Ankur

<p>analyzes in general and heavily stresses (though the story is not fictional). Lakshmi lives in a village with her husband Kishtayya, a who communicates using . The couple is poor and belongs to the lowly caste. Lakshmi attends a village festival and prays faithfully to the Goddess, stating that her only desire in life is to have a child. Surya, the son of the village , had just finished his studies in the nearby city of and arrives back home. Surya’s father has a named Kaushalya with whom he has an son named Pratap. Surya’s father claims to have given Kaushalya “the best land in the village”, a gift which serves as both a token of his affection and also keeps Kaushalya quiet and satisfied. Surya is forced by his father into a with the underaged Saru and begins to feel extremely due to the fact that they cannot have sex until Saru reaches . Surya reluctantly takes over the administrative responsibilities of his share of land in the village. Alone, he moves into a different, older house, and Lakshmi and Kishtayya are sent as his . Not long after his arrival, he begins to exert his authority by introducing a number of different laws and measures, many of which are controversial among the village people. Almost immediately, Surya starts to form an attraction towards Lakshmi, and gives her the task of cooking his meals and serving him tea. This does not sit well with the village priest, a man who traditionally delivers food to the landowner, though at a higher price than Lakshmi asks. Surya also hires Kishtayya to ride his and run his errands. The following day, he has Kishtayya collect from the landlord’s house. Surya then uses Kishtayya’s absence to with Lakshmi, but she fails to reciprocate. In the meantime, the villagers have begun to gossip, and many (most notably the overseer, Police Officer Patel Sheikh Chand) believe that Surya has already slept with Lakshmi, and will act in the same way that his father did: try to conceal the scandal by giving his mistress a vast plot of land. Kishtayya is caught stealing , after which he is publicly humiliated, and he decides to leave the village due to the embarrassment. In his absence, Surya and Lakshmi sleep together. Some time later, Saru arrives at the village in order to live with her husband. She does not approve of Lakshmi’s presence, partly because Lakshmi is a Dalit and partly because Saru has heard the villagers’ . The next morning, Lakshmi has , and Saru her, claiming that she is too sick to work. Many days go by, and eventually Kishtayya returns, having cured himself of his alcoholism and made some money. Lakshmi is overwhelmed with a feeling of , because she believes that she has betrayed her husband. On discovering Lakshmi’s , he salutes the village goddess at her temple, acknowledging that his wife’s wish has been granted. He then decides to return to work and hopefully ride the bullock cart once again for Surya. Surya sees Kishtayya and mistakenly believes that Kishtayya is seeking from him due to his infidelity with Lakshmi. Surya orders three men to grab hold of Kishtayya and then proceeds to him with a rope used for . The commotion attracts others, including Sheikh Chand and Pratap, to the scene, and Lakshmi rushes to defend her husband. She angrily Surya, then slowly returns home with Kishtayya. In the final scene, after the others have left, a young child throws a stone at Surya’s glass window and runs away. Anant Nag was introduced by Benegal in Hindi films after his higher education in Mumbai. , a fresh graduate from , (FTII), was not the first choice for the role of Lakshmi. Benegal had earlier approached , , and , all of whom had refused his offer. Thereafter, he chose Shabana Azmi; he had to alter the script a bit to suit the younger-looking Lakshmi. Being an Indian art film, is a “straight” feature without musical sequences. However, Surya plays parts of two records over the course of the film. The first recording consists of the third stanza of the song “Yahi To Hai Woh” by Mohd. Rafi from (1958). The fourth stanza is then played in the background while Surya talks to Lakshmi. The film also includes several scenes in which villagers sing folk songs, mostly in Telugu. The film was both a commercial and critical success. The film’s producer, Lalit M. Bijlani, who produced the film for just five lakhs rupees, went on to make one crore with its release. On the website , of 8 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8/10. The noted “the deeply impressive lead performance by Shabana Azmi demonstrates Ankur as one of the most mature and compelling films the Indian cinema has to offer”. For the reviewer, the film “recalled the modest realism of Satyajit Ray”.</p>