Ruby Myers

{{Infobox person

| name = Sulochana

| image = Sulochana in the 1920s.jpg

| imagesize = 220px

| caption = Sulochana in the 1920s

| birth_name = Ruby Myers

| birth_date = 1907

| birth_place = Poona, Bombay Presidency, British India

| death_date = {{death date and age|1983|10|10|1907|df=y}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20100428060330/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/91437 Ruby Myers, Sulochana - Biography] British Film Institute.

| death_place = Bombay, Maharashtra, India

| occupation = Actress

| yearsactive = 1925–1983

| spouse =

| othername =

}}

Ruby Myers (1907 – 10 October 1983), better known by her stage name Sulochana, was an Indian silent film actress of Jewish descent, from the community of Baghdadi Jews in India.{{Cite web |last=Tatna |first=Meher |date=2022-03-14 |title=Female Pioneers in International Cinema – Ruby Myers aka Sulochana |url=https://goldenglobes.com/articles/female-pioneers-international-cinema-ruby-myers-aka-sulochana/ |access-date=2025-01-30 |website=Golden Globes |language=en-US}}

In her heyday she was one of the highest paid actresses of her time, when she was paired with Dinshaw Bilimoria in Imperial Studios films. In the mid-1930 she opened Rubi Pics, a film production house.[http://www.indiaheritage.org/perform/cinema/person/silentstar.htm Silent Screen Stars'] India Heritage:Performing Arts:Cinema In India:Personalities:Silent Screen Stars.

Myers was awarded the 1973 Dada Saheb Phalke Award, India's highest award in cinema for lifetime achievement.{{cite web |title=Dada Saheb Phalke Award Overview |url=http://dff.nic.in/PhalkeAward.aspx |publisher=Directorate of Film Festivals |access-date=8 September 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718171203/http://dff.nic.in/PhalkeAward.aspx |archive-date=18 July 2020 }} She adopted a girl and named her Sarah Myers who after marriage was called Vijaylaxmi Shreshtha. Myers died in Mumbai in 1983.{{Cite web |last=Chowdhury |first=Anindita |date=2020-02-13 |title=Ruby Myers: The Jewish-Indian Mega Film Star We Don't Remember {{!}} #IndianWomenInHistory |url=https://feminisminindia.com/2020/02/14/ruby-myers-jewish-indian-mega-film-star/ |access-date=2022-10-31 |website=Feminism in India |language=en-GB}}

Early life

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Ruby Myers was born in 1907 in Poona, British India into an Baghdadi Jewish family.[http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20071209/spectrum/main6.htm Queens of hearts] The Tribune, 9 December 2007.

Film career

The self-named Sulochana was among the early Eurasian female stars of Indian Cinema.{{cn|date=June 2025}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1998268/|title=Ruby Mayer IMDb}}

Among her popular films were Typist Girl (1926), Balidaan (1927) and Wildcat of Bombay (1927).{{Cite journal |last=Hansen |first=Kathryn |year=1998 |title=Stri Bhumika: Female Impersonators and Actresses on the Parsi Stage |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=33 |issue=35 |pages=2299 |jstor=4407133}}

Image:Sulochana et D. Billimoria dans Heer Ranjah (1929).jpg in Heer Ranjah (1929)]]

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.{{cite web|url=https://bollywoodirect.medium.com/remembering-ruby-myers-1907-10-october-1983-better-known-by-her-stage-name-sulochana-on-her-862301bf33b|title=Remembering Ruby Myers (1907–10 October 1983), better known by her stage name Sulochana on her 111th birth anniversary.}}

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).{{cite web|url=https://jewishcurrents.org/october-10-bollywoods-sulochana|title=October 10: Bollywood’s Sulochana}}

Further talkie versions of her silent hits followed, with Indira (now an) M.A. (1934), Anarkali (1935) and Bombay ki Billi (1936).{{cite web|url=https://goldenglobes.com/articles/female-pioneers-international-cinema-ruby-myers-aka-sulochana/|title=Female Pioneers in International Cinema – Ruby Myers aka Sulochana}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://themagicpr.com/2017/10/17/shelcom-the-untold-story-of-bollywood-hear-the-rarest-story/|title=Shelcom – The Untold story of Bollywood Hear the Rarest story}}

