Keki Mistry

Described as the “snuff-using, modest, well-known camera-artist of the Central Studios,” by leading magazine of its time, FilmIndia, veteran and prolific cinematographer and director, Keki Mistry is known for his work in films such as Tower House (1962), Kismat (1968), and Ek Phool Do Mali (1969). From starting work as a cinematographer in the early 1930s, he continued till the early 1980s, spanning five decades. He worked in Hindi and Gujarati cinema, often collaborating with Sagar Movietone. Cinematographing more than 65 films in the course of his career, he is also credited with the trick photography for Palki (1967). He directed Meri Kahani (1948) and Pyaar Ki Manzil (1950). 

Born in 1911, among the films Mistry cinematographed early in his career are Grihalaxmi (1934) directed by Sarvottam Badami, and the Badami-directed Ver Ni Vasulat (1935) which starred Sabita Devi, Sitara Devi and Mehboob Khan. 

He cinematographed Be Kharab Jan (1936), written by Chimanlal Luhar, starring Shobhana Samarth, Motilal and Lala Yaqoob. He worked through the early decades, providing the cinematography for Lagna Bandhan (1936), Jagridar (1937), Gramophone Singer (1938), Seva Samaj (1939), Nirdosh (1942), which featured singer Mukesh in his acting debut, and Central Studios’ social genre Parakh (1944) which was directed by Sohrab Modi, among other films.  

In the 1950s, Mistry cinematographed films such as the Ashok Kumar-Nargis romantic drama Aadhi Raat (1950); the family drama Aankhen (1950) starring Shekhar, Bharat Bhushan and Nalini Jaywant; Ek Nazar (1951), Naaz (1954), and Noor Mahal (1954). Chandni Chowk, which he cinematographed in 1954, was a classic Muslim social drama directed by B R Chopra. The story involves a Nawab belonging to the Chandni Chowk area of Delhi in the early 1920s, who gets “tricked into marrying his daughter to the gardener's son”. Starring Meena Kumari and Shekhar in the key roles, the film—Chopra’s third directorial venture—was also a big success at the box office.

The 1960s saw Mistry cinematograph the action adventure comedy drama King Kong (1962), directed by Babubhai Mistry, which starred Kumkum, Dara Singh Randhawa, Chandrashekhar Vaidya and Parveen Choudhary. The film depicted the lives of Badal and Jingu, who flee along with their mother after their father, the Maharaja, is ousted by an intruder. The two sons are separated until, years later, Jingu sets out to seek Badal. 

Tower House, directed by Nisar Ahmad Ansari, which Mistry cinematographed in 1962, starred Ajit Khan, Shakila and Nisar Ahmad Ansari. Belong to the horror thriller genre, the plot revolved around the mystery that surrounds the ruins of an old tower house where, on select nights, a woman comes out wailing a song, amidst people committing suicide by throwing themselves off the tower. 

Among the other films Mistry cinematographed in this decade are Ganga Ki Lahren (1964), the drama mystery Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi (1966), the Sharmila Tagore starrer Milan Ki Raat (1967), and Spy in Rome (1968). 

The family drama Palki (1967) saw Mistry provide trick photography for the film directed by Mahesh Kaul and S U Sunny. Starring Rajendra Kumar Tuli, Waheeda Rehman and Rehman Khan, the plot revolved around a poor poet who lives a modest lifestyle with his widowed mother in Lucknow, and the events that transpire after he wins a poetry competition hosted by a nawab. 

In 1969, he cinematographed Ek Phool Do Mali, directed by Devendra Goel. Starring Balraj Sahni, Sanjay Khan and Sadhana Shivdasani, it was based on the book Do Kadam Aage by Sampat Lal Purohit. A blockbuster at the box office, it was the second-highest-grossing film of 1969 along with Aradhana and Do Raaste. 

The action adventure film Kismat, which he cinematographed in 1968, starred Babita and Biswajeet Chatterjee. Directed by Manmohan Desai, it revolved around a guitar-carrying musician and a rebellious runaway wealthy woman who go on the run from organised gangsters.

In the 1970s, he provided cinematography for Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka (1975) directed by Devendra Goel and starring Ashok Kumar, Dharmendra and Sharmila Tagore. The plot revolved around Vishal, a poet who lives a middle-class lifestyle with his widowed and wheelchair-bound mother. He is in love with Aruna, who works with a publishing company. Due to his forthrightness, Vishal is unable to keep a job, and Aruna attempts in vain to get him to work at her firm. Then she stops meeting him altogether, and a few days later he gets an invitation to attend her marriage with her boss, Anand Kumar Sahegal. This turn of events devastates Vishal to such an extent that he takes to alcohol, visits prostitutes, gambles, and hates all women especially Aruna. Vishal gains fame selling his poems to Ramu Makhichandani, but does not improve his lifestyle. Then one day a young woman named Sonia enters his life and the two fall in love with each other. Vishal proposes to Sonia and she accepts, however, it is revealed that Sonia is none other than the step-daughter of Aruna - and neither Vishal nor Aruna may want this marriage alliance to succeed.

Some of the subsequent films Mistry cinematographed include Aadmi Sadak Ka (1977), and Do Musafir (1978) among others, followed by Sau Din Saas Ke (1980), Rishta Kagaz Ka (1983), and Ek Chitthi Pyar Bhari (1985). 

Making his debut as a director in 1948, Mistry directed Meri Kahani, a drama genre film written by Waheed Qureshi and starring Surendra, Munawar Sultana and Pratima Devi. In a review appearing at the time in FilmIndia magazine, Mistry was praised for “doing a pretty good job of the direction, especially in the latter half of the story.” The drama film was criticised for being “a story of stories – stories which have appeared on the screen before.” The reviewer maintained that, in a case of ‘story-pickpocketing’, the writer had taken many incidents from different foreign and Indian pictures to weave this tale. Dubbed an age-old theme, the review claimed that had it not been for the good performances of Munnawar Sultana and Surendra, the film would have probably failed to appeal. The film went on to become popular at the box office, its emotional quotient finding resonance with audiences.  The plot depicted Vinod, an army man from the aristocratic social class, who is in love with Malati, the daughter of a poor villager. His mother, however, wishes for him to marry Indira, the rich ward in their house who is also of their social class. It portrayed the subsequent happenings after Indira breaks up the Vinod-Malati marriage. 

Two years later, Mistry directed Pyar Ki Manzil (1950) under the banner of Super Team Federal. A romance genre film, its cast includes Rehman, Munawar Sultana, Gope, Kamal, Pratima Devi and Jankidas. 

On the personal front, on 1 February 1946, Mistry married Miss Banoo Jamooji in the presence of a crowd of distinguished film personalities at the Albless Baug, erstwhile Bombay. 

Keki Mistry passed away on 11 February 1983 in Bombay.