Patience Cooper
Encyclopedia
Patience Cooper was an India
n film
actress. An Anglo-Indian
from Calcutta (in West Bengal
), Cooper had a successful career in both silent
and sound
films. She was one of the early superstars of Bollywood
. Cooper is credited with the first double roles of Indian cinema - as twin sisters in Patni Pratap and as mother and daughter in Kashmiri Sundari. But this is not true as Anna Salunkhe had played first double role in Indian film. She played roles of both Ram and Seeta in film 'Lanka Dahan' (1917).
troupe. She later joined Jamshedji Framji Madan
's Corinithian Stage Company as an actress.
Her next film was Vishnu Avtar, released in 1921. Cooper acted in over 40 films until she retired in 1944, after performing in her last film, Iraada. Cooper was often cast in the role of a sexually troubled but innocent woman, always at the centre of moral dilemmas, often caused by the men in her lives.
De Liguoro also directed Dhruva Chartitra (1921), a mythological based on the legend of Dhruva whose quest for eternal knowledge and salvation was rewarded when he became the brightest star in the heavens, the pole star also known as Dhruvatara. The film was made as a bid for an international breakthrough for Madan Theatres and featured many Europeans in the cast along with Cooper who played the female lead, Suniti.
One of Cooper's biggest successes was Pati Bhakti (1922). Cooper played Leelavati in the film, directed by the great JJ Madan himself, advocating that women should be devoted to their husband. The film is regarded as her greatest film and was also involved in a small controversy as in Madras, the censor demanded that a dance number be removed on the grounds of obscenity!
A major aspect of Cooper's star image was the successful achievement of the 'Hollywood look' in spite of different light and technical conditions. Her dark, sharp eyes and skin tone allowed technicians to experiment with the imported convention of eye-level lighting.
Cooper also played perhaps the first ever double roles in Hindi films - Patni Pratap (1923), where she played two sisters and Kashmiri Sundari (1924), where she played mother and daughter.
Cooper did films right through to the mid 1930s. One of her last major films was Zehari Saap (1933). The film was a typical Cooper vehicle about a medieval chieftain's revolt against the good Nawab Bakar Malik. The nawab's outlaw son vows revenge and finally all's well that ends well. The dramatic conflict in the film sees the chieftain wanting to marry the princess, whom he had raised as his own daughter.
The low number of women, especially Hindus, in the film industry during the 1920s (due to conservative attitudes) meant Parsi and Anglo-Indian
actresses, like Cooper, were in demand. Her distinctively Anglo-Indian features, like dark eyes, sharp features, ebony hair and light skin tone, allowed technicians to experiment with the imported technique of eye-level lighting and achieve the Hollywood look, an appearance similar to Hollywood stars of the silent era. Her appearance in a string of successful films has led her to being called the first ever female Indian film star.
.
Actually she was married to MAH Isphahani at the age of 21 and divorced soon after. She then got married to Gul Hamid
Khan, one of the first early silent movie actors. He died six years later due to a throat ailment. She remained friends with MAH Isphahani till the end of her life. Cooper changed her name to Sabra Begum and lived the last of her days with her two adopted daughters Zeenat and Haleema in Karachi, Pakistan. She fostered and/or adopted 17 children during her lifetime. Cooper died in 1983.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
actress. An Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...
from Calcutta (in West Bengal
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
), Cooper had a successful career in both silent
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
and sound
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
films. She was one of the early superstars of Bollywood
Bollywood
Bollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
. Cooper is credited with the first double roles of Indian cinema - as twin sisters in Patni Pratap and as mother and daughter in Kashmiri Sundari. But this is not true as Anna Salunkhe had played first double role in Indian film. She played roles of both Ram and Seeta in film 'Lanka Dahan' (1917).
Stage career
Cooper began as a dancer in Bandmann's Musical Comedy, a EurasianEurasian (mixed ancestry)
The word Eurasian refers to people of mixed Asian and European ancestry. It was originally coined in 19th-century British India to refer to Anglo-Indians of mixed British and Indian descent....
troupe. She later joined Jamshedji Framji Madan
Jamshedji Framji Madan
Jamshedji Framji Madan , born in a Parsi family in Bombay, was one of the pioneers of the Indian film industry.-Early life:Madan's father suffered a huge monetary loss when Bombay Reclamation Bank, which was responsible for reclaiming land between the seven islands of Bombay, failed. JF Madan had...
's Corinithian Stage Company as an actress.
Film career
She started as a dancer in Bandmann's Musical Comedy, a Eurasian troupe before being employed by Madan's Corinithian Stage Company. Cooper was often cast as the sexually troubled but innocent woman at the center of moral dilemmas, a forerunner to the type of roles played later by Nargis. Cooper first made an impact with Nala Damayanti (1920). The film starred Keki Adajania as Nala and Cooper as Damayanti . The film was a big budget Madan Theatre production and was directed by Italian Eugenio De Liguoro, known in Italy for his Orientalist spectacles like Fascino d'Oro (1919). Nala Damayanti was famous for its special effects at the time - Narada's ascent of Mount Meru to heaven, the transformations of four gods into impersonations of Nala, the transformation of Kali into a serpant among others.Her next film was Vishnu Avtar, released in 1921. Cooper acted in over 40 films until she retired in 1944, after performing in her last film, Iraada. Cooper was often cast in the role of a sexually troubled but innocent woman, always at the centre of moral dilemmas, often caused by the men in her lives.
