{ "id": "epn46jc0e4", "slug": "sant-tukaram", "title": "Sant Tukaram (संत तुकाराम)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema", "label": "Indian films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.marathi-films", "label": "Marathi films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.marathi-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.ind.t1800.culture.performance.screen", "label": "India · 1800 to 1945: Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1800.culture.performance.screen", "path": [ { "id": "geo.ind", "label": "India", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1800", "label": "India · 1800 to 1945", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1800" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1800.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1800.culture" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1800.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1800.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t1800.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t1800.culture.performance.screen" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Sant Tukaram (संत तुकाराम), also Saint Tukaram: 1936 Prabhat Film Company Marathi/Hindi biopic of the 17th-century saint poet, directed by Damle and Fattelal, starring Vishnupant Pagnis; first Indian film to win a prize at Venice (1937), ran 57 weeks in Mumbai.", "snippet": "Sant Tukaram (संत तुकाराम), also Saint Tukaram: 1936 Prabhat Film Company Marathi/Hindi biopic of the 17th-century saint poet, directed by Damle and Fattelal, starring Vishnupant Pagnis; first Indian film to win a prize at Venice (1937), ran 57 weeks in Mumbai.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.indian-cinema.marathi-films", "markdown": "# Sant Tukaram (संत तुकाराम)\n\n**Sant Tukaram** (संत तुकाराम) is a 1936 Indian black-and-white biographical film, made in Marathi and Hindi by the Prabhat Film Company, that chronicles the life of the seventeenth-century Maharashtrian saint poet Tukaram. Directed by Vishnupant Govind Damle and Sheikh Fattelal, it was the first Indian film to win a prize at the [Venice Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/venice-film-festival), where in 1937 it was judged one of the three best movies of the year.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028217/) • [2](https://scroll.in/reel/679099/the-story-of-how-prabhat-studios-made-indias-biggest-hits-of-the-1930s)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | December 12, 1936, at the Central Cinema, Mumbai[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028217/releaseinfo/) • [4](https://bbc.com.im/marathi/articles/c5yjwvjelv9o) |\n| Production | Prabhat Film Company; directors V. Damle and S. Fattelal; script Shivram Vashikar; music Keshavrao Bhole; cinematography V. Avadhoot[5](https://asac.labiennale.org/attivita/cinema/943) |\n| Lead cast | Vishnupant Pagnis as Tukaram, Gauri as his wife Jijai, Sri Bhagwat as the Brahmin Salomalo[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028217/fullcredits/) |\n| Technical | 131 minutes, black and white, 1.37:1 aspect ratio, Marathi and Hindi[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028217/) |\n| Box office | Ran 57 weeks in Mumbai alone, a record for its time[2](https://scroll.in/reel/679099/the-story-of-how-prabhat-studios-made-indias-biggest-hits-of-the-1930s) |\n| Venice 1937 | Jury's Special Recommendation (Segnalazione della Giuria); nominated for the Mussolini Cup for Best Foreign Film; judged one of the three best films of the year[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028217/awards/) • [2](https://scroll.in/reel/679099/the-story-of-how-prabhat-studios-made-indias-biggest-hits-of-the-1930s) |\n| Preservation | Digitized by the National Film Archive of India[8](https://nfai.nfdcindia.com/pdf/Digitized%20and%20Restored%20Films_16-12-2016.pdf) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Story and themes\n\nThe film is an episodic biography of Tukaram, a poet-saint of the village of Dehu who holds villagers spellbound with his songs of devotion, the abhangs sung in praise of Lord Pandurang. Jijai (Gauri), his wife, berates him for being impractical and urges him to do a better job of supporting their children. Tukaram is beset by Salomalo, a jealous Brahmin priest who passes off Tukaram's songs as his own and launches a series of plots against him; divine intervention rescues Tukaram and the villagers from the crises Salomalo brings about. In the closing movement, a heavenly vehicle arrives to take Tukaram at the day of his nirvana; he invites his wife to come with him, but she chooses to stay on earth with her modest home, her children, and her buffalo.[9](https://wiki.phalkefactory.net/index.php?title=Sant_Tukaram_%281921%29)\n\nThe Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema describes the film as activating the twentieth-century resonances of Tukaram's turn away from courtly Sanskrit toward the vernacular rhythms of religious poetry, which constituted the first major emancipatory movement against brahminical caste domination; the plot pits Tukaram against the priest Salomalo, who pretends to be the true author of Tukaram's songs.