द्रौपदी

The luminous episode of Draupadi from the Mahabharata — wife of the five Pandavas, Durvasa's curse, and Krishna's divine protection at the vastra-haran. Bhagwati Prasad Mishra brought the myth to the sound screen for Imperial Movietone: Sudhabala as Draupadi, Khalil as Krishna, Prithviraj Kapoor as Karna. Eleven songs, all sung live by the actors themselves.

Eleven songs documented; all sung live on camera by cast members including Hadi, Khalil, Jilloobai and Ermeline. No separate music director is credited — in the early-talkie manner, musical direction was shared between the studio and stage tradition.

Ardeshir Irani's Imperial produced Draupadi the same year as Alam Ara, demonstrating the studio's ambition to dominate the new talking cinema across genres — action, fantasy and now mythology.

Imperial Movietone's second major sound release of 1931, following Alam Ara — one of the earliest attempts to bring mythology to the talkie screen; an early talkie appearance by Prithviraj Kapoor.

A forerunner of the long line of mythological talkies that would fill Indian cinema through the 1930s and 1940s; an early showcase for Prithviraj Kapoor, who would become one of the century's great stage and screen personalities.