On the death anniversary of one of the greatest leaders, Swami Vivekananda, let’s go down memory lane and remember the movies made about his life.
“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life; dream of it; think of it; live on that idea. Let the brain, the body, muscles, nerves, every part of your body be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced.”
Swami Vivekanand
Swami Vivekananda (1955)
It is a 1955 Hindi-language Indian feature film produced and directed by Amar Mullick, starring Ajit Prakash, Bharati Devi, Anubha Gupta, and Manoranjan Bhattachary. The film is considered a “faithful and memorable documentation feature” on Swamij.
The music for the film was composed by R.C. Boral and Salil Choudhury and sung by Talat Mahmood and Mohammed Rafi.
Bireswar Vivekananda (1964)
Bireswar Vivekananda is a 1964 Indian Bengali-language biographical film about the life and times of Swami Vivekananda. The film was directed by Madhu Bose and made under the banner of Sebak Chitra Pratisthan.
Amaresh Das played Swamiji, and Gurudas Bandyopadhyay played the character Ramakrishna.
Anil Bagchi was the music composer for this film.
Swami Vivekananda (1998)
A 1998 Indian biographical film directed by G. V. Iyer and produced by T. Subbarami Reddy, is a tribute to Swami Vivekananda. It took 11 years for Iyer to meticulously research and craft the screenplay. Starring Sarvadaman D. Banerjee as Swamij and Mithun Chakraborty as Ramakrishna, his guru, the film, although completed in 1994, saw its release on June 12, 1998.
Premiering on India’s Independence Day in 1998, the film earned acclaim for Mithun Chakraborty’s portrayal, earning him his third National Film Award.
The poignant soundtrack, composed by Salil Chowdhury, features soulful lyrics by Gulzar, including a Bengali song written by Swami Vivekananda himself, titled “Nahi Surjo Nahi Jyoti.”
The Light: Swami Vivekananda (2013)
It is a bilingual (Bengali and Hindi) film directed by Utpal (Tutu) Sinha and produced by Tri Colour Productions Private Limited. The film is based on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda. The film was a tribute on the 150th anniversary of his birth. It later went on to be dub in 18 languages.
Deep Bhattacharya played the role of Swamiji, whom director Tutu Sinha first saw in a Bengali drama. Premankur Chattopadhyay and Gargi Roy Chowdhury played the characters of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Sarada Devi, respectively.
Nachiketa Chakraborty and Dr. Haricharan Verma, gave the film’s music. The singers like Ajay Chakraborty, Suresh Wadkar, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Nachiketa Chakraborty, Subhankar Bhaskar, and Javed Ali, gave their voices for the soundtracks.
Swamiji (2012)
Swamiji is a 2012 laser show and documentary film directed and produced by Manick Sorcar, based on the life story of Swami Vivekananda. With a budget of $125,000 the documentary it was an elaborate setup. It utilised eight colour lasers, LED lights, smoke and haze machines. The also used video projectors, surround sound system, donated voice talent, song, animation modeling, and animation drawn by Manick Sorcar.
Critics, along with Ramakrishna Missions and Vedanta Societies around the world, praised the documentary for its accurate depiction of Swami Vivekananda’s life. The film had screenings in a dozens of cities in India and the United States.
Swami Vivekananda on Wikipedia
