Sanskrit cinema
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Indian cinema

Sanskrit cinema is a part of Indian cinema. Only 15 films have been made in Sanskrit have been made so far since 1983. There is no separate industry set for Sanskrit films.

History

The first Sanskrit film ever made was Adi Shankaracharya in 1983 by G.V. Iyer.[1] At the 31st National Film Awards, it won four awards, including Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Audiography.[2][3]

The second film was Bhagavad Gita in 1992, again by G.V. Iyer. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film at the 40th National awards for 1992.[4] The next film made was in 2015, after a gap of 22 years.[5]

From 2015 to 2017, 4 Sanskrit films were made in Kerala, India. Priyamanasam was the 3rd Sanskrit film and the first Sanskrit film from Kerala. The film won the award for 'Best Feature film in Sanskrit' at the 63rd National awards. The film was screened at the 46th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa in 2015. Ishti made in 2016 was the first Sanskrit film based on a social issue. The film was screened at the 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa in 2016, in the panorama section.[6][7]

Suryakantha is the fifth Sanskrit film and the third one made in Kerala. It is the first Sanskrit film on contemporary life.[8] The film won 'Special Jury award' in Kerala Film Critics Associations awards, 2017.

Anurakthi is the first Sanskrit 3D film with a song in the film picturised in 3D format. That also made Anurakthi the first Sanskrit film to have a song in it.[9] The film was screened at the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa in 2017.[10][11]

Pratikriti is the first commercial film in Sanskrit.[12] This is written and directed by Dr. Nidheesh Gopi.[12]

Punyakoti is the first animated film in Sanskrit.[13]

Madhurasmitham World's First children's Sanskrit film. Directed by sureshgayathri 2019.[14][15] Madhurasmitham won the Travancore International Award for Best Film.

Namo screened at IFFI in 2021 and its story resolve around friendship between Sudama and Sri Krishna.[16]

List of Sanskrit films

Year Title Director Notes
1983 Adi Shankaracharya G.V. Iyer First Sanskrit feature film.
Won 4 national awards, including Best Feature film.
1993 Bhagavad Gita Won national awards for Best Feature film.
2015 Priyamanasam Vinod Mankara Won national award for Best Feature film in Sanskrit.
Screened at the 46th edition of International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
2016 Ishti G. Prabha Opening film of the feature section of the Indian Panorama section at the 47th edition of IFFI.
2017 Suryakantha M. Surendran Won 'Special Jury award' at Kerala Film Critics Associations awards, 2017
Anurakthi P. K. Ashokan First 3D Sanskrit film.
First Sanskrit film with a song.
Screened at the 48th International Film Festival of India (IFFI)
2019 Madhurasmitham Suresh Gayathri World's First Children's Sanskrit Film[17]
2020 Punyakoti Ravi Shankar V First Sanskrit animation film.[18]
Agochararnavah Poornima R Iyer [19][20]
2021 Pratikriti Dr.Nidheesh Gopi First Commercial Sanskrit film, premiered on Firstshows OTT platform.[21][22][23]
Namo Vijeesh Mani Screened at 51st International Film Festival of India Indian panorama section[24][25][26]
Samasyah Shibu Kumaranallur Environmental film, released on Neestream OTT. [27][28][29]
Shaakuntalam Dushyant Shridhar A film based on story of Shakuntala and King Bharat
2022 Madhubhashitham Suresh Gayathri Movie shot in 48 hours.[30]
Bhagavadajjukam Yadu Vijayakrishnan Adaptation of the 7th century play of the same name. Selected for Indian Panorama at 52nd International Film Festival of India. [31]
Taya G. Prabha Screened at various International Film festivals and national film festivals film festivals including Pune, Kolkata, Bangalore, Delhi. [32][33][34][35][36][37]
2023 MAHAPEEDAM[38] SURESHGAYATHTRI First Sansktit Devotion Children's Fim[39]
2023 MANIRAGAM SURESHGAYATHTRI world's First Sanskrit Children's web series

