17 January 2024

Prem Sanyas (1925)

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 turned the two young leads, Seeta Devi and Himansu Rai, into stars. Actor/director Rai would also become one of the pioneers of Indian cinema.

Seeta Devi and Himansu Rai in Prem Sanyas (or Die Leuchte Asiens, 1925).
German postcard with Dutch imprint by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 36/11. Photo: Emelka Konzern. Still from Prem Sanyas/Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925).

Seeta Devi in Prem Sanyas (1925)
German postcard with Dutch imprint by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 36/9. Photo: Emelka Konzern. Seeta Devi in Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925). The Dutch title is 'Boeddha - de roeping van een koningszoon'.

Himansu Rai in Prem Sanyas (1925)
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). Caption: Gotoma leaves his palace to become a beggar from the king's son. One of the many dramatic scenes from the new film of the Münchener Lichtspielkunst, The Light of Asia, which Franz Osten created as the first German large-scale film with the participation and support of the indigenous princes of the historical cities of India in several months of joint work by Indians and Europeans. An overwhelming picture of oriental splendour and exotic beauty.

Seeta Devi


The translation of the text on the back of the Dutch postcard above (no. 36/11) reads:

Seeta Devis (sic) plays in the new Indian film by Emelka: ‘Boeddha, De roeping van een koningszoon’, the role of Princess Gopa. Like all the other actors in the film, she is not a professional but was especially for this part discovered by director Franz Osten. When Osten heard that she would be the perfect type he was looking for, he travelled for 56 hours by train through burning hot India. And he made this beautiful, only 16-year-old Indian girl a film star.

In fact, the birthname of Seeta Devi (1912-1983) was Renee Smith and she was only 13 at the time. This film, which was officially called Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (1925), was her camera debut. Seeta Devi would act in ten more films.

Prem Sanyas was an Indo-German co-production, which was co-directed by Franz Osten and by the other actor on the postcard, Himansu Rai, with German technicians and Indian actors. The film managed to steer clear of the usual exotic depiction of Indian culture favoured by Western filmmakers up until then.

Prem Sanyas was the first Indian co-production and was 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 Himansu Rai and a noted actress herself.

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."

Himansu Rai in Prem Sanyas/ Die Leuchte Asiens (1925)
Dutch version of German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 36/3. Photo: Emelka Konzern. Dutch film title: Boeddha. De roeping van een koningszoon (Buddha. The Calling of a Royal Prince). Himansu Rai and Seeta Devi in Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925). This card was made for the release of the film at the Amsterdam Tuschinski Theater, where the film was shown from Friday 26 March 1926. Caption on the back: "Gotama and Gop's Mariage. One of the many picturesque scenes from the Indian film by Emelka, "Buddha. The Calling of a Royal Prince". which Franz Osten shot at the historical locations in India, with the collaboration of the Indian aristocracy. An overwhelming image of the opulence and exotic beauty."

Himansu Rai
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1189/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Atelier Sahm, München (Munich) / Emelka. Himansu Rai.

Bombay talkies


Actor/director Himansu Rai (1895-1940) was born 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 the 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 their toll on Rai, who suffered a nervous breakdown which he never recovered from. Himansu Rai died in 1940.

Himansu Rai in Prem Sanyas/ Die Leuchte Asiens (1925)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 36/2. Photo: Emelka Konzern. Himansu Rai in Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925). Collection: Didier Hanson.

Seeta Devi in Prem Sanyas (1925)
German postcard with Dutch imprint by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 36/5. Photo: Emelka Konzern. Seeta Devi in Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925). The Dutch title is 'Boeddha - de roeping van een koningszoon'.

Prem Sanyas / Die Leuchte Asiens
German postcard with Dutch imprint by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 36/7. Photo: Emelka Konzern. Still from Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925).

