''Puran Bhagat'' (Puran Bhakt) is a

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

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 ...

devotional biopic film from New Theatres Ltd.

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. The film was

Debaki Bose Debaki Bose (1898–1971), also known as Debaki Kumar Bose, was an Indian director, writer, and actor who is recognized for his contribution in Hindi as well as Bengali cinema. He was born on 25 November 1898 in Akalposh, (now East Burdwan), Bu ...

's debut direction in Hindi. The film starred

K. L. Saigal Kundan Lal Saigal, often abbreviated as K. L. Saigal (11 April 1904 – 18 January 1947), was an Indian singer and actor who is considered the first superstar of the Hindi film industry, which was centred in Kolkata during Saigal's time, but is ...

, Uma Shashi,

Kumar A coin, around 200 BCE, of the Yaudheyas with depiction of Kumāra Karttikeya">Yaudheyas.html" ;"title="BCE, of the Yaudheyas">BCE, of the Yaudheyas with depiction of Kumāra Karttikeya Kumar (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: wikt:कुमा ...

Molina Devi Molina Devi (1917 — 13 August 1977), also known as Molina Debi and Malina Debi, was a Bengali Indian actress of Bengali and Hindi film and theatre. As an actress, she played a wide variety of parts, later frequently playing matronly parts, esp ...

K. C. Dey Krishna Chandra Dey (24 August 1893 – 28 November 1962), better known as K.C. Dey, was an Indian music director, music composer, musician, singer, actor, and music teacher born in Calcutta (now Kolkata). He was S.D. Burman's first musical te ...

and Tarabai. The film was based on a popular

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

i devotional story of

Puran Bhagat Puran Bhagat (later became Sri Chauranginatha) was a Punjabi Nath Saint and prince of Sialkot. As per unauthenticated history, he had been exiled and lived the last days of his life in a village located in the suburbs of Sialkot city. His temple ...

, which was a change for New Theatres from their regular films based on traditional

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

i stories, saints and novels. It was a "great success all over India".

Synopsis

After several years of penance and prayers a male child is born to King Silwan of

Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...

and his wife Queen Ichhara. However the Raj Guru predicts that they must not see their son till he's 16 years old or the child will die. The child, Puran, is given to Raj Guru to be fostered. Mahipat the

Senapati Senapati (Sanskrit: सेनापति; ''sena-'' meaning "army", ''-pati'' meaning "lord") is a title in ancient India denoting the rank of military commander or general of the army. It was a hereditary title of nobility used in the Marath ...

(king's general), has looked forward to becoming the king for a long time as the king had no son. But the birth of Puran thwarts his desires and over the years he spreads rumours about Puran's wild antics, which also reach the king. Time comes for Puran to return home. He finds his father has taken a much younger wife, Luna. Luna becomes infatuated with Puran and lets him know. Puran is at once repelled and horrified. He rejects her advances and leaves. The spurned Luna tells the king that Puran tried to molest her. The irate King has Puran's arms cut off, and has him thrown in a well. A miracle occurs where the saint,

Guru Guru ( sa, गुरु, IAST: ''guru;'' Pali'': garu'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverentia ...

Gorakhnath Gorakhnath (also known as Goraksanath, c. early 11th century) was a Hindu yogi, saint who was the influential founder of the Nath Hindu monastic movement in India He is considered one of the two notable disciples of Matsyendranath. His follower ...

, arrives and sews up Puran's hands and keeps him as his disciple. Gorakhnath tests Puran's ascetism by sending him to an Amazonian style kingdom. The Queen, Rani Sundara, falls in love with Puran. After Puran has left his father's kingdom, the Senapati attacks and has King Silwan deposed. King Silwan sends for help from Rani Sundara. Goraknath insists that Puran along with the Sundara go to the help of his father. They succeed in restoring King Silwan to his throne. Puran after marrying Sundara remembers his vow of ascetism and leaves the kingdom renouncing his throne.

Cast

Umasashi Umasashi (1915 – 6 December 2000) was an Indian Bengali film actress who appeared in many roles from 1929 to 1951. Her on-screen pairings with actors such as Durgadas Bannerjee, K. L. Saigal, Pahari Sanyal and Prithviraj Kapoor were popular in ...

*Tarabai *Bikram Kapoor *Anwari Begum *Ansari

Release

B. N. Sircar, through New Theatres had earlier made films based on

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

literature and ''Chandidas'' (Bengali) (1932) had been a big success. Now he decided to focus on the legend of the Punjabi prince and saint

. The film with its "enchanting music" "was a box-office hit". The Punjab Cinema Art Society acclaimed it as a "masterpiece". In Lahore the film ran to packed houses.

Music

The film is regarded as R. C. Boral's first hit Hindi movie. Boral used new techniques in his music and combined elements from classical Indian raagas with folk music starting a trend followed by other music directors.

Songs

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id =0156916 , title =Puran Bhagat 1933 films 1930s Hindi-language films Indian black-and-white films Films directed by Debaki Bose Films based on Indian folklore