Amrapali (film)

Amrapali is a 1966 historical Hindi film directed by Lekh Tandon, starring Vyjayanthimala and Sunil Dutt as leads. The film's music was by Shankar-Jaikishan.

Amrapali
Directed byLekh Tandon
Produced byF.C. Mehra
Written byStory & screenplay: Omkar Sahib
Dialogue: Arjun Dev Rashk
Balbir Singh (Additional dialogue)
StarringVyjayanthimala
Sunil Dutt
Prem Nath
Music byShankar-Jaikishan
CinematographyDwarka Divecha
Edited byPran Mehra
Production
company
Eagle Films [1]
Release date
1966
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

It was based on the life of Amrapali (Ambapali), the nagarvadhu (royal courtesan) of Vaishali in present-day Bihar, the capital of the Licchavi republic in ancient India around 500 BC, and Ajatashatru, the Haryanka dynasty king of the Magadha empire, who falls in love with her. Though he destroys Vaishali to get her, she in the meantime has been transformed by her encounter with Gautama Buddha, of whom she becomes a disciple and an Arahant herself. Her story finds mention in old Pali texts and Buddhist traditions.[2][3]

The film was selected as the Indian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 39th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[4] Though the film wasn't a commercial success, in time it started being seen as classic and is remembered not just for its dramatic cinematography of war scenes by Dwarka Divecha,[5] and Bhanu Athaiya's costumes for which she traveled to the Ajanta Caves, to seek references in Buddhist frescoes of the era, to create period costumes that subsequently became a template for costumes of that era, but also for the strong anti-war sentiment the film reveals in the end.[6][7][8]

The rights to this film are owned by Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment.

Plot

His hunger for conquest not satiated, even after repeated victories, Samrat Ajaatshatru (Sunil Dutt) of Magadh would like to continue on his winning spree, as the only unconquered city is that of Vaishali (ancient city). His astrologers forewarn him; his Senapati (Prem Nath) cautions him that his army is tired and needs to rest; his very own mother refuses to let take part in any war - but he refuses to listen to anyone and hastens to war - which leads to subsequent defeat at the hands of the Vaishali army. Wounded, lost, and on the run from enemy soldiers, Ajaatshatru dons the guise of a Vaishali soldier and takes shelter with a woman named Amrapali (Vyjayanthimala). She nurses him back to health but Amrapali doesn't know that he is the Ajatashatru of Magadh yet they fall in love with each other. Ajatashatru finds an ally in Senapati Badbadhra Singh (K. N. Singh) and both start to plot against Vaishali - this time by reducing the number of soldiers, making them addicted to alcohol, poor training methods, and poor pay - thus demoralizing them, and paving the way for an easy victory for Magadh. Amrapali, winning a dance competition, is crowned the Rajnarthaki (Royal Dancer) of Vaishali. She is known to everyone that she is a true patriot. One day, She finds out that the soldier she loves is none other than Ajatashatru. She,being a true patriot, breaks all ties with and tells him to never see her again. She, heartbroken, tells the ruler of Vaishali that she would like to leave the position of Rajnarthaki. The members of the court put pressure on her asks why she is resigning and everyone finds out that she had fallen in love with Ajatashatru. She tells everyone that she is a good patriot and immedietly broke all ties with him, but the people of Vaishali find her sacrifice useless and declares as a traitor. The ruler of Vaishali sentences her to prison in a dungeon and orders to kill her on a full moon night. Ajaatshatru, who is enraged to hear this, gathers his army, and storms the unsuspecting people of Vaishali and virtually burns the city down, killing almost everyone in it. This accomplished, he rushes to free his beloved from the dungeons. He does set her free - but it is not the same Amrapali - this Amrapali is quite different and not at all thrilled to be in the presence of her conqueror lover. She is takenby him to the battlefield and is shown everyone he killed just to get her. She is horrified to see so much bloodshed just for unification of them. She tells she can't live this anymore and renounces herself to Gautama Buddha. Ajatashatru also follows her and renounces himself.

Cast

Crew

Music

Another highlight of the film was its music by the duo Shankar Jaikishan, then at the peak of their career, who gave a highly restrained yet fully Indian classical music-based score in the four songs, another rarity in the period film of the era to have so few songs. All the songs were sung by Lata Mangeshkar who also has some of her career's finest among them, including, "Tumhen Yaad Karte Karte", "Neel Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein" and "Jao Re Jogi".[9]

Track list
#TitleSinger(s)Lyricists
1 "Jao Re" Lata Mangeshkar Shailendra
2 "Tumhen Yaad Karte Karte" Lata Mangeshkar Shailendra
3 "Neel Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein" Lata Mangeshkar Hasrat Jaipuri
4 "Tadap Yeh Din Raat Ki" Lata Mangeshkar Shailendra
5 "Nacho Gao Nacho Dhoom Machao" Lata Mangeshkar Shailendra

A scene clipping from the film, was used in the Dhoom tana song dance sequence in film Om Shanti Om (2007), wherein Deepika Padukone dances as Vyjayantimala, who was digitally removed from the frames, as Deepika was playing an actor of the 1970s.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Office Office maker passes away". Screen. 31 July 2008. Archived from the original on 10 September 2012.
  2. History of Vaishali
  3. Ambapālī (Ambapālikā) in Buddhist Dictionary of Pali names
  4. Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
  5. "V.K.MURTHY: Lens and Sensibility". Screen. 3 February 2006.
  6. "Are they calling the shots?". Screen. 29 March 2002.
  7. "Clothes maketh the film". The Hindu. 25 February 2010.
  8. What if Amrapali were remade today? Rediff.com Movies, 4 March 2004.
  9. "MUSIC DIRECTOR: Down Melody Lane". Screen. 22 March 2010.
  10. "Magical music video". Screen. 23 November 2007.
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