Credited cast: | |||
Smita Patil | ... | Sonbai | |
Naseeruddin Shah | ... | Subedar | |
Om Puri | ... | Chowkidar Abu Miya | |
Ratna Pathak Shah | ... | Pepper Factory Worker (as Ratna Pathak) | |
Supriya Pathak | ... | Pepper factory worker | |
Suresh Oberoi | ... | Mukhiya | |
Neena Kulkarni | ... | Pepper factory worker | |
Ram Gopal Bajaj | ... | Owner of the Pepper factory | |
Benjamin Gilani | ... | Masterji | |
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Mohan Gokhale | ... | Villager | |
Deepti Naval | ... | Saraswati, Mukhiya's wife | |
Harish Patel | ... | Pandit | |
Dina Pathak | ... | Maanki, factory worker | |
Paresh Rawal | ... | Villager |
In colonial India, subedars (tax collectors) went from village to village with soldiers, often demanding more than taxes. A subedar commands Sonbai, a beautiful and confident woman whose husband is away in the city, to sleep with him. She slaps him and flees for safety to a spice factory where women grind chillies into fine powder. The aged factory guard, Abu Mian, locks the door behind her, refusing to open it to the soldiers, to the cowardly village men led by the mayor, and to the subedar himself. The town's teacher, who follows Gandhi, and a few women, led by the mayor's wife, protest ineffectually against this village-approved rape. The stage is set for a final confrontation. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>
Set somewhere in Rajputana / northern Madhya Pradesh in central India between the two World Wars, this movie depicts the sordid daily humiliation and exploitation heaped upon villagers by an over-mighty landlord (Zamindar). When his attention focusses on the women, they unite and fight back, to the shame of their feeble husbands. Starring Naseeruddin Shah - a leading dramatic actor - in one of his more devlish roles. An historical epic as well as a manifesto for the liberation of the oppressed in rural India.