''Amar Jyoti'' (Eternal Flame) is a

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

social, action adventure, drama film 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 ...

. Produced by

Prabhat Film Company Prabhat Film Company (popularly known as Prabhat Films) was an Indian film production company and film studios founded in 1929 by the noted film director V.Shantaram and his friends. It was formed in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India in 1929, towar ...

and cited as a "noteworthy" film along with Shantaram's earlier ''

Amrit Manthan ''Amrit Manthan'' ( ''The Changes of Amrit'') is an Indian television soap opera, which premiered on 26 February 2012 and ran through 2 August 2013 on Life Ok. It is the story of two sisters who become each other's enemiesThis show was also b ...

'' (1934), the film had actress

Durga Khote Durga Khote (14 January 1905 − 22 September 1991) was an Indian actress, beginning as one of the foremost leading ladies of her times, she remained active in Hindi and Marathi cinema, as well as theatre, for over 50 years, starring in around ...

performing one of her most "memorable" roles. K. Narayan Kale wrote the story with dialogues by Narottam Vyas. The music was composed by Master Krishnarao. The director of photography was V. Avadhoot, and the cast included Durga Khote, Chandra Mohan,

Shanta Apte Shanta Apte (1916–1964) was an Indian actress-singer who worked in Marathi and Hindi cinema. Renowned for her roles in films like ''Duniya Na Mane/Kunku'' (1937) and '' Amar Jyoti'' (1936) under the Prabhat Films banner, she was active in In ...

, Nandrekar, Vasanti and Narayan Kale. The film was about a "rebellious female pirate". The story's social relevance in the form of a costume action adventure involved a queen who becomes a pirate when she faces extreme "patriarchal laws" and is denied custody of her son.

Plot

Saudamini (

) is denied custody of her son by the Queen (Karuna Devi) and the tyrannical Minister of Justice Durjaya ( Chandra Mohan) after she separates from her husband. Durjaya tells her that a woman is the slave of her husband and essentially has no rights. This enrages Saudamini, and she vows vengeance and becomes a pirate. She and her pirates capture a ship which is supposed to be carrying the princess Nandini (

). However, she finds her old enemy Durjaya and takes him, prisoner, cutting off one of his legs. Nandini has been hiding in a chest, and when she comes out of it, the imprisoned Durjaya sees her. He falls in love with her and offers her his food. Nandini, however, falls in love with a young shepherd boy Sudhir (Nandrekar). When she meets Saudamini and her helper Rekha (Vasanti), she joins them as a pirate and tells Sudhir off. Durjaya escapes with the help of Sudhir and arrives to arrest Saudamini. Saudamini is captured, but the others, along with Nandini and Rekha, escape. It is finally revealed that Sudhir is Saudamini's long-lost son. Nandini and Sudhir marry, and Rekha carries forward Saudamini's legacy.

Cast

as Soudamini *

as Nandini * Vasanti as Rekha * Karunadevi as Queen * Chandra Mohan as Durjaya, Minister of Justice * B.Nandrekar as Sudheer * S.K.Kulkarni as Kundan * K.Narain Kale as Shekhar * Gajendra as Gajendra

Review and Box office

The film has been cited as a "great film", an "outstanding film", an "adventure classic" and the first Indian film screened at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

. The film became a big success at the box office with three main reasons cited for this achievement. The first was Durga Khote as the pirate Saudamini, leaving an impact on the audiences, where she excelled in her role. The second reason for the success of the film is attributed to the special effects. The third was the music and the songs.

Soundtrack

The film's music director was

Krishnarao Phulambrikar Krishnarao Ganesh Phulambrikar (1898–1974), popularly known as Master Krishnarao, was an Indian vocalist, classical musician and composer of Hindustani music. He was credited with the creation of three Hindustani ragas and several bandishes. P ...

, who is stated as setting up the "Maharashtra School of Hindi Film Music". The composer employed the one-hundred-year tradition of "Maharashtra Natak Sangeet", blending it with

Hindustani music Hindustani classical music is the classical music of northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. It may also be called North Indian classical music or, in Hindustani, ''shastriya sangeet'' (). It is played in instruments like the violin, sit ...

in the form of "duets, ghazal and marching songs". One of the noteworthy songs was "Suno Suno Ban Ke Praani", sung by Shanta Apte, where her voice was commended for its naturalness. The other was "Aaj Humen Ban Behad Bhata", a duet by Shanta Apte and Nandrekar, both of which still "remain favourites among old numbers". The title song is cited as Shantaram's "classic number".

Song List

References

External links

*
Full movie on YouTube

Full movie on Dailymotion

Surjit Singh {{V. Shantaram 1936 films 1930s Hindi-language films Prabhat Film Company films Films directed by V. Shantaram Articles containing video clips Indian black-and-white films Indian action adventure films 1930s action drama films Indian epic films 1936 drama films