Product Details

• Format: Subtitled
• Subtitles: English, French
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: G (General Audience)
• Studio: Cinebella
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002CSAIA
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #20,950 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Based of the life of one of the greatest thinkers the Indian sub-continent has ever know, Adi Shankarcharya is a stunning achievement in the annals of world cinema. It is also the only film ever made in the classical Sanskrit language. By the 8th century, Hinduism had bacome a slave to Brahim cults rather than as the all - emracing philsophy of mankind that it was originally conceived as and wasthelogically challenged by other belief system including Buddhism. It wasinto this scenario that Shankaracharya was born. His father made him practice Brahmin rituals. Upon his father's death, the young Shankaracharya was led to reflect upon life and death, the body and soul through philosophical texts. In a quest to broaden his knowledge, he renounced the world and set out on a life and mind affirming journey with death and wisdom as his twin companions. On the way he wrote several commentaries that have changed the way mankind looks at religion and theism and the eternal qquest for inner turth. Today there are several centers across the world devoted to the propagation of Shankaracharya's teachings Director : G. V. Iyer himself renowned as the philosopher - Filmmaker of Indian cinema- treats the subject with the asceticism it deserves yet makes it accessibl. Accompaained by a resonant soundtrack of Chandts based on the Indian Vedas, The film works both as and audio - visual cinematic experience and as a profound journey of the mind. Adi Shankaracharya was deservedly given the Indian national Award for Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography, Best Audiography and Best Screenplay

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars adi shakaracharya, February 4, 2005

By	lekhami - See all my reviews

I enjoyed this film very much. I bought it recently because I'm studying Sanskrit to help me get a feel for the language. This film, however, gave much more--it gave me a real feel for the religious culture and for India of 1200 years ago. A scene that I found particularly interesting and affecting was of the ritualistic temple dancers--the young man dancing with the Lord of death. The film is filled with symbolism, which the subtitles sometimes explain or point out, and the chanting, which dominates the film from the beginning, is really beautiful and outstanding. The director, G.V. Iyer, was the son of temple priests and his film reflects many, many detailed aspects of his religious culture. It's a fascinating film.

Technically, the film suffers from mediocre to poor cinematography and editing, and the soundtrack sounds tinny. The acting was often stilted, but stilted acting actually works reasonably well in an already ritualistic setting and detracted far less than the bad camera-work. I hope someday Shankara's story, using Iyer's script, will be filmed again in Sanskrit (a lovely language), this time with more creative care for camera-work and the sound. As it is, it is still very worth-while to see and a good DVD to get.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Exploration of the Mind, October 11, 2004

By	Gary Weber (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This first movie ever made in Sanskrit, the root language of many of the world's languages, details the life, as far as it is known, of the 8th and 9th century A.C.E. codifier of non-dualistic philosophy, Shankara. It covers his entire life including many seminal events that shaped his teaching and writing. At the same time, it really serves as a "meditation" on the processes and understanding of the/everyone's mind as Shankara's personal story and teaching unfold.

There is a strong underlayment of advaita (non-dualistic) philosophy, which lies at the core of most of the world's mystical traditions. This film probably does as good a job at "explaining" advaita in a digestible context as will be captured on film. It is a stronger philosophical message, although perhaps less "professional" than either "Siddhartha" or "Brother Sun, Sister Moon".

This is not a "light", slick Bollywood movie, and some of the acting is stilted. However, the film won many awards in India, and it can be a powerful, spiritually "opening" trip for serious yoga, meditation, and philosophy folk, who are struggling to understand the philosophy "behind it all".

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Review of Adi Shankaracharya the DVD, September 25, 2005

By	R. Prakash "rprakash" (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A beautifully created movie around the life and times of the 1st Shankaracharya. For those who condemn hinduism as idol worship and hide bound casteism this movie will illustrate via the Shankaracharya that its the practitioners and not Hinduism which is to blame for some of the extremes propagated in the name of religion. A beautiful scene is where the Shankaracharya gets lectured on the constancy of the soul via one whom society condemns as an "untouchable" because he does work that the rest would scorn to do.. (no different from today's western society where those of darker races abound in janitorial or slaughter house type duties that others scorn but still require). However the DVD purchased from an Amazon retailer itself looked like it was not an original but pirated as the dvd cover lacked the crip colors one finds in an original jacket. Sad that folks would pirate a movie like this just to profit.