Shiraz (film)

Shiraz (Shiraz: A Romance of India) (Das Grabmal einer großen Liebe in German) is a 1928 silent film, directed by Franz Osten and starring Himansu Rai and Enakshi Rama Rau. It was adapted from a stage play of the same name by Niranjan Pal, and based on the story of the commissioning of the Taj Mahal – the great monument of a Mughul prince for his dead queen. Due to the public's apathy towards silent films, a sound version was also produced in 1929. While the sound version has no audible dialog, it features a synchronized musical score with sound effects along with a theme song.^[1]

Shiraz
Directed by	Franz Osten
Written by	William A. Burton
Produced by	Himansu Rai
Starring	Himansu Rai Enakshi Rama Rau Charu Roy Seeta Devi
Cinematography	Emil Schünemann Henry Harris
Distributed by	British Instructional Films UFA Himansu Rai Film
Release date	26 September 1928 (1928-9-26) (United Kingdom)
Running time	118 minutes
Countries	India United Kingdom Germany

Full film

Plot

Shiraz (Rai) is a potter's son, who is brought up as brother to Selima (Rau), a girl of unknown but royal lineage who was rescued from an ambush in childhood. Shiraz falls in love with Selima as a young adult and when she is kidnapped by slavers and sold to Prince Khurram, Shiraz follows her to Agra, where he will risk a horrible death to protect her and one day design her great memorial.^[2]

Cast

• Himansu Rai as Shiraz
• Enakshi Rama Rau as Selima/Empress Mumtaz Mahal
• Charu Roy as Prince Khurram/Emperor Shah Jahan
• Seeta Devi as Dalia

Music

The sound version of the film featured a theme song entitled “The Song of Shiraz (An Oriental Reverie)” by Eric Valentine (words) and Harry Collman (music).^[3]

Production

The film was shot in Jaipur.^[2] It was an Indian/British/German co-production, and the second of three silent films made on location in India by star and producer Himansu Rai. The others are Prem Sanyas (The Light of Asia, 1926) and A Throw of Dice (Prapanch Pash, 1929).^[4]

Restoration

Shiraz was restored from original film elements by the BFI National Archive in 2017, and had its premiere as a gala screening at the 2017 London Film Festival, accompanied by a new score composed and performed by Anoushka Shankar. The Guardian's film critic Peter Bradshaw praised the film as " a startlingly ambitious epic weepie-romance".^[5] The restored version subsequently played in a number of venues in India in late 2017.^[6][7] The film was shown as part of the BFI London Film Festival's lineup at We Are One: A Global Film Festival in 2020.^[8]