| Release Date: 21 October 1929 (Finland) Genre: Drama, History, Romance IMDb Rating: 7.0 Director: Franz Osten (as F. Osten) Cast: Himanshu Rai, Charu Roy, Seeta Devi, Enakashi Rama Rao |
A silent movie that was a unique Indian, British and German co-production was one of the movies I had a chance of catching up on during the We Are One Film festival.
Painstakingly restored by the British Film Institute and a new score provided by none other than the great Anoushka Shankar, Shiraz is a fictionalized account of the love story behind the Taj Mahal.
Lost in the desert after their cavalry is attacked and other members killed, Selima is found by a potter and who takes her in. Shiraz, the potter’s son, and Selima grow up loving each other until some slave traders kidnap her and Shiraz sets out to find her.
The Shiraz movie is quite ambitious for a 1928 movie, and the main reason for it being Himanshu Rai, the main brains behind it who wanted this Franz Osten directed Indian movie to have a global appeal and also plays the role of Shiraz in the movie.
The restoration work carried out by BFI is equally marvelous, allowing us to fully get the beauty of the movie.
The wide landscapes, the palace, and the overall mood and feel of the era are evoked by the black and white imagery. And add to that the perfection that Anoushka Shankar’s score is and we have a delightful movie to experience. The first few scenes with her score are a bit jarring, but after that it comes into full effect, alleviating the experience of watching.
Shiraz is a really old movie and a product of its time which needs to be kept in mind while viewing it.
Besides that what you need to also be aware of is that it is a fictionalized story, so it can really deviate from actual history.
Sometimes the Shiraz movie got a bit too cheesy with its romance, which I could have done without, and a few hiccups here and there with its character choices.
But, overall Shiraz is quite an achievement for the period it was made and is still a stunning movie to experience, with a great cast, on the top of which is the amazing Charu Roy as Shah Jahan, who with his expressive eyes and the range of emotions conveyed through facial expressions, in the end giving us quite an ambitious movie for its period.
My Verdict:
