It would be fair to say that Slumdog Millionaire  put a huge spotlight on the Indian film industry and Bollywood  at an international level. Today all things Bollywood, whether it is the the latest movie or Bollywood inspired aerobic exercise  are covered by various online and print media in the  USA. Often, The New York Times  will feature a review of the latest Bollywood film released in the US, which was something unheard of until a few years ago. You would get that once in a blue moon review or story about Bollywood, but it was not a regular topic in mainstream media.

While there is a growing body of work about Bollywood, what is not common are stories about the early years of the Hindi film industry.  What is also not common are stories about  women from the early days of the Hindi cinema, especially those who acted between 1920s-1950s.

The current popularity of Bollywood cinema around the world is built on the works of many unrecognized pioneers, who worked tirelessly to churn out those tinsel dreams to keep us entertained. The early years of Indian film industry, especially Hindi cinema, consisted of people from various religious and social backgrounds: British, Anglo-Indians, Australians, Jewish, Pathans, Parsees, Muslims and Hindus. Many of them used Indian stage names like Sulochana, Dilip Kumar, Madhu Bala or Nadia. Looking at their names you would not be able to guess their cultural or religious background.

Tablet, an online magazine, has a fascinating podcast interview about the early Bollywood Queens . The focus of this podcast is on two Jewish actresses: Ruby Myers, better known as Sulochana and Nadira and their contribution to the Hindi film industry. The podcast includes inputs from Deepti Naval, who shares her surprise when she discovers that her good friend Nadira is not Muslim, but of Jewish faith and belonged to the Baghdadi Jewish community. This is an interesting podcast that will appeal to you if you are a film history buff.

Before Ruby Myers there was Patience Cooper, who was also from a Jewish family. Besides Patience Cooper, Sulochana and Nadira there were other actors and actresses, who belonged to Jewish families.

Today, I don’t think there are any actors of Jewish faith in India. This could be because many of the Jewish people from India have relocated to Israel or other parts of the world.

Note: For clarification purposes I have included Hindi films and Bollywood in the title. Although the term Bollywood has gained a lot of currency in the last few years, some people are not happy using the term. They would rather use the term Hindi film industry.