Director: Basu Chatterjee; Writer: Basu Chatterjee; Producer: Basu Chatterjee; Cinematographer: K.K. Mahajan; Editor: G.G. Mayekar, Ishwar Chandra, Ashok Gaind; Cast: Rakesh Pandey, Madhu Chakravarty, Tarala Mehta, Dina Pathak, A.K. Hangal, Mani Kaul, Jalal Agha, Nandita Thakur
Duration: 01:32:12; Aspect Ratio: 1.304:1; Hue: 101.530; Saturation: 0.016; Lightness: 0.342; Volume: 0.178; Cuts per Minute: 17.016; Words per Minute: 49.713
Summary: A realist critique of arranged marriages and patriarchy set in North India. The film chronicles the relationship of Samar (Pandey), whose parents (Pathak and Hangal) coveted the dowry his marriage would bring, and his wife Prabha (Chakravarty). Samar shuns his wife, ostensibly because he is afraid her presence might hinder his educational ambitions. She thus has to accept being confined largely to the joint family’s kitchen or to return to her parental home for long visits. She commits the faux pas of washing the vessels with the clay symbolising a deity designed for use only during the religious ceremony of her sister-in- law’s (Thakur) newborn child. Together with Sen’s Bhuvan Shome and Kaul’s Uski Roti, made in the same year, this film set the pattern for what the media described as New Indian Cinema. All three films were shot by cinematographer K.K. Mahajan who had just graduated from the FTII and who received his first national award for Sara Akash.
Opening sequence: Samar feels trapped. Inventive techniques to depict his mental turmoil: abrupt flashbacks, freeze frame, distorted wide angle shots, fantasy sequences, disjointed conversations. See esp the first flashback to his college.
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