Cinema
Saint Tukaram
संत तुकाराम
Synopsis
In the seventeenth century, in Maharashtra, the poet Tukaram, a devotee of the god Vitthal, composes songs in the language of ordinary people. Salomalo, a corrupt and hypocritical Brahmin who appropriates his verses, sets about discrediting him. Tukaram also clashes with his own wife, who believes in his god as much as in the needs of the household, and is ordered to throw his songs into the river; the god, for his part, intervenes several times.
Context
Written by Shivram Washikar, with music by Keshavrao Bhole and songs drawn mostly from the saint's verses, the film was released on 12 December 1936 at the Central Cinema in Bombay. Vishnupant Pagnis, a stage singer turned schoolteacher, was chosen at the last moment for the title role; he then went on to play one saint after another. Gauri plays the saint's wife, B. Nandrekar another role.
Who it is for
Two hours ten minutes in Marathi, with no French release; one must accept miracles shown without distance.
Prizes and reception
Special mention at the Venice festival in 1937; a record-breaking success, it ran for over a year in a single cinema, and became the model for the devotional film.
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