A Throw of Dice (1929)

A Throw of Dice (Prapancha Pash) is a 1929 silent film by German-born director, Franz Osten, based on an episode from the Indian epic The Mahabharata.

Franz Osten made 19 films in India between 1926 and 1939, and the film formed the final part of a trilogy of Indo-German productions, between Franz Osten and Indian actor-producer Himanshu Rai, the other films being Prem Sanyas (1925) and Shiraz (1928). After a gap, Osten returned to India, and worked with Bombay Talkies formed by Rai. Soon, during the production of Kangan (The Bangle) in 1939, Osten, a member of the Nazi Party, was arrested by British colonial officials and held through to the end of the World War II.

The film has been in the British Film Institute (BFI)’s archives since 1945, though rarely seen. In 2006, the film was digitally restored, in honour of the 60th anniversary of Indian independence, and re-released at the Luminato Festival, Toronto, Canada, on 13 June 2008, with a new orchestral score by British Indian composer, Nitin Sawhney. The United States release occurred on 30 July 2008 during Grant Park Music Festival at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.

Synopsis

The movie is about two kings vying for the love of a hermit's daughter, the beautiful Sunita. The two kings, Ranjit and Sohan share a passion for gambling and decide to play a game of craps to determine who will marry Sunita. Sunita wishes to marry Ranjit. Ranjit loses the game to the nefarious Sohan and as a forfeit becomes his slave. Sunita soon uncovers the truth about Sohan's evil deeds and to escape punishment he hurls himself off a cliff into the rapids below. Ranjit and Sunita are reunited and married.

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