Ankur: The Seedling (1974)

Laxmi lives a poor lifestyle in a small village in India along with her husband, Kishtaya, who is a deaf-mute. Both husband and wife work for the wealthy landlord. The landlord's son, Surya... See full summary »

Director:

Shyam Benegal

Writers:

Shyam Benegal (story and scenario), Satyadev Dubey (dialogue) (as Pandit Satya Dev Dubey)

Stars:

Shabana Azmi, Sadhu Meher, Anant Nag

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shabana Azmi	...	Laxmi
Sadhu Meher	...	Kishtaya
Anant Nag	...	Surya
Priya Tendulkar	...	Saroj
Aga Mohamed Hussain
Mirza Qadirali Baig
Hemant Jeshwant Rao
Satyanarayan	...	(as Master Satyanarayan)
Sesham Raju	...	(as Shesham Raju)
Hameed Rashid
Aslam Akhtar
Syed Yakoob
Jagat Jeevan
Prafullata Natu
Kaleem Siddiqui

Storyline

Laxmi lives a poor lifestyle in a small village in India along with her husband, Kishtaya, who is a deaf-mute. Both husband and wife work for the wealthy landlord. The landlord's son, Surya, has to cancel his studies and return home to look after the estate, as well as formalize his marriage to Saroj, the girl he was compelled to get married to when he was very young. Shortly thereafter Kishtaya is apprehended stealing toddy from the fields, is severely beaten, left senseless, and when he recovers he absconds, leaving Laxmi alone to fend for herself. Surya finds her attractive and starts an intimate relationship with her, much to the chagrin of the rest of the family. Things only get worse when Saroj moves in to live with Surya - compelling him to make a final decision about a visibly pregnant Laxmi.

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Plot Keywords:

village | affair | deaf mute | toddy | caste system | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

April 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ankur: The Seedling

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blaze Film Enterprises

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Anju Mahendru was approached for the film but declined it. This was due to her art film Uski Roti not releasing.

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Connections

Featured in And the Show Goes on: Indian Chapter (1996)

User Reviews

It's a wonderful depiction of the reality which existed then, and even today in some remote parts of India.

Ankur means the Seedling. And indeed, this film was a seed to the parallel movement in films that ran in 70's and 80's. It's a wonderful depiction of the reality which existed then, and even today in some remote parts of India.

The narrative is simple and indeed very slow, there are no major subplots as the main plot in itself is heart rending and superior to many films that have come till then. In an age, where superstars were being made, and Amitabh Bachhan was transformed as Angry Young Man, this film silently made its way into the public with a limited released and later on with the word of mouth. All because of many good traits that the film possesses.

Shyam Benegal, who is now considered as a father of Parallel Cinema, wrote this long back and had to go to struggle to a lot to get this made. All this was done with a meager budget and the product that was obtained out of the hard work is a stand-out even today. Ankur is a pioneer and has it's moments of greatness considering the time, it was made. Subsequently, even Shyam Benegal was revered as a great film maker as many more wonderful films came from him.

Now, today when I saw it, it felt a bit anachronistic and antiquated coz I do not see such kind of vulgar oppression anywhere now, may be there is but it's not reported or it's not there any more. Having said that, the emotions are universal and the feeling of being oppressed, the helplessness, the hopes that are there for well being and then a revolution being sparked. All this is put wonderfully. The last shot where a boy throws a stone at the Zamindar's house is of great symbolism and portrays a feeling that echoes with the poor who keep the poor as poor.

The acting was superb, Shabana Azmi was a revelation and a blessed actor and we were grateful to have firstly and also grateful for makers to give her ample opportunities that helped her showcase her talent with an array of emotions. Thanks to Benegal to have found her and given Shabana to us.

It needs applause in many areas, firstly for starting a kind of cinematic revolution in India. Yet, my only crib is the editing, I wish the film could have been slicker with sharp editing. It would have added to the pace and helped the new-age viewers like me.

I am going with 4/5. It's a kind of film that's strong in social issues. But it's a laid back film that makes us recede in time. So just be warned of the pace coz it's a great film.