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Ruby Myers
Indian actress (1907–1983)

Ruby Myers (1907 – 10 October 1983), known as Sulochana, was a prominent Indian silent film actress of Baghdadi Jewish ancestry. During her peak, she was among the highest paid actresses and famously partnered with Dinshaw Bilimoria in films produced by Imperial Studios. In the mid-1930s, she founded her own production company, Rubi Pics. Recognized for her immense contribution to Indian cinema, Myers received the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1973. She adopted a daughter named Sarah Myers, later known as Vijaylaxmi Shreshtha after marriage. Sulochana passed away in Mumbai in 1983, leaving a lasting legacy in Indian film history.

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Early life

Ruby Myers was born in 1907 in Poona, British India into an Baghdadi Jewish family.4

Film career

The self-named Sulochana was among the early female stars of Indian cinema.

She was working as a telephone operator when she was approached by Mohan Bhavnani of Kohinoor Film Company to work in films. She initially turned him down as acting was regarded as quite a dubious profession for women those days. However Bhavnani persisted and she finally agreed, despite having no knowledge of acting. She became a star under Bhavnani's direction at Kohinoor before moving on to the Imperial Film Company where she became the highest paid movie star in the country.5

Among her popular films were Typist Girl (1926), Balidaan (1927) and Wildcat of Bombay (1927).6

Three romantic films in 1928-29 with director R.S. Chaudhari - Madhuri (1928), Anarkali (1928) and Indira B.A. (1929) saw her at her peak of fame in the silent film era. When a short film on Mahatma Gandhi inaugurating a khadi exhibition was shown, alongside it was added a popular dance of Sulochana's from Madhuri, synchronised with sound effects.7

With the coming of sound, Sulochana found a lull in her career, as it now required an actor to be proficient in Hindustani. Taking a year off to learn the language, she made a comeback with the talkie version of Madhuri (1932).8

Further talkie versions of her silent hits followed, with Indira [now an] M.A. (1934), Anarkali (1935) and Bombay Ki Billi (1936).9 Sulochana was back with a bang. She was drawing a salary of Rs. 5000 per month, she had the sleekest of cars (Chevrolet 1935) and one of the biggest heroes of the silent era, D. Billimoria, as her lover with whom she worked exclusively between 1933 and 1939. They were an extremely popular pair - his John Barrymore-style opposite her Oriental 'Queen of Romance'. But once their love story ended so did their careers. Sulochana left Imperial to find few offers forthcoming. She tried making a comeback with character roles but even these were few.10 Sulochana established her own film studio, Rubi Pics, in the mid-1930s.

In 1947, Morarji Desai banned Jugnu, because it showed the "morally reprehensible" act of an aging fellow professor falling for Sulochana's vintage charms.11 In 1953, she acted in her third Anarkali, but this time in a supporting role as Salim's mother.

Later life and death

She received the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1973 for her lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.12 Ismail Merchant paid homage to her in Mahatma and the Bad Boy (1974).13 She adopted a girl and named her Sarah Myers who after marriage was called Vijaylaxmi Shreshtha. Myers died in Mumbai in 1983.14 She died in 1983 in her flat in Mumbai.15

Selected filmography

Her films include Cinema Queen (1926), Typist Girl (1926), Balidaan (1927), Wildcat of Bombay (1927) in which she played eight different characters, which was remade as Bombay Ki Billi (1936); Madhuri (1928), which was re-released with sound in 1932; Anarkali (1928), remade in 1945; Indira B.A (1929); Heer Ranjah (1929), and many others, such as Baaz (1953).161718

See also

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ruby Myers.

References

  1. Tatna, Meher (14 March 2022). "Female Pioneers in International Cinema – Ruby Myers aka Sulochana". Golden Globes. Retrieved 30 January 2025. https://goldenglobes.com/articles/female-pioneers-international-cinema-ruby-myers-aka-sulochana/ ↩

  2. Silent Screen Stars' India Heritage:Performing Arts:Cinema In India:Personalities:Silent Screen Stars. http://www.indiaheritage.org/perform/cinema/person/silentstar.htm ↩

  3. "Dada Saheb Phalke Award Overview". Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020. http://dff.nic.in/PhalkeAward.aspx ↩

  4. Queens of hearts The Tribune, 9 December 2007. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071209/spectrum/main6.htm ↩

  5. "Ruby Mayer IMDb". https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1998268/ ↩

  6. Hansen, Kathryn (1998). "Stri Bhumika: Female Impersonators and Actresses on the Parsi Stage". Economic and Political Weekly. 33 (35): 2299. JSTOR 4407133. /wiki/JSTOR_(identifier) ↩

  7. "Remembering Ruby Myers (1907–10 October 1983), better known by her stage name Sulochana on her 111th birth anniversary". https://bollywoodirect.medium.com/remembering-ruby-myers-1907-10-october-1983-better-known-by-her-stage-name-sulochana-on-her-862301bf33b ↩

  8. "October 10: Bollywood's Sulochana". https://jewishcurrents.org/october-10-bollywoods-sulochana ↩

  9. "Female Pioneers in International Cinema – Ruby Myers aka Sulochana". https://goldenglobes.com/articles/female-pioneers-international-cinema-ruby-myers-aka-sulochana/ ↩

  10. "Shelcom – The Untold story of Bollywood Hear the Rarest story". https://themagicpr.com/2017/10/17/shelcom-the-untold-story-of-bollywood-hear-the-rarest-story/ ↩

  11. "40 SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF INDIAN CINEMA PIONEERS WHO WORKED BETWEEN THE YEARS 1897 - 1947". https://www.indianmemoryproject.com/cinema-citizens/#:~:text=In%201947%2C%20Morarji%20Desai%20banned,supporting%20role%20as%20Salim's%20mother. ↩

  12. Madurainetwork.com - Dada Saheb Phalke Award https://web.archive.org/web/20070107125902/http://www.madurainetwork.com/india/dadasahebphalkeaward.html ↩

  13. "40 SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF INDIAN CINEMA PIONEERS WHO WORKED BETWEEN THE YEARS 1897 - 1947". https://www.indianmemoryproject.com/cinema-citizens/#:~:text=In%201947%2C%20Morarji%20Desai%20banned,supporting%20role%20as%20Salim's%20mother. ↩

  14. Chowdhury, Anindita (13 February 2020). "Ruby Myers: The Jewish-Indian Mega Film Star We Don't Remember | #IndianWomenInHistory". Feminism in India. Retrieved 31 October 2022. https://feminisminindia.com/2020/02/14/ruby-myers-jewish-indian-mega-film-star/ ↩

  15. "Female Pioneers in International Cinema – Ruby Myers aka Sulochana". https://goldenglobes.com/articles/female-pioneers-international-cinema-ruby-myers-aka-sulochana/ ↩

  16. "Female Pioneers in International Cinema – Ruby Myers aka Sulochana". https://goldenglobes.com/articles/female-pioneers-international-cinema-ruby-myers-aka-sulochana/ ↩

  17. "Shelcom – The Untold story of Bollywood Hear the Rarest story". https://themagicpr.com/2017/10/17/shelcom-the-untold-story-of-bollywood-hear-the-rarest-story/ ↩

  18. "Remembering Ruby Myers (1907–10 October 1983), better known by her stage name Sulochana on her 111th birth anniversary". https://bollywoodirect.medium.com/remembering-ruby-myers-1907-10-october-1983-better-known-by-her-stage-name-sulochana-on-her-862301bf33b ↩