Manmohan Desai (26 February 1937 - 1 March 1994) was a producer and director of Indian movies.
His father, Kikubhai Desai , was an Indian film producer and owner of Paramount Studios (later Filmalaya)[1], from 1931-41. His productions, mainly stunt films, included "Circus Queen", "Golden Gang", "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.
Manmohan Desai was 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. He had a string of hits with Amitabh Bachchan in the 70s and early 80s which helped cement Bachchan's status as a superstar of Indian Cinema. He worked with Amitabh on Amar Akbar Anthony, Parvarish, Suhaag, Naseeb, Desh Premee, Coolie, Mard and Ganga Jamuna Saraswati; all but the last were box office successes. He was one of the directors who had a special working relationship with Amitabh Bachchan, the others being Yash Chopra, Prakash Mehra, Ramesh Sippy, and Hrishikesh Mukherjee. Of these, only Yash Chopra went on to make hits beyond the 1980s.
Apart from Bachchan, Manmohan Desai also worked with such leading male stars as Raj Kapoor in the 1960 film Chhalia, Shammi Kapoor in "Bluffmaster" (1963), Rajesh Khanna in Sachaa Jhutha (1970), Randhir Kapoor in Raampur Ka Lakshman (1972), Shashi Kapoor in "Aa Gale Lag Jaa" (1973), Dharmendra & Jeetendra in Dharam Veer (1977) and Rishi Kapoor in "Coolie" (1983).
1977 was an exceptional year for him. All four of his films released that year were huge hits: Parvarish, Amar Akbar Anthony, Chacha Bhatija and Dharam Veer. The first two were with Amitabh, and the latter two were with Dharmendra.
Out of the 20 films that Manmohan Desai directed in his career span of 29 years (1960-1989), as many as 13 films were stupendous hits. His success ratio was 65 per cent in an industry where flops abound.
Towards the end of his career, Manmohan Desai's previously successful stories and style began to lose favor with audiences. Critics accused him of self parody. His last film as a director Ganga Jamuna Saraswati and the films he produced with his son Ketan Desai directing, Allah Rakha and Toofan, failed at the box office.
Personal
Manmohan Desai was of Gujarati ancestry. 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, an ailing Manmohan Desai committed suicide at his home in Khetwadi by jumping from the building that he owned, near Grant Road, Mumbai. Very little is known about his death except that he was suffering from chronic back pain.
Filmography
Toofan (1989) (producer only)
Ganga Jamuna Saraswati (1988)
Mard (1985)
Coolie (1983)
Desh Premee (1982)
Naseeb (1981)
Suhaag (1979)
Amar Akbar Anthony (1977)
Chacha Bhatija (1977)
Dharam Veer (1977)
Parvarish (1977)
Roti (1974)
Bhai Ho To Aisa (1973)
Aa Gale Lag Jaa (1973)
Raampur Ka Lakshman (1972)
Sachaa Jhutha (1970)
Budtameez (1966)
Bluff Master (1963)
Chhalia (1960)
Tejaswini Ganti 2004, "Bollywood: A Guide to Popular Hindi Cinema", Routeledge Guidebooks, New York and London.
Connie Haham (2006) "Enchantment of the Mind: Manmohan Desai's Films", Roli Books, New Delhi, p 182.
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