Master Vithal or Vithal (1906-1969) was an actor in Indian cinema, best known as the hero of India's first talkie Alam Ara (1931) and of Marathi and Hindi silent stunt films (silent films had cue cards in a particular language), which gave him the epithet as the Douglas Fairbanks of India.

He was cast as the male lead in Ratan Manjari (1926) and followed with the swashbuckling roles of many silent stunt films and became a very popular actor.

[1] Master Vithal's début was on the stage as a child artist with Raja Pur Ka Natak Mandali.

After that, he was a permanent fixture in the role of a hero and he was the star attraction of the Sharda Studios, owned by Nanubhai Desai, Anand Prasad Kapoor and Harshadrai Mehta.

Nanubhai Desai was the studio founder and director of many stunt films produced by the company in which Vithal appeared in swashbuckling roles with Zebunissa as his heroine.

The following year, Vithal played the hero in the first Indian talkie Alam Ara with Zubeida as the female lead.

[8] It is said that Vithal could not adopt himself to the new genre of talking-singing films in Hindi as he was "reduced to a hero who is (was) magically stuck dumb in Alam Ara.