''Savitri'' is a

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language mythological film directed by

Franz Osten Franz Osten (23 December 1876 in Munich – 2 December 1956) was a Bavaria, Bavarian filmmaker who along with Himansu Rai was among the first retainers of Bombay Talkies. Osten partnered with Rai on a number of India's earliest blockbuster film ...

. Adapted from a story in the ''

Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kuru ...

'' by

Niranjan Pal Niranjan Pal (17 August 1889 – 9 November 1959) was an Indian playwright, screenwriter, and director in the Indian film industry in the silent and early talkie days. He was a close associate of Himanshu Rai and Franz Osten, with whom he was a ...

with dialogues by J. S. Casshyap. The cinematographer was Joseph Wirsching. Saraswati Devi composed the music. According to Garga, ''Savitri'' was the "only mythological" produced by

Himanshu Rai Himanshu Rai (1892 – 16 May 1940) was an Indian actor and film director. Regarded as one of the pioneers of Indian cinema, he is best known as the founder of the studio in 1934, along with Devika Rani. He was associated with a number of mov ...

for

Bombay Talkies Bombay Talkies was a movie studio founded in 1934. During its period of operation, Bombay Talkies produced 40 movies in Malad, a suburb of the Indian city of Bombay. The studio was established in 1934 by Himanshu Rai and Devika Rani. Afte ...

, who were known for making "rurlist reform dramas".

Ashok Kumar Ashok Kumar (born Kumudlal Ganguly; 13 October 1911 – 10 December 2001), was an Indian actor who attained iconic status in Indian cinema. He is regarded as one of the greatest actors of Indian cinema. He is considered to be the first Super-st ...

and

Devika Rani Devika Rani Chaudhuri (30 March 1908 – 9 March 1994), usually known as Devika Rani, was an Indian actress who worked in Hindi films. Widely acknowledged as the First Lady of Indian cinema, Devika Rani is regarded as one of the greatest ...

played the lead roles supported by Maya Devi, Saroj Borkar,

Mumtaz Ali Mumtaz Ali (29 September 1902 – 7 February 1975) was an Indian dancer and character actor in Hindi cinema from the 1940s to 1970s. He was the father of Indian actor Mehmood. He also had his own dance troupe "Mumtaz Ali Nites" which perform ...

, and Sunita Devi. The film is based on an incident from the epic ''Mahabharata'' and tells the story of

Savitri and Satyavan ''Savitri and Satyavan'', also called ''Sāvitrī-Upākhyāna'' and ''Pativrata-mahatmya Parva'', is an episode from the Indian epic '' Mahabharata'', appearing in the ''Vana Parva'' (The Book of the Forest). It tells the story of Princess Savitr ...

, played by Devika Rani and Ashok Kumar. Savitri persists in getting the god of death,

Yama Yama (), also known as Kāla and Dharmarāja, is the Hindu god of death and justice, responsible for the dispensation of law and punishment of sinners in his abode, Naraka. He is often identified with Dharmadeva, the personification of ''Dharm ...

, to revoke her husband Satyavan's death.

Plot

Savitri is born as a boon from the Sun God and thus shares a blood-relation with

Karna Karna (Sanskrit: कर्ण, IAST: ''Karṇa''), also known as Vasusena, Anga-Raja, Sutaputra and Radheya, is one of the major characters in the Hindu epic ''Mahābhārata''. He is the son of Surya (the Sun deity) and princess Kunti (later ...

as a sister, to

Ashwapati Ashvapati or Aśvapati () is the appellation of many kings in Hindu mythology. It means 'Lord of horses.' It was an appellation comparable to that of the knight or Ritter in Europe. According to Ramayana, Ashvapati was king of Kekeya Kingdom th ...

, the King of

Madra Madra (Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-western India whose existence is attested since the Iron Age (c.1100–500 BCE). The members of the Madra tribe were called the Madrakas. Location The Madras were divided into -Madr ...

and his wife Malawi. Savitri meets and falls in love with Satyavan, the son of the blind King Dumatasena. Dumtasena's minister has taken over his kingdom and exiled the king, who now lives in the forest. When Savitri decides to marry Satyavan, the sage

Narada Narada (, ), or Narada Muni, is a sage-divinity, famous in Hinduism, Hindu traditions as a travelling musician and storyteller, who carries news and enlightening wisdom. He is one of the Manasputra, mind-created children of Brahma, the creator ...

advises against it, as according to the planetary charts, Satyavan will die a year following their marriage. However, Savitri insists on going ahead, ready to take on Yama the God of death. A year later when Savitri sees

carrying Satyavan's soul she follows and discourses with him, while continuing her pursuit. Finally, Yama tells her she can ask three boons of him except for Satyavan's life. The boons Savitri asks for are: sight for her father-in-law and restoration of his kingdom, her father should be granted a hundred sons, and last, she be granted a hundred sons. Yama gives in to her request, thereby restoring Satyavan's life. Her father-in-law's sight is restored and he learns of the death of his usurper.

Cast

as Savitri *

as Karan * Kamta Prasad * Chandraprabha * Sunita Devi * Vimala Devi * Maya Devi * Sushila * Aloka * Madhurika Devi * Tarabai Solanki * Kamta Prasad *

* P. F. Pithawala * M. Nazir

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Saraswati Devi with lyrics by J. S. Casshyap. The singers were

, Sushila Bhiwandkar, Chandraprabha, and P. F. Pithawala.

Songlist

Savitri In Indian cinema

There were about thirty-four versions of the Savitri Satyavan films made. One of the earliest was the film ''Savitri'' produced in 1913 by

Dadasaheb Phalke Dhundiraj Govind Phalke (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, ̪ʱuɳɖiɾaːd͡ʒ pʰaːɭke, popularly known as Dadasaheb Phalke (30 April 1870 – 16 February 1944), was an Indian producer-director-screenwriter, known as "the Father of Indian ...

. The 1923 version, ''Savitri'' also called ''Satyavan Savitri'', was an Italian co-production directed by Giorgio Mannini and J. J. Madan produced by

Madan Theatres Ltd Madan Theatre Company, also known as Madan Theatres Limited or Madan Theatres in short, was a film production company founded by Jamshedji Framji & his partner Kanhaiyalal Kaushik, one of the pioneers of Indian Cinema. History A young Parsi bu ...

. and Cines. '' Savitri'' (1933) was the first film produced by

East India Film Company The East India Film Company was an Indian film production company, based in Calcutta, Bengal Presidency, British India. It was the first Indian film company to screen a movie at an international film festival. Started in 1932 in Calcutta, by R. L ...

. Directed by C. Pullaiah, it received an Honorary Certificate at the Venice Film Festival.

References

External links

* {{Franz Osten 1930s Hindi-language films 1937 fantasy films 1937 films Films about Savitri and Satyavan Films about blind people in India Films about death Films about kings Films about marriage Films about princes Films about princesses Films about royalty Films about the afterlife Films based on the Mahabharata Films directed by Franz Osten Films set in ancient India Films set in forests Films shot in Mumbai Hindu mythological films Indian black-and-white films Indian fantasy films Yama in popular culture Indian fantasy drama films