The Power of Chant
About The Power of Chant
Ambernath, a Sanskrit scholar unlike the people around him, succeeds his master Jagannath after the master's death. He marries Bani, the daughter of a local zamindar. She is skeptical of the marriage, and he leaves to live alone. She comes to understand what she owes him. When she hears he is ill in a lonely place, she nurses him, and they stay together. The film treats the marriage as a bond held by devotion and by Sanskrit chant.
Cast & crew
More about The Power of Chant
Chitta Basu directed this Bengali drama for producer Harendranath Chattopadhyay. It was released in 1954. The story is taken from a work by Anurupa Devi. IMDb lists the running time as 103 minutes.
Themes
Making
Basu's picture puts Uttam Kumar, then rising in Bengali cinema, in a quiet role: a pundit whose learning is the obstacle and the bond in the marriage.
Notes
- The Bengali title is Mantra Shakti. English listings also call it The Power of Chant.
- Uttam Kumar plays the scholar. Sandhyarani plays the wife, a devotee of Krishna who also has to show indifference in public.
- Asit Baran plays a comic side part. The cast also includes Anubha Gupta, Bhanu Banerjee, Kanu Banerjee, Molina Devi, Manju Dey, and Jahar Ganguly.
- Sanskrit chanting is used in the film as part of the scholar's life, not as background only.
Scenes
- Bani, who wanted no part of the marriage, hears that Ambernath is ill and goes to the lonely place where he is staying.
Influenced by
- A literary work by Anurupa Devi