De Liguoro also directed Dhruva Chartitra (1921), a mythological based on the legend of Dhruva whose quest for eternal knowledge and salvation was rewarded when he became the brightest star in the heavens, the pole star also known as Dhruvatara. The film was made as a bid for an international breakthrough for Madan Theatres and featured many Europeans in the cast along with Cooper who played the female lead, Suniti.
One of Cooper's biggest successes was Pati Bhakti (1922). Cooper played Leelavati in the film, directed by the great JJ Madan himself, advocating that women should be devoted to their husband. The film is regarded as her greatest film and was also involved in a small controversy as in Madras, the censor demanded that a dance number be removed on the grounds of obscenity!
A major aspect of Cooper's star image was the successful achievement of the 'Hollywood look' in spite of different light and technical conditions. Her dark, sharp eyes and skin tone allowed technicians to experiment with the imported convention of eye-level lighting.
Cooper also played perhaps the first ever double roles in Hindi films - Patni Pratap (1923), where she played two sisters and Kashmiri Sundari (1924), where she played mother and daughter.
Cooper did films right through to the mid 1930s. One of her last major films was Zehari Saap (1933). The film was a typical Cooper vehicle about a medieval chieftain's revolt against the good Nawab Bakar Malik. The nawab's outlaw son vows revenge and finally all's well that ends well. The dramatic conflict in the film sees the chieftain wanting to marry the princess, whom he had raised as his own daughter.
The low number of women, especially Hindus, in the film industry during the 1920s (due to conservative attitudes) meant Parsi and Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indian
Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...
actresses, like Cooper, were in demand. Her distinctively Anglo-Indian features, like dark eyes, sharp features, ebony hair and light skin tone, allowed technicians to experiment with the imported technique of eye-level lighting and achieve the Hollywood look, an appearance similar to Hollywood stars of the silent era. Her appearance in a string of successful films has led her to being called the first ever female Indian film star.
Later life
Cooper married Isphahani Saheb, a tea-estate owner. In 1947, they migrated to PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
.
Actually she was married to MAH Isphahani at the age of 21 and divorced soon after. She then got married to Gul Hamid
Gul Hamid
Gul Hamid was one of the most famous movie actors of the South Asia before the independence of Pakistan and India. He died before the Independence of Pakistan from Hodgkin's Disease .-Life:...
Khan, one of the first early silent movie actors. He died six years later due to a throat ailment. She remained friends with MAH Isphahani till the end of her life. Cooper changed her name to Sabra Begum and lived the last of her days with her two adopted daughters Zeenat and Haleema in Karachi, Pakistan. She fostered and/or adopted 17 children during her lifetime. Cooper died in 1983.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Director | Co-Star | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Nala Damayanti | Eugenio De Liguoro | Actor | |
| 1921 | Bishu Abatar | Jyotish Bandyopadhyay | Actor | |
| Dhruba Charitra | Jyotish Bannerji | Actor | ||
| Nal Damayanti | Jyotish Bandyopadhyay | Actor | ||
| Dhruva Charitra | Eugenio De Liguoro | Actor | ||
| Behula Behula Behula is the heroine in the Manasamangal genre of Bangla medieval epics. A number of works belonging to this genre were written between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries... |
C. Legrand | Actor | ||
| Vishnu Avatar | C. Legrand | Actor | ||
| 1922 | Sati | Actor | ||
| Ratnavali Ratnavali Ratnavali is a Sanskrit drama about a beautiful princess named Ratnavali, and a great king named Udayana. It is attributed to the Indian emperor Harsha . It is a Natika in four acts. One of the first textual references to the celebration of Holi, the festival of Colours have been found in this text... |
