The ability to move between different worlds was an asset to Jewish writers and film-makers. Joseph David Penkar was a prolific playwright, screenwriter, director, and lyricist. A polyglot writer at ease in English and Hebrew, as he was in Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu and Marathi, Joseph David Penkar seemed to move with an equal facility between writing and directing for the stage and the screen. He used his extensive knowledge of Parsee theatre and Persian and Urdu literature while scripting ‘Alam Ara’ (1931) setting, for the first time ever, a template for the talkie that is replicated till date. Like many other members of the Bene Israel community, he lived in the cosmopolitan environment of Bombay without losing either his Jewish or Indian roots