Ravindra Dave
Ravindra Dave (16 April 1919 – 21 July 1992) was an Indian film director, producer, editor and screenwriter. Born in Karachi, then part of British India, he came from a Brahmin family connected to Halvad in present-day Gujarat. At 14, he went to Lahore to work as a production manager for his uncle Dalsukh M. Pancholi, learning editing from Shaukat Hussain Rizvi. He co-directed Poonji (1943) and directed the noir-style Dhamki before India’s partition forced him to move to Bombay (now Mumbai).
In Hindi cinema, Dave directed more than 30 films in the 1950s and 1960s. Nagina (1951) starring Nutan and Nasir Khan was a big hit and led him to form Nagina Films. He produced Satta Bazaar and Dulha Dulhan for that company and also worked on Post Box 999 and Raaz, among others. He was known for thrillers and mysteries and collaborated with top composers of the time. He even planned a remake of Nagina, but later turned his focus to Gujarati cinema.
In Gujarati cinema, he directed Jesal Toral (1971), a blockbuster that ran 25 weeks in theatres and won 17 Gujarat government awards, helping revive the industry. He went on to make more than 25 Gujarati films in the 1970s and 1980s, often with Upendra Trivedi and music by Avinash Vyas. Notable titles include Raja Bharathari, Hothal Padmani, Kunwarbai nu Mameru, Shetal Ne Kanthe, Malavpati Munj, Patali Parmar and Malo Nagde, his last Gujarati film. He also planned a Hindi thriller Mera Pati Mera Qatil, which was not produced.
Ravindra Dave died in Mumbai on 21 July 1992. Film historian Subhash Chheda called him India’s Alfred Hitchcock for his thriller work and credited him with reviving Gujarati cinema by bringing it to new audiences. He was married to Jashumatiben. He enjoyed driving, owned vintage cars, and was an amateur painter, carpenter and sculptor. In the film industry, he was known as Ravinbhai in Hindi and Bapa in Gujarati.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 18:59 (CET).