Jyotish Bannerji | Actor | ||
| Pati Bhakti | J. J. Madan | Actor | ||
| Kamale Kamini | Sisir Kumar Bhaduri | Actor | ||
| Ramayan | Jyotish Bandyopadhyay | Serial | Actor | |
| Ramayan | Eugenio De Liguoro | Serial | Actor | |
| Nartaki Tara | Jyotish Bandyopadhyay | Actor | ||
| Ratnavali Ratnavali Ratnavali is a Sanskrit drama about a beautiful princess named Ratnavali, and a great king named Udayana. It is attributed to the Indian emperor Harsha . It is a Natika in four acts. One of the first textual references to the celebration of Holi, the festival of Colours have been found in this text... |
C. Legrand | Actor | ||
| Raja Bhoj | Actor | |||
| Mohini Mohini Mohini , in Hindu mythology, is the name of the only female Avatar of the god Vishnu. She is portrayed as a femme fatale, an enchantress, who maddens lovers, sometimes leading them to their doom. Mohini is introduced into the Hindu mythos in the narrative epic of the Mahabharata... |
Sisir Kumar Bhaduri | Actor | ||
| Bhagirathi Ganga | Actor | |||
| Rajkumari Budur | J. J. Madan | Actor | ||
| Laila Majnu Laila Majnu Laila Majnu is a 1976 Hindi movie based on the legendary story of Layla and Majnun. This film version is directed by Harnam Singh Rawail and stars Rishi Kapoor, Ranjeeta, Danny Denzongpa, Aruna Irani, Asrani, Iftekhar, Tom Alter and Ranjeet... |
J. J. Madan | Actor | ||
| 1923 | Matri Sneha | Jyotish Bannerji | Actor | |
| Noorjehan | J. J. Madan | Actor | ||
| 1924 | Patni Pratap | J. J. Madan | Serial | Actor |
| Turki Hoor | J. J. Madan | Actor | ||
| 1925 | Sati Lakshmi | Jyotish Bannerji | Actor | |
| Adoorat Chheley | J. J. Madan | Actor | ||
| Sansar Chakra | Actor | |||
| Kashmiri Sundari | Actor | |||
| 1926 | Prafulla | Jyotish Bannerji | Actor | |
| 1926 | Joydev | Jyotish Bannerji | Actor | |
| 1926 | Dharmapatni | Jyotish Bannerji | Actor | |
| 1927 | Jana | Priyanath Ganguly | Actor | |
| 1927 | Krishnakanter Will | Priyanath Ganguly | Actor | |
| 1927 | Durgesh Nandini | Priyanath Ganguly | Actor | |
| 1927 | Chandidas | Jyotish Bannerji | Actor | |
| 1928 | Aankh Ka Nasha | Actor | ||
| 1928 | Hoor-E-Arab | Ratansha Sinore | Actor | |
| 1928 | Bhranti | Jyotish Bannerji | Actor | |
| 1929 | Giribala | Modhu Bose | Actor | |
| 1929 | Kapal Kundala | Priyanath Ganguly | Actor | |
| 1930 | Bharat Ramani | Jyotish Bannerji | Actor | |
| 1930 | Vaman Avatar | Actor | ||
| 1930 | Rajsingha | Jyotish Bannerji | Actor | |
| 1930 | Kal Parinaya | Priyanath Ganguly | Actor | |
| 1930 | Ganesh Janma | Jal Ariah | Actor | |
| 1931 | Bibaha Bibhrat | Jyotish Bannerji | Actor | |
| 1931 | Alladin And The Wonderful Lamp | Jal Ariah | Actor | |
| 1931 | Samaj Ka Shikar | Actor | ||
| 1931 | Satyawadi Raja Harishchandra | J. J. Madan | Actor | |
| 1931 | Bharati Balak | Aga Hashr Kashmiri | Actor | |
| 1932 | Pati Bhakti | Actor | ||
| 1932 | Chatra Bakavali | J. J. Madan | Fantasy | Actor |
| 1932 | Bilwamangal | Fram Madan | Actor | |
| 1932 | Alibaba And Forty Thieves | J. J. Madan | Actor | |
| 1932 | Educated Wife | Actor | ||
| 1932 | Hathili Dulhan | J. J. Madan | Actor | |
| 1933 | Madhur Murali | Actor | ||
| 1933 | Naqli Doctor | J. J. Madan | Actor | |
| 1933 | Zehari Saap | J. J. Madan | Actor | |
| 1934 | Kismet Ka Shikar | Actor | ||
| 1934 | Bhakta-Ke-Bhagwan | V. M. Gunjal | Actor | |
| 1934 | Garib Ki Duniya | Sorabji Kerawala | Actor | |
| 1934 | Anokha Prem | F. R. Irani | Actor | |
| 1934 | Kanya Vikraya | Mohammad Hussain | Actor | |
| 1934 | Sakhi Lutera | Sorabji Kerawala | Actor | |
| 1935 | Dil Ki Pyaas | J. J. Madan | Actor | |
| 1935 | Asmat Ka Moti | Fram Sethna | Actor | |
| 1935 | Khudadad | Actor | ||
| 1935 | Prem Ki Ragini | Actor | ||
| 1935 | Sulagto Sansar | G. R. Sethi | Actor | |
| 1935 | Mera Pyara | Ezra Mir | Actor | |
| 1936 | Noor-E-Wahadat | G. R. Sethi | Actor | |
| 1936 | Baghi Sipahi | A. R. Kardar | Actor | |
| 1936 | Khyber Pass | Gul Hamid | Actor | |
| 1937 | Fakhr-E-Islam | Nanubhai Vakil | Actor | |
| 1944 | Chandar Kalanka | Pramathesh Chandra Barua | Actor | |
| 1944 | Iraada | S. Shamsuddin | Actor | |
| 1946 | Khan Saheb | Prem Sethna |