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RIGHT from the advent of talkies in India, films have been made on the life and times of our eminent saint-poets. Most of these films were successful at the box office. It would be interesting to go back in time to recall those films which chronicled the life of eminent saint-poets who rose above the barriers of caste and creed to spread the message of love and universal brotherhood.
In 1934, New Theatres of Kolkata made a film entitled Chandidas. This film was on the life of the 14th century Vaishnavite saint-poet Chandidas. Born in a Brahmin family, Chandidas never allowed himself to be shackled by the chains of caste. Chandidas falls in love with Rami, the daughter of a washerman. Rami was a widow belonging to a low caste. Thus, on both counts it was a taboo for her to have romantic relations with any man. However, Chandidas would spend hours listening to the songs Rami sang in her melodious voice while washing the clothes. Rami herself was a great admirer of the romantic verses which Chandidas had written. Inevitably, they came close and soon fell in love. This film had singer-actor K.L. Saigal in the role of lover-poet Chandidas and Umashashi as Rami dhoban. The film was a superhit. It ran for 60 weeks in a cinema hall of Kolkata. Its songs were hummed everywhere, particularly the duet, "Prem nagar mein basaoon gi ghar mein tajj ke sab sansar..." In 1937, New Theatres made another significant film on the life of the 14th century Maithili poet and Sanskrit writer Vidyapati, also known as Maithili Kavi Kokil. Vidyapati was also a great box-office success. It has Prithviraj in the role of the King Shiva Singha and Chhaya Devi as his Queen Laxmi who is enamoured of the verses written by Vidyapati. The role of Vidyapati was performed by Pahadi Sanyal. The film owed much of its success to the blind singer K.C. Dey who enacted the role of Madhusudan in this film. K.C. Dey sang some of the best bhajans of his life for this film. Kanan Devi, as Anuradha in the film, also sang some beautiful songs. Feature films on the life of Meerabai, the 16th century saint-poetess of Rajasthan, who was popularly believed to be a reincarnation of Radha, have been made a number of times, but three of them deserve a mention here. The first Meera was made in 1946 with classical singer M.S. Subbulakshmi in the title role. It was made in Tamil and Hindi. The film was greatly appreciated by Sarojini Naidu. It was a successful film, for M.S. Subbulakshmi was not only a great singer of Meerabai’s famous bhajans but also a stunningly beautiful young woman. Another significant film on the life of Meerabai was made in 1948. It had actress Neena in the title role. It was also a box-office hit. In 1979, writer-director Gulzar made a film on Meerabai with Hema Malini in the main role. Vinod Khanna enacted the part of Rana Bhojraj Sisodia, Meerabai’s husband. But this film failed to impress the people, even though it was well directed and well scripted by Gulzar. A film Bhakt Surdas on the blind poet and devotee of Lord Krishna was made by Ranjit Movietone in 1942. It had K.L. Saigal and Khurshid in the lead. The film was a box office hit because of the melodious Surdas bhajans that Saigal sang in this film under the music direction of Gyan Dutt. A film on the 16th century saint-poet of Bengal, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, was made by Vijay Bhatt in 1954. It had Bharat Bhushan in the pivotal role opposite Ameeta. The music was imaginatively composed by R.C. Boral. It was a well-directed film but didn’t go well with the audience. Medieval saint-poet Goswami Tulsidas, the creator of Ramcharitmanas and several other devotional works, has also been a favourite of filmmakers. The first film on the life of this saint-poet was made in 1939 with the Marathi actor Vishnupant Pagnis in the title role. It was a box-office hit. Apart from being an actor, Vishnupant Pagnis was a music composer and also a good signer with a powerful, high-pitched voice. He sang some very melodious songs for this film, one of them being, ‘Ban chale Ram Raghurai, aur sung Janki mai`85’. The character of the ancient saint-poet Valmiki has been an almost inevitable part of every film made on the life of Rama. But some films were made in the past in which this saint-poet was the protagonist. The one that is often remembered by film historians was released in 1946. It had thespian Prithviraj Kapoor in the role of Valmiki. It also had Raj Kapoor in a small role. The film depicted how a young highwayman named Ratnagiri was ultimately reformed and became the saint-poet Valmiki who went on to write Ramayana. Films on the life of medieval saint-poet Kabir are few and far between. In 1954, a film on this saint-poet entitled Mahatma Kabir was made with actor Surrendra in the main role. The film’s music was composed by Anil Biswas. It had some beautiful Kabir bhajans sung by Manna Dey and C.H. Atma. C.H. Atma’s ‘Ram ras barse, re man chatak kon tarse...’ is still occassionally heard on the radio. In the recent years,
however, no significant film on the life of any India saint-poet has
hit the screen. Maybe because depicting the life of saint-poets now
lies more in the domain of TV serial makers than feature filmmakers.
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