[10](https://indiancine.ma/documents/DSP/Encyclopedia%20of%20Indian%20Cinema.pdf) A Government of India cultural-history account reads the film as carrying a nationalist and anti-colonial message, equating the life of the seventeenth-century saint with that of [Mahatma Gandhi](https://www.edgepedia.org/mahatma-gandhi).[11](https://cmsadmin.amritmahotsav.nic.in/district-reopsitory-detail.htm?19575=)\n\n## Production\n\n**Damle and Fattelal's first film.** The two directors had previously worked at Prabhat on cinematography, art direction, and sound recording for [V. Shantaram](https://www.edgepedia.org/v-shantaram)'s films; Sant Tukaram was the first film either directed.[4](https://bbc.com.im/marathi/articles/c5yjwvjelv9o) Prabhat's partners had decided to make a low-budget saint film in Marathi only, and placed direction with the Damle-Fattelal pair for the first time.[12](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/27312/) According to the BBC Marathi account, Prabhat's earlier talkie Rajput Ramani had flopped, so the two were initially reluctant to take on the project and did so at V. Shantaram's urging.[4](https://bbc.com.im/marathi/articles/c5yjwvjelv9o)\n\n**Music.** Keshavrao Bhole composed the score, and the film's songs are largely Tukaram's own abhangs, simple Marathi verses addressed directly to God.[5](https://asac.labiennale.org/attivita/cinema/943) • [13](https://hindigeet.in/story/sant-tukaram-1936/) The lyricist Shantaram Athavale wrote the only new song, *Adhi beej ekale*, which convinced many Tukaram authorities that an unknown composition by the saint had been discovered.[10](https://indiancine.ma/documents/DSP/Encyclopedia%20of%20Indian%20Cinema.pdf)\n\n**Special effects.** The film was noted for its effects work. The Marathi Vishwakosh records that it created the scene of the heavenly vehicle (vimana) floating in mid-air as Tukaram departs for [Vaikuntha](https://www.edgepedia.org/vaikuntha).[14](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/22131/) A study of special effects in Indian cinema calls the film pathbreaking in this respect and notes that it was sent to the Venice festival, where it was adjudged one of the three best films of the year.[15](https://dsource.in/dcontent/idc-archive/assets/projects/doc/idc-gautam-karnik-drs-report.pdf)\n\n## Reception\n\nThe film opened at Mumbai's Central Cinema on December 12, 1936 and initially drew little response; per V. Shantaram's autobiography, a newspaper advertisement with the teasing line about the saint's love-song under the tree turned audiences toward the theaters, after which crowds surged.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028217/releaseinfo/) • [4](https://bbc.com.im/marathi/articles/c5yjwvjelv9o) It then ran 57 weeks in Mumbai, a record for the period; the Ministry of Culture's Digital District Repository records a full year's run at Bombay's Plaza Cinemas.[2](https://scroll.in/reel/679099/the-story-of-how-prabhat-studios-made-indias-biggest-hits-of-the-1930s) • [11](https://cmsadmin.amritmahotsav.nic.in/district-reopsitory-detail.htm?19575=) A Marathi film-blog account states the film earned a profit of 791,000 rupees (7.91 lakh rupees) by 1940 and was screened in Bengal, Madras, Delhi, England, China, and [East Asia](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-asia).[16](https://mymarathicinemas.blogspot.com/2010/09/sant-tukaram-bw-1936.html)\n\nAt the fifth Venice International Film Festival in 1937, the Biennale's own archive records the film's award as the Jury's Special Recommendation (Segnalazione della Giuria), and IMDb lists a 1937 nomination for the Mussolini Cup for Best Foreign Film.[5](https://asac.labiennale.org/attivita/cinema/943) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028217/awards/) Contemporary and later Indian accounts describe it as judged one of the three best films of the year, alongside *Maria Nover* of Hungary and *Flying Doctor* from Australia, and as the first Indian film to win recognition abroad.[2](https://scroll.in/reel/679099/the-story-of-how-prabhat-studios-made-indias-biggest-hits-of-the-1930s) • [17](https://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/Journalarchives/Yojana/Yojana-English/1974/October/Yojana_1974_October_pdf.pdf) A 1974 Yojana article calls it the first Indian film to win recognition at a foreign festival, and notes that India's first internationally recognized film was a regional, Marathi production rather than a Hindi one.[17](https://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/Journalarchives/Yojana/Yojana-English/1974/October/Yojana_1974_October_pdf.pdf)\n\nVishnupant Pagnis, already known as a devotional singer, became so identified with the role that, as the BBC Marathi account puts it, he could not emerge from it afterward.[4](https://bbc.com.im/marathi/articles/c5yjwvjelv9o) Scroll.in's retrospective calls the film Prabhat's greatest cinematic achievement, a triumph in all departments of filmmaking with remarkable central performances by Pagnis and Gauri.[2](https://scroll.in/reel/679099/the-story-of-how-prabhat-studios-made-indias-biggest-hits-of-the-1930s)\n\n## Place in Tukaram films and later remakes\n\nThe 1936 film was not the first screen treatment of the saint. A Marathi film-history study records a 1932 Sharada Movietone *Sant Tukaram*, released July 7, 1932 and directed by K. B. Athavale.