Kulin Kanta (1925)

Advertised as a 'dramatic version of love, jealousy and loyalty along with disastrous results of superstition and hot-headedness and the miseries of a deserted and ill-treated Hindu wife' and a 'story of Hindu superstition and its ruinous results', this film extends Homi Master's tendency (JJismi Sadi, 1924) to weave major social scandals into a fast-paced narrative with socially critical pretensions. The plot is derived from the Bawla murder case. The maharaja of Holkar fell in love with a dancing girl named Mumtaz (played by Moti) who spurned his advances because she loved another man. In fact, the maharaja had the man kidnapped in full public view and killed, a scene included in the film, shot on the Chowpatty waterfront in Bombay. The film was presented as critiquing the behaviour of religious leaders while showing communal unity among the lower classes. It equally valorises the love between brother and sister as well as between sisters-in- law. Reviewers often commended Master for his ability to elaborate highly complicated plots.