Plot: Kalu is a taxi-driver in Bombay, India. He has two women who love him and would like to marry him. Kalu first wants to establish himself, and become rich, before he can even think of marriage. One of the women who loves him, has a father who is involved in gangster-type activities, and would like Kalu also to join him so that he can get rich soon. Kalu has now to decide to become rich quick or sleep better.Read More »
Quote:
In a poetic hour and a half, director Mani Kaul looks at the ancient art of making pottery from a wide variety of perspectives. Pots are shown in many settings, including a museum where a young child is mesmerized by the ceramics that ancient ancestors created from clay. The tradition continues and so does its magic, as potters are shown deftly working a lump of wet clay and fashioning it moment by moment into a slowly emerging shape. Kaul blends in myth and fables as well as the beauty of the art itself to create an inspiring look at a humble, everyday object.Read More »
Summary from The Hindu:
On paper, Siddheshwari, like so many films commissioned by the Films Division, is a cine-profile, of the Hindustani singer Siddheshwari Devi. However, Kaul turns the genre inside out, and amalgamates literary, theatrical, musical and cinematic forms together to construct an experience of music, instead of simply presenting biographical details or passively documenting the singer’s artistry. The sprawling film blends multiple timelines, realities and geographies to sketch a unique portrait of the artist.Read More »
SYNOPSIS
From the back of the case:
A desolate bus-stop on a highway… figure of a village woman – Balo, waiting to deliver a meal to Sucha Singh, the husband, a bus driver. He expects the traditional duties of an average Indian rural wife. Balo in turn accepts her husband’s independent lifestyle. Balo hurries to the bus-stop. She is late delivering the meal, trying to save her younger sister, Jinda, from being seduced by the village rake.Read More »
Synopsis:
Ramesh is responsible for looking after rubber exports in Singapore on behalf of his employer, Shyam, based in India. When Ramesh suddenly disappears, Shyam travels to Singapore to unravel the mystery behind his absence, and is himself embroiled in a mystery, as well as arrested for a murder, he claims he did not commit.Read More »
Synopsis
Mary and Peter fall in love with each other and are about to get married, when Peter is asked to re-join his regiment to go to war. Shortly thereafter, he is missing, believed to be dead, leaving behind a devastated Mary who subsequently gives birth to twins, and leaves them on the doorsteps of two Goan households, and becomes a nun. Twenty four years later, India is a free country, while Goa is under the rule of the Portugese, Mary is the Mother Superior; Peter, who is still alive, is the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Goa, who has been entrusted the task of apprehending two revolutionaries by the name of Ram and Rahim – none other than his very own sons. Watch what happens when duo unleash a series of attacks against the oppressive Portugese regime, including robbing the Bank of Portugal, disrobing an arrogant Superindent of Police, Alburqueue, then setting his house on fire, joining hands with dreaded bandit Daler Singh, and abducting the daughter of the Goa’s Hakim, Rita.Read More »
Synopsis:
Considered to be a modern classic of Indian cinema, LAGAAN is a musical drama which tells the story of a central Indian farming village in 1893. The village waits for the monsoons to come and rain on its crops, but the ground remains dry and infertile. Meanwhile, British ruler Captain Russell (Paul Blackthorne) demands lagaan–or double normal taxes–from the villagers. When it becomes clear that they can’t pay, Russell challenges the villagers to a game of cricket, a game they know nothing about. Teaching the villagers about the game falls on the shoulders of farmer Bhuvan (Aamir Khan). As they begin to learn, the villagers are inspired to go up against Russell, with tax negotiation as the stakes for the game. Full of choreographed musical numbers and climaxing in a pulse-pounding cricket match, LAGAAN is a fun, heartwarming British/Indian production that should have no difficulties translating across other national borders.Read More »
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The Pool is the story of Venkatesh, a “room boy” working at a hotel in Panjim, Goa, who sees from his perch in a mango tree a luxuriant garden and shimmering pool hidden behind a wall. In making whatever efforts he can to better himself, Venkatesh offers his services to the wealthy owner of the home. Not content to simply dream about a different life, Venkatesh is inquisitive about the home’s inhabitants – indeed about the world around him – and his curiosity changes the shape of his future. Read More »
Jamal, a 10-year-old Pakistani Muslim, mistakenly crosses the border between India and Pakistan and finds an unusual ally in a Hindu Brahmin, Bhola. Indian soldiers descend on Bhola’s village searching for the so-called terrorist who crossed over. Bhola’s neice, Rani, insists they can’t let a Muslim into their Hindu home. With Bhola and Rani grappling with the consequences of harboring a Pakistani and their deep-set prejudice against Muslims, Jamal’s only hope is the humanity shared by a people separated by artificial boundaries a long time ago.Read More »