Unforgettable architectural beauty


The translation of the Dutch text on the back of the Dutch postcard above (no. 36/7) reads Gotama’s Palace in the Garden of Wonders. One of the scenes, playing in the old historic India gives the Emelka film ‘Boeddha, de roeping van een koningszoon' such a special charm. Thanks to the cooperation of the Indian royalty it was possible for Franz Osten to film all the scenes on historic locations. He used all the buildings with their unforgettable architectural beauty, and their wealth of sculptures and reliefs, splendidly. That’s how a film was produced that will be unsurpassable. ‘Boeddha’ will be shown from Friday 26 March in Theater Tuschinski.

Nowadays, Theater Tuschinski in Amsterdam is still the main movie palace in The Netherlands. These special postcards for the release of Prem Sanyas indicate that this German-Indian film must have been a big, commercial production at the time. Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens was an adaptation of an Orientalist epic 'The Light of Asia' (1879) in verse, by British author Edwin Arnold. It was based on the life of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who founded Buddhism in the sixth century BCE by becoming the Buddha or the 'Enlightened one'.

The film opens with documentary shots of tourists in Bombay watching street performers. Then a white-bearded old man sitting under the bodhi tree tells the tourists the story of Gautama (Himansu Rai), son of King Suddodhana (Sarada Ukil) and Queen Maya. In fear of a prophecy that he would renounce all worldly things, his father surrounded him with riches and beautiful women. But Gautama’s favour belonged solely to the princess Gopa (Seeta Devi). His rival for her affections is his cousin Devadatta (Profulla Chandra), but Gautama wins her as his wife and the couple lives in seclusion on an idyllic island.

However, when he leaves the island and is confronted with ageing, illness, and death, he faces a choice between wealth and inner greatness …. The religious epic, with its idealised figures, takes up the narrative in flashback and ends with Gopa kneeling before Gautama asking to become his disciple. The film exhibits a strange but fascinating hybrid between exoticism and authenticity.

Filmportal.de: "This magnificent, monumental film is a combination of oriental fairytale and religious Passion Play, an early form of the Hindu cinema that would later become Bollywood. Embedded in a documentary travelogue, cinema makes an appearance alongside older, magical practices. People no longer hope for enlightenment under the bodhi tree, but rather from a film projector." In 2001, the film was restored by Arte.

Seeta Devi and Himansu Rai in Prem Sanyas (or Die Leuchte Asiens, 1925).
German postcard with Dutch imprint by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 36/8. Photo: Emelka Konzern. Still from Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925).

Himansu Rai in Prem Sanyas (1925)
German postcard with Dutch imprint by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 36/10. Photo: Emelka Konzern. Himansu Rai in Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925).

Prem Sanyas (1925)
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin. Photo: Emelka Konzern. Himansu Rai and Seeta Devi in Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens/The Light of Asia (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925). Caption: Gotama and Gopa's wedding ceremony.

10,000 extras, 1,000 horses, and 50 elephants


The climax of German film pioneer Franz Osten's cinematic sojourn in India was Prapancha Pash/Schicksalswürfel/A Throw of Dice (Franz Osten, 1929) which he made again with a mixed Indian and European cast and crew.

In this 'fairy tale for adults' inspired by the ancient Sanskrit epic poem 'The Mahabharata', royal cousins and rulers of adjoining kingdoms King Sohat (producer/star Himansu Rai) and King Rajit (Charu Roy) share a reckless passion for gambling and the perilous jungle tiger hunt.

Sohan plots to kill Ranjit and make his kingdom his own. Sohan's plot fails though and Ranjit is only wounded during his hunting 'accident' and is saved by a local healer.

While staying in this village, Ranjit meets the beautiful Sunita (Seeta Devi) and decides to make her his wife. Her father refuses due to Ranjit's famed gambling habit but when Sohan gets wind of the lovers' planned elopement, he comes up with another evil plot.

The result is a lavish silent super-production comprising 10,000 extras, 1,000 horses, and 50 elephants provided by the royal houses of Jaipur, Udaipur, and Mysore.


Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens (Franz Osten, Himansu Rai, 1925). Source: Medulla Productions (YouTube).


Prapancha Pash/A Throw of Dice (Franz Osten, 1929). Source: Infotainment archive (YouTube).

Sources: Filmportal.de, Wikipedia, IMDb, and the postcards in this post.


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