The Seventh Horse of the Sun (1992)

On a lazy afternoon, a man shares his memories of a storyteller friend who once narrated a convoluted love story with intertwined plots. As these plots unravel, reality mixes with fiction.

Director:

Shyam Benegal

Writers:

Dharmvir Bharati (story), Shama Zaidi (dialogue)

Stars:

Rajit Kapoor, Raghuvir Yadav, Siraj Ahmed

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rajit Kapoor	...	Manek Mullah (as Rajit Kapur)
Raghuvir Yadav	...	Shyam
Siraj Ahmed	...	Omkar
Rakesh Dhar	...	Prakash
Rajeshwari Sachdev	...	Jamuna
Anang Desai	...	Jamuna's father
Mohini Sharma	...	Jamuna's Mother
Himani Shivpuri	...	Roma
Ravi Jhankal	...	Ramdhan
Suresh Bhagwat	...	Zamindar
Asma	...	Jamuna's Child (as Baby Asma)
Riju Bajaj	...	Tanna
Amrish Puri	...	Mahesar Dalal
Shashibala Sahay	...	Mausi
Sujata Kaango	...	Tanna's Older Sister (as Sujata Kango)

Storyline

On a lazy afternoon, a man shares his memories of a storyteller friend who once narrated a convoluted love story with intertwined plots. As these plots unravel, reality mixes with fiction.

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Plot Keywords:

love | nonlinear timeline | black comedy | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Release Date:

1992 (India)

Also Known As:

The Seventh Horse of the Sun

Company Credits

Production Co:

National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In Hindu mythology, Surya travels through the sky on a seven-horse, twelve-spoked chariot, driven by Arun (the brother of Garud), with its arrival heralded by Usha, As the Sun begins its apparent journey towards the Northern Hemisphere (Uttarayan). Horses portray power, arrogance and speed. We are always in awe when we sight an impressive-looking steed racing away to his destination. The Sun God's seven horses represent the seven sins and his control over the same indicates the Devata's perfect control over the same. It also represents the way we need to control our base emotions so as to climb further and higher in the spiritual realm of our own lives.

Surya's seven horses also represent the seven chakras in the chakras (spiritual centers in the subtle body or sukshma sharira), the blossoming of which leads to the rising of the power of Kundalini or the serpentine energy residing within us.

The seventh horse is the horse of dreams, aspirations and future. In the end it is shown that other six horses are injured and the seventh horse takes the sun into a hopeful future.

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Quotes

Manek Mullah: ln stories we can twist our dreams and reality to fulfil our desires. A story is a strange mixture of truth and invention,through which we see what we are, what we desire to be, What we eventually become.

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Connections

References Devdas (1955)

User Reviews

Gem of a Find

I was strolling through amazon prime archives for movies in Hindi language. After crap load of 8 page search, i came across an oddly titled movie i had never heard of. It immediately kept my attention as i excitingly saw the director, Shaam Benegal. I had heard of middle cinema but had never witnessed one. And for the next 2 hr and some 20 minutes, movie had my utmost attention. It was gem of a find and it kept me engrossed with its masterful direction, crafty storytelling and surrealistic layers of symbolism scattered all throughout.

Movie is about 3 different stories entangled together at later stage. It amazingly captures same sequences through eyes of different subjects thus peeling of perspectives for same situation and scenes. It dwells into characters and suddenly comments through larger societal lens. And keeps on doing that for much of first half. For sure you would not have seen brutal realism of love stories as portrayed here. Narrative has no particular end, no moments of realization or take away but it flows on like life in general. Story itself is captivating enough. Our main protagonist is connected deeply with stories much later when we further learn how dicey human morals are, how we are mere product of our environment and act to maximize social gains from that environment. There is above all a surrealistic undertone, a detachment of sorts through out the movie. Characters are closely intertwined yet largely detached. And our protagonist is at forefront of this. Until of course the climax of movie hits us hard. And it tells us well that when the music is over, turn off the lights.