The silent film on Buddha’s life

An adaptation of Edwin Arnold’s The Light of Asia, it released to international acclaim almost a century ago

Prem Sanyas (1925)

Director: Himanshu Rai and Franz Osten

Cast: Himanshu Rai, Seeta Devi, Profulla Roy, Sarada Ukil

Music: Hansheinrich Dransmann

Himanshu Rai as Gautama and Seeta Devi as Gopa in The Light of Asia 

The Light of Asia (Prem Sanyas in Hindi) is a memorable retelling of the life of Gautama Buddha, which continues to be a favourite subject of filmmakers. Firoze Rangoonwalla in A Pictorial History of Indian Cinema reviews it as “a courageous co-production with Germany that took Indian cinema into the world arena, even if only for a short while.” Its release in Germany was celebrated as a major critical achievement in Indian cinema, while in London it ran for 10 months and a special screening was organised for King George V and his family at the Windsor Castle on April 27, 1926.

Made as an Indo-German collaboration between Munich-born director Franz Osten and Indian filmmaker-actor Himanshu Rai, Prem Sanyas blends well the subtle acting sensibilities of European cinema with the rasa-evoking traditions of Indian drama. Rai was the founder of Bombay Talkies, which went on to make over 100 films including critical successes like Siraj (1926), Prapancha Pash (1928), Karma (1933) and Achut Kanya (1936). Movie lore remembers the studio for discovering some of the legends of Indian cinema like Devika Rani, Ashok Kumar, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala and Raj Kapoor. Devika Rani, who was Rai’s wife at the time of the making of Prem Sanyas, incidentally did the film’s set decoration.

Seeta Devi in The Light of Asia 

The film is an adaptation of Edwin Arnold’s poetic work, The Light of Asia (1879), which describes the journey of Prince Gautama to becoming the Buddha or the ‘Enlightened One’. Written as a narrative poem, the book’s verses lend a poetic narration to the film’s title cards.

In deference to the Natyashastra suggestion that a play’s dominant rasa be identifiable at the beginning, Prem Sanyas more than adequately makes it obvious that ‘adbhuta’ or wonder is its prime rasa. The wonder-evoking motivations of its makers are evident in the first slide itself, which states: “This unique film was produced entirely in India, without the aid of studio sets, artificial lights, faked-up properties or make-up.” It next speaks of how “His highness, the Maharajah of Jaipur, had placed the whole of the resources of his State — from palaces, costumes and retinues of retainers to his troops of elephants, camels and horses — for the making of the picture”.

Even the film’s cast is introduced to perpetuate a sense of the unusual. The viewer is informed that each member of the Indian Players Company “gave up his or her career as doctor, lawyer, engineer and professor to bring about a renaissance of the Dramatic Art of India.” This naturally explains their average acting standards.

A grand procession sequence from the film The Light of Asia. 

The film’s first visual is of a gorgeously decked, giant tusker looking straight into the camera, preceding a narration card that talks about the West’s fascination for ‘romantic India’. More narration cards talk about how “the relic of an age-old civilisation still holds magic sway” or how India is “a land of many wonders, contrasts and magic” with images of birds and animals, wandering minstrels and historical monuments, ending with the 16th century Buddha Temple at Gaya. At its base, we see an old man, who then tells the story of Buddha — from the very place where centuries ago, “after 40 days and 40 nights of penance” he had found a cure for human sorrow — to wonder-struck tourists and us, the viewers.

Told in six acts, Act One depicts the birth of Prince Gautama to King Suddodhana and Queen Maya. His is a special birth, as the oracle predicts him to be, “a child who shall deliver men from ignorance or rule the world if he designs to rule.” Act Two begins with a youthful Gautama on a royal hunting pursuit that ends with him falling in love with King Dandapani’s beautiful daughter Gopa. In Act Three, Gautama engages in a series of martial competitions with Gopa’s other suitors. These elaborate, well-executed scenes spanning 10 minutes of continuous action would no doubt have evoked a sense of awe and thrill among its viewers. Act Four begins with Gautama’s elaborate marriage ceremony to Gopa, followed by perhaps the film’s most spectacular sequence, a wedding procession of much pomp and pageantry. However, as fated, Gautama soon sees an old man, a sick man and a dead man. They evoke a sense of pity in him for the suffering world.

As the wheel of fate rolls on mercilessly towards the appointed hour, Act Five brings us to the deciding moment in Gautama’s life, when he renounces kingdom, wife and all worldly ties.

Act Six details Gautama ’s travails to reach his goal. He exchanges his silken robes for rags from a beggar and travels across India, meeting ascetics, visiting temples, until he reaches the Bodhi tree of knowledge from where the story had begun. Gautama attains enlightenment and becomes the Buddha in spectacular circumstances, where ‘the sun could scorch him not and the storms and rains had left him unmoved, until deliverance came.’As the gathering of devotees starts swelling, The film ends with an exalted declaration, “And thus with the passage of years, the prince in tattered robes and Gopa as his first convert became one of the greatest teachers of the world.”

The silent, soundless film may seem dated today, but the scale of its vision, execution and period capture are surprisingly presented at a pace that matches present-day narratives.

The critic, author, filmmaker is Dean, School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, RV University, Bengaluru.

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