Director: Shyam Benegal; Writer: Vijay Tendulkar; Producer: Freni M. Variava, Mohan J. Bijlani; Cinematographer: Govind Nihalani; Editor: Bhanudas Divakar; Cast: Girish Karnad, Shabana Azmi, Anant Nag, Amrish Puri, Smita Patil, Satyadev Dubey, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Mohan Agashe, Naseeruddin Shah, Savita Bajaj, Sadhu Meher
Duration: 02:16:56; Aspect Ratio: 1.290:1; Hue: 351.359; Saturation: 0.027; Lightness: 0.291; Volume: 0.078; Cuts per Minute: 9.048; Words per Minute: 31.022
Summary: Based on Tendulkar’s original play, apparently inspired by an actual event and written for Utpal Dutt, the film extends the Ankur (1973) theme of rural oppression in AP. A poor schoolmaster (Karnad) and his young wife (Azmi) come to a village dominated by a villainous family of zamindars, consisting of four brothers who abduct and rape his wife. The distraught schoolteacher, helped by an old priest (Dubey), finally succeeds in mobilising the villagers and they slaughter their oppressors. Although not as big a success as Ankur, the film enabled many of the actors to trade on their naturalist authenticity to become mainstream Hindi stars including the debuting Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri, who plays the eldest and nastiest brother and is now the highest-priced screen villain in Hindi cinema.
Indiancine.ma requires JavaScript.