References

  1. ^ "Adi Shankaracharya (1983)". IMDb. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  2. ^ "31st National Film Awards". India International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013.
  3. ^ "31st National Film Awards (PDF)" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals.
  4. ^ "Bhagvad Gita (film) G V Iyer". IMDb. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
  5. ^ "Sanskrit Cinema: A creative way to revive Sanskrit". www.newsgram.com. 7 July 2015.
  6. ^ "Ishti is the first ever Sanskrit film based on a social issue". iffigoa.org. 23 November 2016. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  7. ^ "First Sanskrit social movie flays Namboothiri practices". The Times of India.
  8. ^ "A tale told in Sanskrit". The New Indian Express.
  9. ^ Thava Chinthasu | Anurakthi | Sanskrit Movie SONG | Asokan.P.K| Vani Vashishth | Vijith Nambiar |. Manorama Music Songs. 14 May 2018. Archived from the original on 21 September 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ "World's first 3D Sanskrit film screened at IFFI". DD News.
  11. ^ "World's First 3D Sanskrit Film Anurakthi Screened at 2017 IFFI Goa". India.com. 25 November 2017.
  12. ^ a b "രാജൻ രാഘവൻ സംസ്കൃത ചിത്രത്തിൽ". Pisharody Samajam. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
  13. ^ "The making of 'Punyakoti', India's first Sanskrit animation film". thenewsminute.com. 20 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Children's film in Sanskrit -- a first; courtesy language buffs". OnManorama.
  15. ^ "About Sgisfsy | Madhurasmitham - Sgi Sanskrit Film Society (Sgisfsi)".
  16. ^ "Jayaram looks impressive as Kuchelan in the first look poster of 'Namo'". The Times of India. Retrieved 17 April 2021.((cite web)): CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ Madhurasmitham Film 2020 August 3 imdb retrieved https://m.imdb.com/title/tt14227856/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
  18. ^ Kannan, Indira (19 April 2020). "How Punyakoti, Sanskrit's 1st animation film, got made". Rediff.com. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  19. ^ Poornima R Iyer [@sankula] (23 August 2020). "New Sanskrit Movie Trailer 2020 "AGOCHARARNAVAH" Please Watch and Bless Us! 🙏 t.co/2QW7MGSoXy @blsanthosh @narendramodi @PrakashJavdekar" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ "AGOCHARARNAVAH". sanskritott.com.
  21. ^ Pratikritih Official Trailer |Nipin Unni |Prasad Mallissery |Dr.Nidheesh Gopi |Devlag Productions. samskritavaikhary. 25 March 2021. Archived from the original on 4 August 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via YouTube.
  22. ^ "രാജൻ രാഘവൻ സംസ്കൃത ചിത്രത്തിൽ". Pisharody Samajam. 23 August 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  23. ^ sandeep_ops. "Pratikriti on Firstshows". Binged. Retrieved 11 April 2022.
  24. ^ "'Namo shows how a ruler & a citizen should be': Vijeesh Mani".
  25. ^ sreekumar, priya (27 September 2019). "Namo to speak Sanskrit soon". Deccan Chronicle.
  26. ^ "Jayaram looks impressive as Kuchelan in the first look poster of 'Namo' - Times of India". The Times of India. 10 January 2020.
  27. ^ "Neestream releases its first Sanskrit film 'Samasyah'". OnManorama. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  28. ^ Correspondent, Our. "Sanskrit film Samasyah released on NeeStream". Cinestaan. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  29. ^ "പാരിസ്ഥിതിക അവബോധവുമായി സംസ്കൃത സിനിമ 'സമസ്യാഹ' ഒടിടി റിലീസ്". malayalam.samayam.com (in Malayalam). Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  30. ^ "Making a move for Sanskrit". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  31. ^ "Indian Panorama Announces Official Selection for 52nd IFFI, 2021". pib.gov.in. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  32. ^ Nagarajan, Saraswathy (14 June 2021). "G Prabha's second film in Sanskrit, 'Taya', focusses on the landmark trial of Thatri". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  33. ^ "Sanskrit film runs housefull at KIFF". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  34. ^ "Pune International Film Festival". www.piffindia.com. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  35. ^ "'തയാ' കൂടുതല് വിദേശ ഫെസ്റ്റിവലുകളിലേക്ക്". Janmabhumi. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  36. ^ "അനുമോൾ നായികയാകുന്ന സംസ്‌കൃത ചിത്രം പ്രദർശനത്തിനൊരുങ്ങുന്നു". Mathrubhumi. 9 September 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  37. ^ Haridas, Harikrishnan (19 November 2021). "'തയാ'- സ്മാര്ത്തവിചാരത്തിന്റെ സാര്ത്ഥതലങ". Kesari Weekly. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
  38. ^ ""Mahapitha"; The shooting of the Sanskrit film has been completed".
  39. ^ ""Mahapitha"; The shooting of the Sanskrit film has been completed". News Directory 3. 21 May 2023.
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