Image:Sulochana publicity still from Prem-Ki-Jyot (1939).jpg

However, she still had the power to excite controversy. In 1947, Morarji Desai banned Jugnu, because it showed the "morally reprehensible" act of an aging fellow professor falling for Sulochana's vintage charms.{{cite web|url=https://www.indianmemoryproject.com/cinema-citizens/#:~:text=In%201947%2C%20Morarji%20Desai%20banned,supporting%20role%20as%20Salim's%20mother.|title=40 SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF INDIAN CINEMA PIONEERS WHO WORKED BETWEEN THE YEARS 1897 - 1947}}

In 1953, she acted in her third Anarkali, but this time in a supporting role as Salim's mother. Her films include Cinema Queen (1926), Typist Girl (1926), Balidaan (1927), Wild Cat of Bombay, in which she played eight different characters, which was remade as Bambai Ki Billi (1936); Madhuri (1928), which was re-released with sound in 1932; Anarkali (1928), remade in 1945; Indira BA (1929); Heer Ranjah (1929), and many others, such as Baaz (1953).{{cite web|url=https://goldenglobes.com/articles/female-pioneers-international-cinema-ruby-myers-aka-sulochana/|title=Female Pioneers in International Cinema – Ruby Myers aka Sulochana}}

Sulochana established her own film studio, Rubi Pics, in the mid-1930s. She received the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1973 for her lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.[https://web.archive.org/web/20070107125902/http://www.madurainetwork.com/india/dadasahebphalkeaward.html Madurainetwork.com - Dada Saheb Phalke Award] Ismail Merchant paid homage to her in Mahatma and the Bad Boy (1974).{{cite web|url=https://www.indianmemoryproject.com/cinema-citizens/#:~:text=In%201947%2C%20Morarji%20Desai%20banned,supporting%20role%20as%20Salim's%20mother.|title=40 SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF INDIAN CINEMA PIONEERS WHO WORKED BETWEEN THE YEARS 1897 - 1947}}

File:Ruby Myers 2013 stamp of India.jpg

Death

She died in 1983 in her flat in Mumbai.{{cite web|url=https://goldenglobes.com/articles/female-pioneers-international-cinema-ruby-myers-aka-sulochana/|title=Female Pioneers in International Cinema – Ruby Myers aka Sulochana}}

File:Wildcat of Bombay 1927 (silent) (14245524943).png

Selected filmography

{{cite web|url=https://themagicpr.com/2017/10/17/shelcom-the-untold-story-of-bollywood-hear-the-rarest-story/|title=Shelcom – The Untold story of Bollywood Hear the Rarest story}}{{cite web|url=https://bollywoodirect.medium.com/remembering-ruby-myers-1907-10-october-1983-better-known-by-her-stage-name-sulochana-on-her-862301bf33b|title=Remembering Ruby Myers (1907–10 October 1983), better known by her stage name Sulochana on her 111th birth anniversary.}}

Image:Sulochana dans Daku Ki Ladki (1933).jpg

Cinema Queen (1926)
Typist Girl (1926)
Balidan (1927)
Wildcat of Bombay (1927)
Anarkali (1928)
Heer Ranjah (1929)
Indira BA (1929)
Noor-E-Alam / Queen of Love (1931)
Daku Ki Ladki (1933)
Saubhagya Sundari (1933)
Sulochana (1933)
Gul Sanobar (1934)
Indira M.A (1934)
Prem Ki Jyot (1939)
Shair (1949)
The Jungle (1952)
Baaz (1953)
Kadu Makrani (1960, Gujarati)
Amrapali (1966)
Neel Kamal (1968)
Mere Humdum Mere Dost (1968)
Julie (1975)
Khatta Meetha (1978)

References

External links

{{IMDb name|id=1998268|name=Ruby Myers 'Sulochana'}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20121008215011/http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/specials/slideshows/20s/20-2.htm The Sirens of the Silent Era - Sulochana (Ruby Myers)(1907-1983)] Hindustan Times.