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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2017}}
[[File:Nadia-hunterwali-1935.jpg|150px|thumb|Poster of ''[[Hunterwali]]'' (1935) featuring [[Fearless Nadia]] was Wadia Movietone's big hit.]]
'''Wadia Movietone''' was a noted Indian film production company and studio based in Mumbai, established in 1933 by Wadia brothers [[J. B. H. Wadia]] and [[Homi Wadia]]. It was most known for stunt, fantasy and mythological films, including ''[[Hunterwali]]'' (1935).

==History==
Wadia brothers belong to a [[Parsi]] family, and their ancestors came from the shipbuilding [[Wadia family]] ([[Wadia Group]]), originally from Surat, which also built the British wartime ship [[HMS Trincomalee]] (1817). Their ancestors moved to Bombay in the 18th century.<ref name=toi>{{cite web | title = Surat's Wadias created Fearless Nadia | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Surats-Wadias-created-Fearless-Nadia/articleshow/6668162.cms?referral=PM# |date=2 October 2010| access-date = 2014-09-18 | work = The Times of India }}</ref>
It was co-established in 1933, by producer and screenwriter [[J. B. H. Wadia]], his younger brother director [[Homi Wadia]], film distributor Manchersha B. Billimoria, and brothers Burjor and Nadirsha Tata.<ref name="Rajadhyaksha"/>{{sfn|Ajay J Sinha|2005|p=41}}

However, the Tata brothers left the partnership within three years. The company then continued production of film, documentaries and newsreels from its studios near Lowjee Castle, Mumbai, the Wadia family mansion, owned by their great-grandfather [[Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia]], a noted shipbuilder, who founded the [[Wadia Group]] in 1736. The company even had its logo as a ship, honouring their family legacy.<ref name="Palsetia2001">{{cite book|author=Jesse S. Palsetia|title=The Parsis of India: Preservation of Identity in Bombay City|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R6oNt3M_yLgC&pg=PA187|date=1 January 2001|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-12114-5|pages=187–}}</ref><ref name=toi/> They company made ''[[Hunterwali]]'' (1935) starring [[Fearless Nadia]], [[Boman Shroff]] and [[John Cawas]], which became a surprise hit and its first big success.{{sfn|Britannica|2003|p=595}}<ref name=hunt>{{Cite web|url=http://nfaipune.nic.in/hunterwali.htm|title= Hunterwali: The Lady with the Whip|access-date=18 September 2014|publisher=National Film Archive of India }}</ref> Thereafter, they made several films based on the [[Arabian Nights]].<ref name="Gledhill2003"/>

However, by the end the 1930s, the genre of stunt, fantasy and mythology films which dominated the early films, was beginning to fail and the company ran into heavy losses, after they invested into ambitious projects which flopped.<ref name="Gledhill2003">{{cite book|author=Christine Gledhill|title=Stardom: Industry of Desire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zEPPw3-XfcoC&pg=PT115|date=2 September 2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-94090-5|page=115}}</ref> The last film made by the company was ''[[Raj Nartaki]]'' (1941) under the direction of Madhu Bose. Thereafter, the studio premises were up for sale; [[V. Shantaram]] bought the studio in 1942 and established [[Rajkamal Kalamandir]] on the premises. Homi Wadia, who worked as a director the company, went on to establish Basant Pictures in the same year, though initially as a film production house. Subsequently, he established a film studio under the same banner in 1947, which functioned till 1981.<ref name="Rajadhyaksha">{{cite book|author1=Ashish Rajadhyaksha|author2=Paul Willemen|title=Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SLkABAAAQBAJ&pg=PA239|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-94318-9|pages=239–}}</ref>

[[Riyad Vinci Wadia]], grandson of J.B.H. Wadia inherited the studio in 1990.<ref name="Rajadhyaksha"/> He is most known for his film, ''[[Bomgay]]'' (1996) and a documentary on Nadia, ''Fearless: The Hunterwali Story''. He died in 2003.<ref name="Hunterwali-DNA">{{cite news |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/opinion/comment_the-return-of-nadia-hunterwali_1183450 |title=The return of Nadia Hunterwali |date=14 August 2008 |author=Jain, Madhu |work=[[Daily News and Analysis|DNA]]}}</ref>

==Filmography==
*''[[Lal-e-Yaman (1933)|Lal-e-Yaman]]'' (1933)
*''Noor-E-Yaman'' (1935)
*''[[Hunterwali]]'' (1935)
*''[[Hindi Kesari (film)|Hind Kesari]]'' (1935)
*''[[Miss Frontier Mail]]'' (1936)
*''[[Lutaru Lalna]]'' (1938)
*''[[Punjab Mail (film)|Punjab Mail]]'' (1939)
*''[[Hind Ka Lal]]'' (1940)
*''[[Diamond Queen (1940 film)|Diamond Queen]]'' (1940)
*''[[Bambaiwali]]'' (1941)
*''[[Raj Nartaki]]'' (1941)
*''[[Muqabala]]'' (1942)
*''[[Hunterwali Ki Beti]]'' (1943)

== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|author1=Dr Raminder Kaur|author2=Ajay J Sinha|title=Bollyworld: Popular Indian Cinema Through A Transnational Lens|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5cyGAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA41|date=2005|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-81-321-0344-8}}
* {{cite book|editor= Ramchandani, Indu|title=Encyclopaedia Of Hindi Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8y8vN9A14nkC&pg=PT619|year=2003|publisher=[[Britannica]], Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7991-066-5|ref={{sfnref|Britannica|2003}}}}

==External links==
* [http://www.wadiamovietone.com/ Wadia Movietone, website]
* {{IMDb company|0100262}}

[[Category:Film studios in Mumbai]]
[[Category:Mass media companies established in 1933]]
[[Category:Defunct companies of India]]
[[Category:Bollywood]]

Wadia Movietone - Revision history

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