Dharmatma 1935

Dharmatma is a 1935 Indian Bollywood devotional film released on 1935. The film is directed by V. Shantaram.
Playing the only male role of his career, the Marathi stage legend Bal Gandharvas film debut in one of Prabhats elite Shantaram directed release made this saint film one of the most eagerly awaited productions of the year. He acted Sant Eknath (1533-99), a major Marathi poet, author of the Eknathi Bhagavta and of numerous abhangas evoking folk poverty, esp. the bharuda form of solo performances. The film focuses on Eknaths humanitarian defence of the untouchable castes. Opposed by the evil Mahant (Kelkar/Chnadramohan), Eknath becomes a social outcast when he arranges to have the lower-caste people fed before the Brahmins during a prayer meeting at his house, compounding the offence by going to eat in one of their houses. The drama is heightened by Eknaths son Hari Pandit (Kale) who joins the ranks of the opposition. The happy ending occurs when the film transcends the food motif and Eknath defends himself by reading his poems to the Pradyananda Shastri of Kashi. The ambitious film enjoyed a larger budget than e.g. Sant Tukaram (1936). Its key author was Kale who intended it as a political film and played down the mandatory miracle scenes while drawing an explicit analogy between Eknath and Gandhi. The film was orginally titled Mahatma but the title was changed after the censor objected. Shantarams direction brought it into the Hindi mainstream, making e.g. the Mahant into an ordinary film villain with a nervous itc in one eye, while continuing on another level his expressionist preoccupations with several high-angle close-ups. The only character contrasting Gandharvas bland performance, extended into most of the other goodies, is the wisecracking Shrikhandya (Chhotu). [Source: Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema] Check out this page for more updates on Dharmatma.