pothos.org

Hello,

Seeing as we are discussing a film or documentary made some years ago I thought I would just mention a film I was "reading" about yesterday- Sikander.

I was surprised to read that the Brit's had banned the film- well I suppose to be honest it is understandable, as the last thing they needed was a mutiny at the Beas at the time, in India.

Best regards,
Dean

dean wrote:Seeing as we are discussing a film or documentary made some years ago I thought I would just mention a film I was "reading" about yesterday- Sikander.

I'm desperate to find a copy of Sikander - I saw it on British TV when I was quite young. (Not when it was first released, but years later - I'm not quite in my dotage yet.) Unfortunately I haven't been able to find either a video tape or DVD version of the movie anywhere. Recently I tried every video store in an Indian neighborhood of NYC, but to no avail. I suspect that the proliferation of Bollywood films means that they'll never even consider transferring this old film to disc. If there's a fortunate person out there who owns an old tape of this movie please, please, PLEASE consider making me a copy! Send me a private message and we'll see if there's anything I can trade.

On another matter relevant to this thread; after being inspired earlier to scan the illustrations from Jacob Abbott's 1900 book on Alexander I came across a page which shows the crossing of the Oxus. There's no information as to the name of the artist, unfortunately, but that's not uncommon in very old books. Plenty of artistic licence is evident in this rendering, however it does show a couple of soldiers in the foreground hanging on to inflated skins. What's more entertaining is the depiction in the background of what appears to be a very pregnant Roxane being ferried across the river in much grander style. Is that the Eye of Horus carved on the side of the boat?!

Unfortunately, this isn't the best of scanned images. The original measures only 3-1/4 by 4-3/4 and woodcuts don't seem to translate too well into computer imagery. Then again, maybe I just need a better scanner! I found out how to place the picture directly onto this forum, but that's probably not wise as it would play havoc with the bandwith. So here's the link instead:

The Passage of the Oxus

Best regards,

Hi Amyntoros,

Sorry I haven't got the film although Michael Wood speaks highly of it on his footsteps of Alexander doc.

Thanks anyhow for sharing the link to the crossing of the Oxus- and i guess that must be Alexander in the distance in the boat.

Best regards,
Dean

HI Amyntoros, I agree that there is such a demand for this film that Bollwood should produce it on dvd form. How do we reach some producer in India to achieve this? Any ideas? I will ask a friend from India if he can give me some advice on it. Maybe he can help. Anyone else, I am sure that many would love to own this film. I have seen a section of it on one of the many dvd's produced on Alexander and it is excellent! Jan

Hello,

Just remembering this topic, as I was looking at the photo section of R L Fox's book. In it there is a photo of some locals with a raft of skins and chaff- it is quite a large raft yet in the footnotte he says that normally each skin would carry one person.
Interestingly the Romans, Fox says, had "bladder units" presumably adept at preparing such crafts.

Michael Wood, as Karen says, doesn't seem to have much luck at making such a raft- in "In the footsteps of Alexander" sinking almost immediately- fortunately he is only in waist deep water.
Best regards,
Dean