''Veer Kunal'' (Valiant Kunal) also called ''Son Of Ashoka'' is a

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

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 ...

historical fiction film directed by

Kishore Sahu Kishore Sahu (22 November 1915 – 22 August 1980) was an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He appeared in 22 films between 1937 and 1980, and he directed 20 films between 1942 and 1974. His directorial ven ...

. Besides directing the film Sahu also produced it and wrote the story and screenplay. The cinematographer was Chandu. Produced under the Ramnik Productions banner, it had music by

Khan Mastana Khan Mastana (died 1972) was an Indian actor, playback singer, music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would i ...

. The starcast consisted of Kishore Sahu,

Shobhna Samarth Shobhana Samarth (née Saroj Shilotri; 17 November 1916 – 9 February 2000) was an Indian director, actress and producer, who began her career in the early days of talkie movies in the Hindi film industry and continued in lead roles into the 1 ...

Durga Khote Durga Khote (née Vita Lad; 14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her time. She remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starr ...

, Mubarak and Maya Banerji. The film based on popular historical folk myth, focuses on Emperor

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

's son, Kunal. Ashoka has brought in a third wife, who through her evil planning has Kunal blinded and thrown in the dungeons. The story then follows episodes in Kunal's life till he gets Ashoka's impartial justice.

Plot

Emperor

's beloved wife,

Asandhimitra Asandhamitra (304 BCE – 240 BCE) was an empress and 1st chief consort of the Mauryan emperor Ashoka. She was Ashoka's second wife and first empress consort Given the title "agramahisi", or "Chief Empress", Asandhimitra was likely from a roya ...

, mother of Kunal, is dead and Ashoka is grief-stricken. Kunal is much loved by his step-mother,

Karuvaki Kaurvaki was the "Second Queen Consort" of the third Mauryan Emperor, Ashoka The Great. She was Ashoka's fourth wife and 2nd Empress consort. She was the mother of Ashoka's fourth son, Prince Tivala. Life Kaurvaki is mentioned in the Queen Ed ...

. He is loved and admired by all in the kingdom and is Ashoka's favourite son. Over a period of time Ashoka overcomes his grief and marries a much younger,

Tishyarakshita Tishyarakshita (Pali: ''Tissarakkhā'', Sanskrit: ''Tiṣyarakṣitā'') was the last queen consort of Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire in the 3rd century BCE. She is primarily known from Buddhist chronicles for her treacherous role in the M ...

, daughter of a chieftain. Somdev, Ashoka's Prime Minister has opposed the alliance and is frequently humiliated by Tishya. When Tishya sees Kunal, she falls in love with him in spite of him having a wife, Kanchanmala, and a young son. Tishya is strongly rebuffed by Kunal. An angry Tishya has him accused of murder and put in the dungeon. She tells the guards to blind his eyes. Ashoka, enamoured of Tishya, is unable to see through her plotting. He falls ill and remains largely unaware of most incidents. Kurvaki, unable to see Kunal's plight, helps him escape. Kunal gets the help of the townspeople of

Pataliputra Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Magadha ruler Ajatashatru in 490 BCE, as a small fort () near the Ganges river.. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of Pataliput ...

and marches to the palace. Ashoka, on being told who is at the gates of the palace, calls for a durbar meeting. When he hears the entire story, his sense of fair play, his impartial justice, and remorse at his son's blinding help him mete out a strict punishment to Tishya, condemning her to be burnt.

Cast

as Tishyarakshita *

as Kuruvaki * Mubarak as Ashok * Maya Banerji * Nila Nagini as Kanchanmala, wife of Kunal * Vasantrao Pahelwan * Moni Chatterjee * Kanta Kumari

Reception

Kishore Sahu "made news" by getting

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ''Vallabhbhāī Jhāverbhāī Paṭel''; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was an Indian independence activist and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime ...

to inaugurate the film premiere at Novelty cinema in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

on 1 December 1945, according to the magazine ''

Filmindia ''filmindia'' is an Indian monthly magazine covering Indian cinema and published in English language. Started by Baburao Patel in 1935, ''filmindia'' was the first English film periodical to be published from Bombay. The magazine was reportedly ...

''. Some of the comments from other newspapers of the time were quoted in ''Filmindia'' in an advertisement praising the film. ''

The Bombay Chronicle ''The Bombay Chronicle'' was an English language, English-language newspaper, published from Mumbai (then Bombay), started in 1910 by Sir Pherozeshah Mehta (1845–1915), a prominent lawyer, who later became the president of the Indian National ...

'' praised its sets and costumes. The ''Sunday Standard'' called it the "greatest picture". The ''

Free Press Journal ''The Free Press Journal'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper that was established in 1928 by Swaminathan Sadanand, who also acted as its first editor. First produced to complement a news agency, the Free Press of India, it was a su ...

'' explained its popularity due to "high level of performances" and Sahu's direction. The ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'', while acclaiming Sahu's direction also gave credit to the acting, sets, photography, and a tight "gripping" story.Patel, p.50 ''Filmindia'' commended Sahu for casting Shobhana Samarth as the "vamp", which was in contrast to majority of her roles where she portrayed

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

Damayanti Damayanti () is a heroine in ancient Indian literature, primarily known for her role in the episode of ''Nala and Damayanti, Nalopakhyana'', which is embedded within the ''Vana Parva'' (the third book) of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c. 400 BCE – ...

and Taramati in several films. Her acting was appreciated and was referred to as her "best performance". Sahu, Samarth and Durga Khote's performances were much-admired. Mubarak as Ashok was criticised for looking "stupid and unconvincing", while Nila Nagini was cited as having an "ungainly appearance". The symbolic use of eyes which attract Tishya, and her blinding Kunal, were highly praised by Patel, finding the thematic approach far superior. The film was criticised for being overly serious and "bordering on morbidity". The production values were stated to be inconsistent.Patel, p. 60 The "expensive picture" was cited as being "more for the intellectuals than for the masses",Patel, p. 72 however, it was claimed to be a success at the box-office.

Kunal In Films

* In Hindi, ''Veer Kunal'' (1945) was the third film on the subject of Ashoka's son, Kunal. The earlier two were ''Veer Kunal'' (1925), a

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

directed by Manilal Joshi, and ''Veer Kunal'' (1932), a

Talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...

directed by M. D. Bhavnani and G. S. Devare. * In

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

, the subject was made as ''

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 ...

'' (1941) directed by the "noted" film maker Raja Chandrasekhar. It starred the famous M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar as Kunal and the film is remembered for Bhagavathar's "melodious songs". It was a commercial success.

Soundtrack

The film had only four songs, and all of them according to Baburao Patel, were in keeping with the mood and theme of the film, and not frivolous.Patel, p. 60 The film had music by

. The three lyricists were Ambikesh Kuntal, Neelkanth Tiwari and Pandit Madhur.

Song list

References

External links

* {{Kishore Sahu 1945 films 1940s Hindi-language films 1940s Indian films Films directed by Kishore Sahu Films scored by Khan Mastana Indian historical films 1940s historical films Indian black-and-white films