AllMovie

German director Franz Osten helms this Indo-European co-production religious epic. The film opens with European tourists milling about the streets of Bombay, and watching street performers. Then the tourists happen upon an old man sitting beneath a bodhi tree. The old man tells them about of the life of the Buddha. Gautama (Himansu Rai) was the pampered son of King Suddhodhana (Sarada Ukil) and Queen Maya (Rani Bala) who spurned his life of luxury and his beautiful royal companion Gopa (Seeta Devi) to seek a life of spiritual riches and enlightenment. The company that Osten formed to make this film, eventually evolved into Bombay Talkies -- one of the largest colonial era film studios in India.