak of his film career, that
he heard the call of theatre again. This time,
he set up his own company—in January
15, 1944, Prithvi Theatres was established,
with a havan. The first production was
Shakuntala. So many talented people
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many careers took off, and so many bonds
were formed for life. If listed, the thread of
connections would run into several miles.
Prithvi Theatres was originally founded in 1944
The 19-year-old Raj Kapoor was stage
manager, and in charge of costumes, lights,
sets, make-up, sound. Three people came
from Hyderabad to audition and join up—
Satyanaryan went on to become a famous
choreographer, Hemavati, who later
married actor Sapru, and Shankar, who
teamed up with Jaikishen for a successful
and long-running musical partnership.
Uzra Mumtaz, sister of Zohra Segal, was
cast as Shakuntala, opposite Prithiviraj
himself playing King Dushyant. Shammi
and later Shashi played the role of the
young Bharat.
Shakuntala was an expensive production,
and lost money even after it did well.
Also Papaji was generous to a fault, and
helped out anybody who approached him,
emptying out his pockets without a second
thought for anyone in need. A whole bunch
of relatives and friends joined Prithvi
Theatres, and later built their careers
in films—he never stopped anyone who