Santram Varma

Varma Films was a film production and distribution company founded in Bombay, India and predominantly involved in producing and distributing Hindi-language films.

During its 18-year existence, starting from its inception with the release of the film Suhaag Raat in 1948, to the release of its last film, Budtameezin 1966, Varma Films and its affiliates distributed 18 films, of which 12 were produced by them. This corresponds to an average of one film per year. In his sample of 274,991 films with 269,385 individual producers over the years 1949 to 2018, Follows (2019) finds that the average producer starting out in 1950 would go on to produce 6 films over his/her career span.With 18 of the films distributed by Varma Films including 12 films produced by the company, the above benchmark is an indicator of the notability of Varma Films arising from their prolific productivity.

In addition, the prominence of Varma Films and its affiliates emanates from the notable array of stars that worked in its films during the so-called Golden Age of Hindi Cinemathat stretched for the first two decades following India's independence in 1947. Three of these films (Neki Aur Badi (1949), Badal (1951) and Baghi Sipahi (1958)) starred Madhubala, called “the biggest star in the world” by David Cort of Theatre Arts Magazine. Another film (Main Nashe Mein Hoon (1959)) featured Raj Kapoor, one of the greatest and most influential actors and filmmakers in history of Indian cinema. Other distinguished stars that acted in the films linked with Varma Films and its associates included Nutan, Mala Sinha, Sadhana, Kamini Kaushal, Ashok Kumar and Shammi Kapoor. Finally, contributing to the significance of Varma Films, are the important people who made their debut/breakthrough in the film industry with a film associated with Varma Films. For example, Roshan, grandfather of renowned actor Hritik Roshan, got his debut as a music director in Neki Aur Badi, a film co-produced by Munshiram Varma and distributed by Varma Films.Suhaag Raat, another film also co-produced by Munshiram Varma and distributed by Varma films is known for Geeta Bali’s breakthrough performance. Filmindia, in its review of Suhaag Raat, referred to the film as "Geeta Bali's Sohag Raat", giving Geeta Bali much credit for its box-office success. Lastly, famous actor Rajendra Kumar made his debut in the film industry with a cameo in Patanga (1949) produced and distributed by Varma Films.

Founded in 1948 by six brothers in the Chawla family (Ramrakha, Munshiram, Bhagwan Das, Biharilal, Walatiram and Santram), born to Laxmidas and Hakumdai Chawla from the Punjab Province of British India. After moving to Bombay to enter the movie industry, the six brothers changed their last name to Varma, became a part of the Varma family, and named their newly founded company Varma Films.

Varma Films was initially involved only with distributing films and afterward with producing as well as distributing Hindi-language films.The first film distributed by the company was Suhaag Raat (1948). Although the film was only distributed by Varma Films, Munshiram Varma, worked as a producer for the film for Oriental PicturesThe first film produced by Varma Films was Patanga (1949). Subsequently, the company either produced and/or distributed the following films: Thes (1949), Neki Aur Badi (1949),Sagai (1951), Badal (1951), Parbat (1952), Aurat (1953), Ladla (1954) and Pooja (1954).

Of the ten films mentioned above, three were box-office hits: Suhaag Raat was the seventh highest-grossing film of 1948; Patanga was the seventh highest-grossing film of 1949; and finally Badal was the eighth highest-grossing film of 1951. Presumably, the most prominent among the six brothers who founded Varma Films were Munshiram and Bhagwan Das.Munshiram was the producer of four of the above films (Suhaag Raat, Thes, Neki Aur Badi and Aurat) whereas Bhagwan Das worked as a producer for one film (Badal) and a director for two films (Aurat and Pooja). In 1954, Bhagwan Das married actress Purnima, who had worked in a majority of the films produced by Varma Films; it was Purnima’s second marriage.

After the Varma Films banner was retired in the mid-1950s, the six Varma brothers continued their film production and distribution activities with affiliated companies. The composition of Varma Films could not be sustained because of the deaths of Munshiram in 1958, Biharilal in 1960 and Bhagwan Das in 1962. Varma Films consequently evolved into four affiliated companies, all associated with the production and distribution of films over the next several years. Varma Pictures was associated with Night Club (1958) and Main Nashe Mein Hoon (1959), V P Productions with Baghi Sipahi (1958), Varma Productions with Ankh Micholi (1962), and finally Varma Brothers with Budtameez (1966). Bhagwan Das Varma worked as the producer as well as the director for Baghi Sipahi. Varma Brothers also briefly dabbled with the subtitled theatrical distribution of Italian films in India. Specifically, the films distributed by the company were Boccaccio '70 (1962), Marriage Italian Style (1964) and The 10th Victim (1965). Of these three films, two were commercially successful in Italy.Specifically, on the List of highest-grossing films in Italy, Marriage Italian Style ranked 38th and Boccaccio '70 ranked 104th. On the other hand, The 10th Victim performed below expectations in Italy.

