Sant Dnyaneshwar (1940)

Dnyaneshwar and his siblings Nivrutti, Sopan and Muktabai are outcasts from birth: their father had left the life of a sannyasi to return to his family, and the orthodox Brahmins of Paithan refuse to accept the children. The film follows the young Dnyaneshwar as he answers scorn with humility and wisdom, through the famous legends of his life, among them making a buffalo recite the Vedas and the meeting with the proud yogi Changdev, and his writing of the Dnyaneshwari, his Marathi commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. Sant Dnyaneshwar was made by Prabhat Film Company of Pune, whose devotional films were landmarks of early Indian sound cinema, and directors Damle and Fattelal had earlier made the acclaimed Sant Tukaram (1936). It was made in Marathi and Hindi, with Shahu Modak in the title role.