Director Ellis R. Dungan with cast members on the set of Meera, 1945Director Ellis R. Dungan with cast members on the set of Meera, 1945
Madras, Tamil Nadu
Photograph by Frank Bond
Courtesy of the Southern Asia Department, University of Chicago Library, bond_0407
Meera release flyer, 1947Meera release flyer, 1947
Western India Theatres Ltd.
American film director Ellis R. Dungan moved to India in 1935. Over the next fifteen years, he directed several Tamil movies and introduced a number of American cinematic techniques to the Indian film industry – including modern makeup, moving cameras, and cabaret dance numbers – influencing later Bollywood productions. Dungan released Meera, starring celebrated singer M. S. Subbulakshmi, in 1945 and two years later debuted a version in Hindi.