A second generation of participation in the film industry was pursued by the children of the founders of Varma Films.Jagdish Varma, son of Bhagwan Das Varma, one of the founders of Varma Films, started a new production and distribution company called J.V. Film Enterprises associated with Insaaniyat(1974) and Oonch Neech Beech (1989). Jagdish and his brother Satpal Varma were the producers of Insaaniyat whereas Jagdish was the producer of Oonch Neech Beech and Satpal the co-producer. Aroon Varma, son of Santram Varma, also one of the founders of Varma Films, started a new company called Varma Film Enterprises and produced Balidaan (1971). Kiran Singh née Varma, daughter of Santram Varma, married actor and producer Sujit Kumar, who in a career spanning four decades, was regarded as the first superstar of the Bhojpuri cinema. Together with Sujit, Kiran produced Anubhav (1986), Asmaan Se Ooncha (1989), and Khel (1992).Madhu Makkar née Varma, daughter of Munshiram Varma (another founder of Varma Films), played the female lead in Insaaniyat opposite veteran actor Shashi Kapoor; Surinder Makkar, spouse of Madhu Makkar, worked as a character actor in Insaaniyat. More participation from the children of Munshiram Varma came from his sons Sunil and Pammy (a.k.a. Rajesh). Sunil Varma was the executive producer of Insaaniyat. Pammy Varma, was the co-producer of Mard (1985), which was the second highest-grossing film of 1985, and the eighth highest-grossing film of the 1980s (1980 to 1989). Furthermore, after years of working as the assistant director/second-unit director of Manmohan Desai, leading director of the 1970s, Pammy Varma made his debut as the independent director of Ek Misaal (1986). Finally, Purnima Das Varma’s son from her first marriage, Anwar Hashmi, worked as a character actor inBaharon Ki Manzil (1968).

A third generation of participation in the film industry comes from the grandchildren of the six Varma brothers that founded Varma Films. Most prominent among them is Emraan Hashmi, a film actor. He is the grandson of Purnima Das Varma who had married Bhagwan Das Varma, one of the founders of Varma Films. Purnima’s son from her first marriage, Anwar Hashmi, is Emraan’s father, making Bhagwandas Varma Emraan’s step grandfather. Other participation comes from Chandan Arora, film editor/director and recipient of the 2003 Filmfare Award for Best Editing, who is the spouse of Minal Arora, granddaughter of Sumitra, sister of the six Varma brothers that founded Varma Films. Still more involvement in the film industry comes from the grandchildren of the six original Varma brothers that became film and TV actors, including Sid Makkar, Giriraj Kabra, Amit Varma, Mihika Varma, Mishkat Varma and Zulfi Syed. Sid Makkar is the grandson of Munshiram Varma, one of the founders of Varma Films and Giriraj Kabra is the spouse of Seher Kabra née Varma, granddaughter of Munshiram Varma. Amit Varma is the grandson of Biharilal Varma, a founder of Varma Films.Sister and brother, Mihika Varma and Mishkat Varma, are the grandchildren of Waltiram Varma, another founder of Varma Films. Zulfi Syed is married to Sheena, granddaughter of Santram Varma, also one of the founders of Varma Films. Finally, film industry participation comes from two more participants, Jatin Kumar and Rajiv Menon, both associated with founder Santram Varma. Jatin Kumar, grandson of Santram Varma, and son of Sujit Kumar and Kiran Singh née Varma, is one of the producers of Aetbaar (2004). Rajiv Menon, movie screenplay writer, is the spouse of Dimple Varma, granddaughter of Santram Varma.

(Hindi-language films produced and distributed by Varma Films as well as affiliated firms. Films only distributed by Varma Films or affiliates are marked with a *)

(Italian-language films distributed by Varma Brothers, an affiliate of Varma Films, for theatrical release only in India.)