''Amar Bhoopali'' (English: ''The Immortal Song'', French: ''Le Chant Immortel'') is a 1951 Indian film, produced and directed by

V. Shantaram Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre (18 November 1901 – 30 October 1990), referred to as V. Shantaram or Shantaram Bapu, was an Indian filmmaker, film producer, and actor known for his work in Hindi and Marathi films. He is most known for films such ...

and written by

Vishram Bedekar Vishwanath Chintamani Bedekar (1906–1998), who professionally used the name Vishram Bedekar, was an Indian Marathi-language writer and film director. Bedekar was born on August 13, 1906 in Amravati. After receiving his college degree in Amra ...

. It is a true story about a simple cow herder who has an innate gift of poetry, set in the waning days of the

Maratha confederacy The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...

, c. early 19th century. It is an ode to the saffron flag of

Maratha The Marathi people (Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as a M ...

s, calling on people to rise again against the foreign enemy. It competed for the Grand Prize of the Festival at the

1952 Cannes Film Festival The 5th Cannes Film Festival was held from 23 April to 10 May 1952. As in the previous three festivals, the entire jury of this festival was made up of French persons, with Maurice Genevoix as the Jury President. The Grand Prix of the Festival w ...

Plot

Honaji Bala, a simple cow herder, becomes a legendary bard who has an innate gift of poetry. The film is set in the last days of the Maratha confederacy of the early 19th Century.

Cast

In credits order translated from Marathi * Panditrao Nagarkar as Shahir

Honaji Bala Honaji Sayaji Shilarkhane (1754–1844), known professionally as Honaji Bala, was a Marathi poet from Maharashtra, India. Honaji's compositions were sung by his friend ''Bala Karanjikar'', and together the pair was known for their ''"Honaji B ...

* Sandhya as Gunawati *

Lalita Pawar Lalita Pawar (18 April 1916 – 24 February 1998) was a prolific Indian actress, who later became famous as a character actress, appearing in over 700 films in Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati cinema. She holds a Guinness world record of longest ac ...

as Vitabai * Bhalchandra Pendharkar as Bala Karanjikar * Vishwas as Subedar * Gulab as Suguna * Jairampant as Shastribua * Nimbalkar as Balakaka * Amina as Jamuna * Bandopant Sohoni as Ramji Sowcar * M. George as Elfiston * Stokes as Robinson * Chandorkar as Valajimpat * Kanse as Shiledar * Shiv Kumar as Natya Porga (Boy Dancer)

Music

The music for the film was composed by

Vasant Desai Vasant Desai (1912–1975) was an Indian film music composer, most remembered for his score in V. Shantaram films like '' Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje'' (1955), '' Do Aankhen Barah Haath'' (1957), Vijay Bhatt's '' Goonj Uthi Shehnai'' (1959), ''Samp ...

, with lyrics penned by Shahir Honaji Bala. The soundtrack consists of twelve songs, featuring vocals by Panditrao Nagarkar,

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

and

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; Mangeshkar; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur and occasional actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian Cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the ...

. The song "Ghanashyama Sundara" is from this film.

Track listing

Reception

Accolades

In popular culture

The 1980s advertisement for the Marathi newspaper

Maharashtra Times ''Maharashtra Times'' ( mr, महाराष्ट्र टाइम्स), colloquially referred to as 'Ma Ta' (मटा) from its Marathi initialism, is a Marathi newspaper based in Mumbai, India. It is one of the largest selling daily ...

used the song "Ghanashyam Sundara Shreedhara" as part of its jingle.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Amar Bhoopali 1951 films 1950s Marathi-language films 1950s historical films Indian black-and-white films Indian historical films Films directed by V. Shantaram Films set in Maharashtra Films set in the 1810s