Narsi Bhagat (1940)

Narsinh Mehta, known as Narsi Bhagat, was a poet-saint of Gujarat whose devotional songs to Krishna, among them "Vaishnav Jan To", later loved by Mahatma Gandhi, are still sung today. This 1940 film tells his story: a humble devotee who gives away what little he has, is mocked by his community, and trusts entirely in his god to save his family from ruin. It was made by Vijay Bhatt, the director who later made Baiju Bawra and the Ram Rajya that Gandhi is said to have watched, and stars Vishnupant Pagnis, famous for playing saints after Sant Tukaram, with Durga Khote. It is a landmark of early Indian devotional cinema.