Offering consoiderable visual pleasures, the seminal silent film, A Throw of Dice (aka “Prapancha Pash”) was directed by German-born filmmaker, Franz Osten, based on an episode from the Indian epic Mahabharata.
A Throw of Dice formed the final part of a trilogy of Indo-German productions by Osten and Indian actor-producer Himanshu Rai; the other two being Prem Sanyas (1925) and Shiraz (1928).
Structured as a romantic triange, the tale concerns two different kings vying for the love of a hermit’s young and beautiful daughter, Sunita.
The two kings, Ranjit and Sohan, who share passion for gambling, decide to play a game of craps in order to determine who will marry her.
Sunita wishes to marry Ranjit, but Ranjit loses the game to the nefarious Sohan and as a forfeit becomes his slave.
Sunita uncovers the truth about the evils of Sohan, who hurls himself off a cliff into the rapids below, in order to escape punishment.
In the happy ending, Ranjit and Sunita are reunited and married.
Shot on location in Rajasthan, in black and white on 35mm film, the feature boasts thousands of cast members and animals, including 10,000 extras, many horse, elephants and tigers.
A prolific filmmaker yet largely unknown in the West, Osten had made 19 films in India between 1926 and 1939.
The third Indian film by Franz Osten is one of the greatest achievement in a career spaning decades.
During the production of Kangan (The Bangle) in 1939, Osten, a member of the Nazi Party, was arrested by British colonial officials, and was incarcerated until the end of the Second World War.
Cast
Seeta Devi as Sunita
Himansu Rai as Sohan
Charu Roy as Ranjit
Modhu Bose
Sarada Gupta as The Hermit
Lala Bijoykishen
Tincory Chakrabarty
