Irani, Ardeshir (1886-1969), was a pioneering Indian motion-picture producer and director. He produced more than 200 movies, but only directed a few, including Alam Ara (1931), which was the first full-length Indian film with sound. He also produced India’s first color movie, Kisan Kanya (1937); the first sound movie in the Farsi language, Dukhtar-e-Lur (1933); and the first Tamil-language movie, Kalidasa (1931).
Ardeshir Marwan Irani was born in Pune, Maharashtra. He studied art in Bombay (now Mumbai). He entered the movie business in 1914 as an importer of movies and soon entered the business of exhibiting films. He became involved in motion-picture production in the 1920’s. He ran a number of short-lived studios before founding Imperial Film in 1926, which was one of India’s leading motion-picture studios until it closed in 1938. Irani died in Bombay.
