Cinema
Bhakta Dhruva
ಭಕ್ತ ಧ್ರುವ
Parshwanath Yeshwant Altekar · 1934
Synopsis
The film retells the Puranic legend of Dhruva, a king's son whom another wife of his father keeps from the sovereign's lap by letting him understand that he has no right to it. Hurt, the child leaves the palace for the forest and devotes himself there to prayer to Vishnu with a constancy that withstands every trial; in this devotion he seeks the place he is denied beside his father.
Context
The film is based on a play by the Ratnavali company, and Altekar made it as a tribute to the Kannada man of the theatre A. V. Varadachar, who died in 1933: his grandson, Master Muthu, plays the role of Dhruva, surrounded by actors from his troupe. The first Kannada talkie to be put into production, it was shot at the Ajanta studios in Bombay and was released after Sati Sulochana; the music is by Harmonium Sheshadri Rao.
Who it is for
Two hours twenty minutes, in Kannada, with no French release; the film's state of preservation is not known.
Prizes and reception
Regarded as one of the very first talking films in Kannada, the first to be put into production.
Sources for this page 4
The pages consulted to check this page.