Sairandhri

1920 St 4958 ft b&w dls/co-c Baburao Painter pc Maharashtra Film co-c S. Fattelal lp Balasabeb Yadav, Zunzharrao Pawar, Kamaladevi, Kishabapu Bakre, Baburao Pendharkar, Ravji Mhaskar, Ganpat Bakre, Sushiladevi, Sitarampant Kulkarni, Shivram Vashikar, V.G. Damle

Painter's first completed feature, a mythological alluding to contemporary politics, tells the Mahabharata story of the villainous Keechak's (Pawar) lusting after Sairandhri (Kamaladevi), the persona adopted by Draupadi in her 13th year of exile. As a maid who is supposed to be Swaraksita, she claims the protection of King Veerat (Bakre). Keechak, with the covert complicity of his sister Sudeshna, attacks the heroine and, after a spectacular chase thro~gh King Veerat's court, he is gorily beheaded by Bheema (Yadav). Pendharkar appears as Krishna. The published script (in Bhide and Gajbar, 1978) suggests several grand court scenes and a complicated narrative, more intricate than in Phalke's contemporaneous work and with a more flexible use of space. Remade as a sound film by Shantaram 0933).

Film