Director: Manilal Joshi; Cinematographer: D.D. Dabke; Cast: Raja Sandow, Yakbal, Miss Moti, K.B. Athavale, Bachubabu
Summary: This legend drawn from the Asokavadana stories is set at the time of the Maurya empire (3rll C B C.) Kunal (Sandow), son of Emperor Ashoka (Athavale) and Queen Padmavati, has beautiful eyes but a prediction says he will go blind. The villainous Tishyaraksha (Yakbal) gains Ashoka's confidence and plots to have Kuru! blinded and killed. The official executioners pare Kunal and he becomes a wandering singer accompanied by his favourite wife Kanchanmala (Moti). In Pataliputra, Ashoka he~rs Kunal's song, realises that Kunal's misfortune nuv have been a punishment for some past sin of the emperor himself and condemns Tishyaraksha to death, restoring Kunal to the court. The film acquired an avant-garde reputation for breaking with convention using close shots and with Dabke's camera deploying a sophisticated range of grey tones. It can be seen as a distant ancestor to the psycho-historicals of Mehboob: one concrete connecting link was R.S. Choudhury, apprenticeu to Joshi for this film.
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