Stunning photographs of the earliest of our screen goddesses, Devika Rani
Death overtook him in 1967 while he was still shooting Pakeezah. But locked in an obscure steel trunk, he left behind a rare, inestimable legacy—a magnificent treasure of pictures he took on and off film sets. Some 2,000 priceless images associated with the movies he was working in, besides many film synopsis booklets, original film reviews from publications of the time, a few personal letters of appreciation from people in the industry and some personal hand-written letters from Devika Rani.
The memorabilia sketch out a whole history for us: of a studio in its heyday and decline, of Wirsching’s personal travails when the British sent him to the Ahmednagar, Dehradun and Satara internment camps during World War II. Most importantly, Wirsching Sr’s efforts allow us a glimpse into the filmmaking of those early years—the technology, set designs, camera set-ups, even the continuity guys! But finest of all are the stunning photographs of the earliest of our screen goddesses, Devika Rani—smoking, swinging, playing with the camera, or just smiling into it. In an exclusive for Outlook readers, the Wirschings share a few of these never-seen-before images.
Photograph credit: From the personal photographic collection of the late Josef Wirsching, copyright owned by Wolfgand Peter Wirsching. The collection is maintained by grandson Georg Wirsching (Georgwirsching@yahoo.com)