Biopic on India’s maiden Hollywood star
Sabu, India's first actor in Hollywood
Image: IANS
The extraordinary life story of Sabu, who was India’s maiden Hollywood actor, is coming to life on the big screen.
The film and television rights to “Sabu: The Remarkable Story of India’s First Actor in Hollywood,” the acclaimed biography by author Debleena Majumdar has been acquired by Almighty Motion Picture.
The biography chronicles the incredible true story of Sabu Dastagir, the Indian boy who rose from elephant stables in Mysore to become an international movie star.
“Sabu’s story deserves to be told with grandeur and truth. He wasn’t just India’s first global star, he was a bridge between worlds, cultures and eras. To bring his story to the screen is more than filmmaking. It’s preserving a legacy the world must never forget and is a responsibility we hold close to our hearts,” said Prabhleen Sandhu, producer at Almighty Motion Picture.
The son of a mahout (elephant handler), Sabu’s journey from colonial India to the Hollywood Walk of Fame reads like a forgotten epic of fame, war, identity, and legacy.
His story spans continents, cultures and eras — from his breakout role in “Elephant Boy” to his service as a decorated air gunner in World War II.
Sabu, who was born in 1924 in Karapura, Mysore, Kingdom of Mysore, then a princely state of British India, made his debut in the 1937 film “Elephant Boy” based on Rudyard Kipling’s “Toomai of the Elephants” from “The Jungle Book.”
The film was directed by documentary filmmaker Robert J. Flaherty, who produced the Indian footage, and supervising director Zoltan Korda, who completed the film and won the best director award at the Venice Film Festival.
Shot at London Films studios at Denham and on location in Mysore, the film launched Sabu into international stardom.
He went on to star in Hollywood classics including “The Thief of Bagdad” (1940), “Jungle Book” (1942), “Arabian Nights” (1942) and “Black Narcissus” (1947), becoming a box office sensation and cultural bridge between east and west.
His contributions to cinema were recognised with his induction into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
Sabu died suddenly in 1963 of a heart attack at the age 39.
Majumdar added: "Thanks a lot to my literary agent Mr. Suhail Mathur for believing in me and for not only getting me a book deal & an AV one but for also sharing the amazing idea & Almighty Motion Picture for finding value in the story and for shaping it with this brilliant vision.
“It was an honour to research this book and more importantly to learn about how cinema and movies evolved through world changing global events.”