Books & Journals

A few useful written resources are covered below. These are mostly books and academic journals but long-form feature articles are also included.

On the company operations and J F Madan
Silent Cinema in India – A Pictorial Journey – B. D. Garga, 2012
Extensive chapter on J F Madan, the firm, and filmography
The Parsis in Western Indian: 1918 -1920 – Nawaz B Mody, 1998
Contains a detailed biography of J F Madan written by his great grand daughter, Homai N. Modi
So Many Cinemas: The Motion Picture in India – B.D. Garga, 1996
Chapter on J F Madan and company
Bollywood: A History – Mihir Bose, 2006
Covers the life of J F Madan and Madan Theatres Ltd.
Madan Theatres Ltd: Knowing the Company Better – Biren Das Shama, University of Calcutta, 2004
Provides detailed information on the development of the company, much of it based on an extensive interview with J J Madan conducted by the Government of India in 1923
The Forgotten Empire: Madan Theatres Ltd. – Biren Das Shama, University of Calcutta, 2004
Thieves of Bombay: United Artists, Colonial Copyright, and Film Piracy in the 1920s – Nitin Govil, Eric Hoyt, BioScope South Asian Screen Studies, 2014
Parsi Lustre on Indian Soil – HD Darukhanawala, 1939
Managing Theatre and Cinema in Colonial India: Maurice E. Bandmann, J.F. Madan and the War Films Controversy – Christopher Balme, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, 2017

On theatre
The Parsi Theatre: It’s Origins and Development – Somnath Gupt, 2005
Discusses the role of J F Madan in Parsi Theatre
Stages of Life: Indian Theatre Autobiographies – Kathryn Hansen, 2013

On cinemas and other property
End of the road for Chaplin, The Telegraph India, 2013
Discusses Calcutta’s Elphinstone Picture Palace and its demolition.
Primitives, Pioneers and Places of Cinema in Colonial Ceylon (Sri Lanka)” – V. Tampoe-Hautin, 2013
Focuses on early cinema development in Sri Lanka

On sound
The Gramophone Company’s First Indian Recordings – Michael S. Kinnear, 1994
Contains details of the role of the Corinthian Theatre in producing early sound recordings in India, as well as additional information about the company.
The Culture-specific use of sound in Indian cinema – Shoma A. Chatterji, 1999
Discusses the use of sound in Madan theatres/cinemas
The Advent of Sound in Indian Cinema: Theatre, Orientalism, Action, Magic – Virchand Dharamsey, Journal of the Moving Image, 2010

On film (and the firm)
Light of Asia: Indian Silent Cinema 1912-1934 – edited by Suresh Chabria, 2013
Provides a comprehensive filmography
Pioneers of the film industry in India – BNA Germany, 2013
Gives an overview of the company and lists some early Elphinstone newsreel films
A gem called Jahanara Kajjan – Pran Neville, Hindu Times, 2015
Describes the actor’s film career at Madan Theatres
Bengali Cinema: “An Other Nation” – Sharmistha Gooptu, 2010
History of Indian Cinema – Renu Saran, 2014
The Oxford Companion to Indian Cinema – 2004
The Encyclopedia of Early Cinema – Richard Abel, 2005
On and Behind Indian Cinema – J.K. Bajaj, 2014
Cinema at the End of Empire – Priya Jaikumar, 2006
Narratives of Indian Cinema – Manju Jain, 2009
Orientating Hollywood: A Century of Film Culture between Los Angeles and Bombay – Nitin Govil, 2014
National Identity in Indian Popular Cinema, 1947-1987 – Sumita S. Chakravarty, 1993
Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema – Saibal Chatterjee Gulazāra, 2003
Calcutta: A Cultural and Literary History – Krishna Dutta, 2003
Blast from the Past: Patience Cooper – Bollywood Direct
Revisiting Bengali films in the 100th year of Indian cinema – Sharmistha Gooptu, Times of India, 2013
Supply and Demand – Reel Time – Saju Chelangad, The Hindu, 2013
The birth of India’s film industry – how the movies came to Mumbai – Pamela Hutchinson, The Guardian, 2013
Hundred Years of Indian Cinema – Sharmistha Gooptu, Times of India, 2012
Journeys in and beyond the city – cinema in Calcutta 1897 -1939 – Ranita Chatterjee, University of Westminster, 2011

On J F Madan’s philanthropy
Pioneering Parsis of Calcutta – Prochy N. Mehta, Niyogi Books, 2020

Online Resources
Madan Theatres on IMDB