Nishan (1949)

Nishan is the Hindi version of Gemini Studios' swashbuckler Apoorva Sagodharargal, made at the same time in Tamil, and is loosely drawn from Alexandre Dumas's The Corsican Brothers. Ranjan, Gemini's star of sword-fighting adventure, plays twin brothers separated in infancy after their family is attacked: one grows up in a forest among outlaws, the other in comfort, and each feels the other's pain. Their paths converge as they seek justice from the man who destroyed their family, with Bhanumathi as the heroine. Producer-director S. S. Vasan had already broken into the Hindi market with Chandralekha (1948), and Nishan continued his strategy of lavish South Indian spectacles made for an all-India audience, with large sets, sword fights and stunts.