Portrait of The DirectorManmohan Desai is a documentary on Manmohan Desai known for his family-centered, action-song-and-dance films which catered to the tastes of the Indian masses and through which he achieved great success. His movies defined a new genre called masala films. His best known super-hit movies were Amar Akbar Anthony and Dharam Veer.

Manmohan Desai was of Gujarati ancestry. His father, Kikubhai Desai, was a film producer and owner of Paramount Studios (later Filmalaya) from 1931 to 1941. His productions, mainly stunt films, included Circus Queen, Golden Gang, and Sheikh Challi. Manmohan Desai’s older brother, Subhash Desai, became a producer in the 1950s and gave Manmohan his first break with the Hindi film Chhalia (1960). Subhash later went on to produce Bluff Master, Dharam Veer, and Desh Premee with Manmohan as the director.
His wife was Jeevanprabha Desai. She died in April 1979. He was engaged to actress Nanda from 1992 until the time of his death in 1994. He had one son Ketan Desai who is still involved in the film industry. Ketan is married to Kanchan Kapoor, daughter of Shammi Kapoor and Geeta Bali.
On 1 March 1994, per news Manmohan Desai fell from the balcony in Girgaon as the rail he was leaning on collapsed and died.

Courtesy: Doordarshan’s Youtube Channel

Leave a comment

Verified by MonsterInsights