Ravindra Dave

Ravindra Dave was born on 16 April 1919 in Karachi, British India (modern day Pakistan) in a Brahmin family. His family belonged to Halvad (modern day Gujarat, India). ==Career==

Hindi cinema Dave directed two songs for Shiri-Farhad in 1942, which was left incomplete by director Prahalad Dutt. His direction of songs impressed his uncle Dalsukh Pancholi who entrusted him with the job. In 1943, he co-directed Poonji with Vishnu R. Pancholi. The film revolves around three sisters trying to prevent their father from remarrying. His next noir film, Dhamki, was a suspense thriller. and ran for 25 weeks in theatres. It won 17 awards from the Government of Gujarat. The film is considered to have revived the Gujarati cinema. His other blockbuster Gujarati films include: Raja Bharathari, Hothal Padmani, Kunwarbai nu Mameru, Shetal Ne Kanthe, Malavpati Munj, Bhadar Tara Vehta Pani, Son Kansari, and Patali Parmar. His last Gujarati film was Malo Nagde starring Upendra Trivedi, Aruna Irani and Mulraj Rajda. He directed 26 Gujarati films in total. Upendra Trivedi starred in 16 of them and he collaborated with music composer Avinash Vyas on 20 of them. == Last years ==

In the 1980s, he undertook a crime thriller titled Mera Pati Mera Qatil with the hope of returning to Hindi films, but the film never went into production due to his ill health and financial constraints. Years later, Rakesh Roshan produced Khoon Bhari Maang with a similar plot which was declared a hit. Ravindra Dave died on 21 July 1992 in Mumbai. ==Legacy==

Film historian Subhash Chheda said, "Dave brought the diminishing Gujarati culture in front of the people. The films were mostly produced for an urban audience then. He made films for a rural audience which were also well received by the urban audience. His biggest contribution [to Gujarati cinema] is bringing a new audience to Gujarati films." Due to his expertise in thriller and mystery films, Chheda called him India's Alfred Hitchcock. == Personal life ==

Dave was married to Jashumatiben. He enjoyed driving and owned several vintage cars. He was an amateur painter, carpenter, and sculptor. Dave was fondly known as Ravinbhai in the Hindi film industry and Bapa in the Gujarati film industry. ==Filmography==

He directed, produced or wrote the following films: Director Hindi films Gujarati films ==References==