A spectacular debut by the ‘father of Parallel Cinema’ (or Indian New Wave), Shyam Benegal’s ANKUR is the first in a trilogy that has come to define a movement of politically conscious, neo-realist films, challenging the studio-controlled and market-driven ‘whipped cream’ of popular Hindi Cinema. Released in 1974 against the backdrop of post-independence peasant struggles, the film tells the story of Lakshmi (Shabana Azmi), a young Dalit (Untouchable) woman and her affair with Surya (Ananth Nag), a recent college graduate forced to move to the countryside to oversee his father’s property. Benegal’s representation of the subaltern subject, pokes holes in the idealized image of rural India and exposes the deep divide in urban liberalism and the everyday reality of a society entrenched in class, caste, and gender disparities.

Come for another Shabana Azmi classic, in the role that launched her career as an icon of Parallel Cinema and 80s feminism! Shyam Benegal’s ANKUR is the third feature in our mini-series focusing on portrayals of women in Hindi Cinema.