Scene from Prem Sanyas/ Die Leuchte Asiens (1925)
Vintage German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin. Photo: Emelka Konzern. Himansu Rai in Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925). Bayern Films. Caption: The Light of Asia. Gautama's fight for love and renunciation. Yet, the back of the card has another caption, relating to the scene on this card: "The Parade of Gotama and Gopa's Wedding. For the shooting of this scene, the Indian Rajah's command brought together thousands of people and animals. An endless cavalcade of camel riders opened the cortege as the vanguard, after which hundreds of festively decorated elephants followed. Just to give an example of India's richness, which was displayed at this occasion, it should be mentioned that just the hangings on these state elephants already represent some 300.000 Rupees, equal to 400.000 Gold Marks."
The German-Indian production Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925) depicts the story of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the man who became the Buddha. Prem Sanyas is a fascinating hybrid between exoticism and authenticity. The film made stars of the two young leads, Seeta Devi and Himansu Rai. Actor/director Rai would become one of the pioneers of the Indian cinema. Prem Sanyas was the first Indian co-production and made with the cooperation of the Maharajah of Jaipur. The film contained a cast of thousands. The shooting took place in Lahore, in what is now Pakistan, where the set decoration was created by Devika Rani, the wife of actor/director Himanshu Rai and a noted actress herself.
Himansu Rai (1895-1940) was one of the stars of the early Indian cinema when India was still a part of the United Kingdom. He often worked with German director-producer Franz Osten. Later Rai became a producer.
Actor/director Himansu Rai was born in 1895 into a wealthy Bengali family. While training as a lawyer in London in the early 1920s, he began to act in plays. In London, he met his later wife Devika Rani who designed film sets and would continue to work with him. In 1933, he joined forces with IBP of England and wholly produced Karma/Fate (J.L. Freer-Hunt, 1933), a bilingual film in English and Hindi. But the Nazi seizure of power in Germany caused Rai to abandon international co-productions and so he decided to concentrate on the domestic film market in India. In 1934, he formed Bombay Talkies Ltd. and built a studio. Under his painstaking supervision, it purchased the most modern equipment from Germany. Franz Osten and a handful of technicians came down from England and Germany to work with him. By 1935, a stream of Hindi productions had begun to emerge from the studio. The advent of World War II meant that the studio's German technicians as well as director Osten were interned by the British, which crippled the studio. Overwork and mental strain eventually took its toll on Rai, who suffered a nervous breakdown which he never recovered from. Himansu Rai died in 1940.
Sources: Filmportal.de, Wikipedia, and IMDb.
Scene from Prem Sanyas/ Die Leuchte Asiens (1925)
Vintage German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin. Photo: Emelka Konzern. Himansu Rai in Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925). Bayern Films. Caption: The Light of Asia. Gautama's fight for love and renunciation. Yet, the back of the card has another caption, relating to the scene on this card: "The Parade of Gotama and Gopa's Wedding. For the shooting of this scene, the Indian Rajah's command brought together thousands of people and animals. An endless cavalcade of camel riders opened the cortege as the vanguard, after which hundreds of festively decorated elephants followed. Just to give an example of India's richness, which was displayed at this occasion, it should be mentioned that just the hangings on these state elephants already represent some 300.000 Rupees, equal to 400.000 Gold Marks."
The German-Indian production Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925) depicts the story of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the man who became the Buddha. Prem Sanyas is a fascinating hybrid between exoticism and authenticity. The film made stars of the two young leads, Seeta Devi and Himansu Rai. Actor/director Rai would become one of the pioneers of the Indian cinema. Prem Sanyas was the first Indian co-production and made with the cooperation of the Maharajah of Jaipur. The film contained a cast of thousands. The shooting took place in Lahore, in what is now Pakistan, where the set decoration was created by Devika Rani, the wife of actor/director Himanshu Rai and a noted actress herself.
Himansu Rai (1895-1940) was one of the stars of the early Indian cinema when India was still a part of the United Kingdom. He often worked with German director-producer Franz Osten. Later Rai became a producer.
Actor/director Himansu Rai was born in 1895 into a wealthy Bengali family. While training as a lawyer in London in the early 1920s, he began to act in plays. In London, he met his later wife Devika Rani who designed film sets and would continue to work with him. In 1933, he joined forces with IBP of England and wholly produced Karma/Fate (J.L. Freer-Hunt, 1933), a bilingual film in English and Hindi. But the Nazi seizure of power in Germany caused Rai to abandon international co-productions and so he decided to concentrate on the domestic film market in India. In 1934, he formed Bombay Talkies Ltd. and built a studio. Under his painstaking supervision, it purchased the most modern equipment from Germany. Franz Osten and a handful of technicians came down from England and Germany to work with him. By 1935, a stream of Hindi productions had begun to emerge from the studio. The advent of World War II meant that the studio's German technicians as well as director Osten were interned by the British, which crippled the studio. Overwork and mental strain eventually took its toll on Rai, who suffered a nervous breakdown which he never recovered from. Himansu Rai died in 1940.
Sources: Filmportal.de, Wikipedia, and IMDb.