British Premiere of Light of Asia

London

The German filmmaker Franz Osten's film Light of Asia (Prem Sanyas or Die Leuchte Asiens) had its British premiere in April 1926. The film was an adaptation of Edwin Arnold's 1861 epic poem on the life of Buddha. It was a silent film and a German–Indian collaboration between Munich-born Osten and film producer and actor Himanshu Rai, who had previously studied law in Calcutta and London and at Rabindranath Tagore's university. The film was celebrated in Germany and found a wide audience in Britain as well. Favourably reviewed in the British press, it ran in London for ten months. George V and his family attended a screening of the film at Windsor Castle on 27 April 1926.