Director: Muzaffar Ali; Writer: Muzaffar Ali; Producer: Shobha M. Doctor, Muzaffar Ali; Cinematographer: Ishan Arya; Editor: B Prasad; Cast: Farooq Shaikh, Mushtaq Khan, Ishtiaq Khan, V N Mishra, Sardar Javed, Habib Azmi, Yunus Parvsz, Shabana Azmi, Rohini Hattangady, Shaukat Kaifi, Pramod Bala, Sahin Sultana
Summary: Social melodrama about the plight of chikan embroiderers
in decaying Lucknow, the setting
of Ali’s Umrao Jaan (1981). The sensitive
Anjuman (Azmi) does chikan work to augment
her extended family’s income. She is courted
by a phoney poet, Banke Nawab (Khan), who
has control over the chikan workers, but she
falls in love with her wealthy but weak
neighbour Sajjid (Shaikh). Encouraged by her
doctor friend Suchitra Sharma (Hattangadi),
Anjuman demands fair treatment for the chikan
workers but the pressure on her to marry the
exploitative Banke grows. She finally says ‘No’
during the wedding ceremony and has to face
the wrath of Banke who incites a riot among
the Muslims in the town. Anjuman then
becomes a feminist labour activist and earns
the admiration of her beloved Sajjid.
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