[18](https://sahitya.marathi.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/marathi-chitrapat-sam.30-3-2022-1.pdf)\n\nSeventy-six years after the original, a remake directed by [Chandrakant Kulkarni](https://www.edgepedia.org/chandrakant-kulkarni), with Jitendra Joshi as Tukaram and a script by Prashant and Ajit Dalvi based on research into 4,500 of the saint's abhangs, was set for release on June 8, 2012, on a budget of Rs 50 million (Rs 5 crore), shot extensively in Satara district.[19](https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai/remake-of-biopic-on-sant-tukaram-set-for-release-on-june-8/story-8VpkTs4HP4O90Uhv8bnP8J.html) A Hindi-language *Sant Tukaram* directed by Aditya Om received a U certificate from the [Central Board of Film Certification](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-board-of-film-certification) in July 2025.[20](https://cbfcindia.gov.in/cbfcAdmin/search-result.php?recid=Q0EwMTI3MDYyMDI1MDAwMTQ%3D)\n\nThe original film itself has been digitized by the National Film Archive of India.[8](https://nfai.nfdcindia.com/pdf/Digitized%20and%20Restored%20Films_16-12-2016.pdf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Sant Tukaram (1936), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028217/)\n2. [Karan Bali (2014). The story of how Prabhat Studios made India's biggest hits of the 1930s. Scroll.in.](https://scroll.in/reel/679099/the-story-of-how-prabhat-studios-made-indias-biggest-hits-of-the-1930s)\n3. [Sant Tukaram (1936) – Release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028217/releaseinfo/)\n4. [Vinayak Hogade (2025). संत तुकाराम: 57 आठवडे चाललेल्या आणि सातासमुद्रापार गाजलेल्या या चित्रपटाने तुकोबांची प्रतिमा कशी रुजवली? BBC News Marathi.](https://bbc.com.im/marathi/articles/c5yjwvjelv9o)\n5. [Scheda film: Sant Tukaram, ASAC – La Biennale di Venezia](https://asac.labiennale.org/attivita/cinema/943)\n6. [Sant Tukaram (1936) – Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028217/fullcredits/)\n7. [Sant Tukaram (1936) – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028217/awards/)\n8. [List of Films Digitized by NFAI, National Film Archive of India](https://nfai.nfdcindia.com/pdf/Digitized%20and%20Restored%20Films_16-12-2016.pdf)\n9. [Sant Tukaram (1936), PhalkeFactory wiki](https://wiki.phalkefactory.net/index.php?title=Sant_Tukaram_%281921%29)\n10. [Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema, film entry SANT TUKARAM](https://indiancine.ma/documents/DSP/Encyclopedia%20of%20Indian%20Cinema.pdf)\n11. [Nationalist Message in Sant Tukaram (1936), Digital District Repository, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Ministry of Culture, Government of India](https://cmsadmin.amritmahotsav.nic.in/district-reopsitory-detail.htm?19575=)\n12. [प्रभात फिल्म कंपनी, मराठी विश्वकोश प्रथमावृत्ती](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/27312/)\n13. [Sant Tukaram (1936), Hindi Geet](https://hindigeet.in/story/sant-tukaram-1936/)\n14. [चित्रपटातील चमत्कृतिदृश्ये, मराठी विश्वकोश प्रथमावृत्ती](https://vishwakosh.marathi.gov.in/22131/)\n15. [Gautam V. Karnik. History of Special Effects in Indian Cinema, IDC, IIT Bombay](https://dsource.in/dcontent/idc-archive/assets/projects/doc/idc-gautam-karnik-drs-report.pdf)\n16. [SANT TUKARAM b/w (1936), My Marathi Cinema](https://mymarathicinemas.blogspot.com/2010/09/sant-tukaram-bw-1936.html)\n17. [S. D. Shirode (1974). Regional Cinema, Yojana, Publications Division](https://www.publicationsdivision.nic.in/Journalarchives/Yojana/Yojana-English/1974/October/Yojana_1974_October_pdf.pdf)\n18. [Marathi Chitrapat study, Sahitya Akademi / marathi.gov.in PDF](https://sahitya.marathi.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/marathi-chitrapat-sam.30-3-2022-1.pdf)\n19. [Remake of biopic on Sant Tukaram set for release on June 8, Hindustan Times (2012)](https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai/remake-of-biopic-on-sant-tukaram-set-for-release-on-june-8/story-8VpkTs4HP4O90Uhv8bnP8J.html)\n20. [CBFC film certificate search: SANT TUKARAM (Hindi, 2025)](https://cbfcindia.gov.in/cbfcAdmin/search-result.php?recid=Q0EwMTI3MDYyMDI1MDAwMTQ%3D)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Marathi films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/sant-tukaram", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/sant-tukaram.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Sant Tukaram (संत तुकाराम)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/sant-tukaram. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Sant Tukaram (संत तुकाराम)](https://www.edgepedia.org/sant-tukaram)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/sant-tukaram](https://www.edgepedia.org/sant-tukaram). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Sant Tukaram (संत तुकाराम)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/sant-tukaram. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Sant Tukaram, also Saint Tukaram: 1936 Prabhat Film Company Marathi/Hindi biopic of the 17th-century saint poet, directed by Damle and Fattelal, starring Vishnupant Pagnis; first Indian film to win a prize at Venice, ran 57 weeks in Mumbai." }