''Kariyavar'' is 1948 Indian

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

film written and directed by

Chaturbhuj Doshi Chaturbhuj Doshi (1894–1969) was a Hindi and Gujarati language, Gujarati writer-director of Indian cinema. He was one of the top Gujarati screenplay writers, who helped script stories for the Punatar productions. He is stated to be one of the ...

. It was produced by Chimanlal Desai under banner of

Sagar Movietone Sagar Movietone also Sagar Films, Sagar Film Company and Sagar Productions was an Indian film production company involved in the making of films for Indian cinema. It was launched by Ardeshir Irani with Chimanlal Desai and Dr. Ambalal Patel in 1 ...

. It was based on the story by

Shayda Harji Lavji Damani, better known by his pen name Shayda (24 October 1892 – 31 May 1962) was a Gujarati language poet, novelist, short-story writer and playwright from Gujarat, India. He is known as ''Ghazal Samrat'', the king of ghazal poetry, ...

which itself was based on a folklore of a

stepwell Stepwells (also known as vav or baori) are wells, cisterns or ponds with a long corridor of steps that descend to the water level. Stepwells played a significant role in defining subterranean architecture in western India from the 7th to the ...

. The soundtrack was composed by Ajit Merchant.

Plot

In a village, there was a challenge that whoever reach into a pot housing a venomous cobra would have the privilege of installing an idol in a temple. A village girl Raju accepts and becomes successful in the challenge. The cobra forms a bond with Raju and also grants her wish that he will protect her whenever she needs. Madhav, a son of gypsy Balam Vanzara, falls in love with Raju while Champa, Vanzara's adoptive daughter, falls in love with Veera, Raju's malevolent neighbour who harbors envy for Madhav. Madhav was bitten by the cobra while he went to watch Raju's dance performance. Raju uses of the previously granted wish so the cobra retracts its venom, stipulating that a stepwell must be dug in the village. Meanwhile Raju and Madhav get married. Seeking vengeance, Veera shows the wrong place to dig the stepwell resulting in a dry well. The village suffering from the drought is manipulated by Veera to demand a sacrificial exorcism involving newly married couple of Raju and Madhav to rise the water in the stepwell. Champa decides to marry Veera as well as agrees to sacrifice herself. Finally the sacrifice of Champa and Veera results in the miraculous rising of well waters, resolving the village's problem.

Cast

* Dina Sanghvi as Raju * Dhulia * Shobha * Mulchand Khichdi * Manhar Desai * Chhanalal * Urmila * Kusum Thakur * Kamlakant * Shyamabai * Narendra Desai

Production

The story of the film was based on

's novel ''Vanzari Vaav'' which was based on a folklore. The black-and-white film was produced by Chimanlal Desai under banner of

while script, dialogues and direction was by Chaturbhuj Doshi. It features a rural, folkloric, mythological story. The love story in the film is complex and contains numerous symbolic allusions with clear sexual undertones. It is known for debut film of Dina Sanghvi who is also known as Dina Pathak.

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ajit Merchant while the lyrics were written by Chaitanya and Nandkumar Pathak.

References

External links