Anecdotes

In India he worked together with Himansu Rai and whose wife Devika Rani and Franz Osten shot many Indian movies. Together with Himansu Rai he belonged to the co-founders of Bollywood which is a bigger industry today than Hollywood.

After his arrest by the English, he was released in 1940 indeed but had to return to Germany where he did not realise movies as a director. He worked as a personnel manager for the "Bavaria" which was emerged from the former production company "Emelka".

In 1936, while still living and directing in India, Osten joined Germany's Nazi Party.

Franz Osten was already contacted by the actor and director Himansu Rai in the middle of the 20s. Rai wanted to realize movies which broached the issue of the East for the West film industry, on the other hand he also wanted to launch an own film production industry in India. Franz Osten was stoked by the idea and he traveled to India in 1924 where he realized the movie "Prem Sanyas/Die Leuchte Asiens" (1925).

Very successful were his adaptions based on novels written by Ludwig Ganghofer.

Franz Osten's silent films tell varieties of Indian stories. The Light of Asia (1925) dealt with the life of Buddha.

After the war he retired from the film business and he worked as a director of the tourist board in Bad Aibling.

Since early 2000s, there has been a revived interest in silent films in general and the trilogy of Osten are in focus. Shiraz was shown at the Castro Theatre at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in 2002, Prem Sanyas at the same festival in 2005, and A Throw of Dice in 2008.Prapancha Pash was re-released in 2006.

In 1926 The Light of Asia was shown to King George V and the press reported a positive reaction by the Royal Family.

After an education as a photographer he shot at the beginning of his film career often documentations, later followed movies for the cinemas.

His career was interrupted by the start of the First World War. He worked first as a correspondent, then became a soldier. After the war Osten made peasant dramas like The War of the Oxen and Chain of Guilt for EMELKA in Munich.

In the 20s followed his most successful period in Germany.

Amongst other films, he showed Life in India, a short documentary film about the Munich carnival. The run was not very successful: three days after the opening, the projector exploded in flames.

In 1907, he founded a traveling cinema called the "Original Physograph Company" with his brother Peter Ostermayr, who later established the predecessor to Bavaria Film Studios, today one of Germany's largest film studios.

His film career came to an abrupt end in 1939 when World War II broke out in Europe. Franz Osten was arrested in India by the English. His already started movie "Kangan" had to be finished by Indian movie workers.

After his return to Germany he shot other German feature movies but the fascination India did not get out of his mind and few years later he returned to India again. There he realised the movies "Prapancha Pash" (1929) and "Shiraz" (1929).