Ankur (1974)

Original title

अंकुर

Directed by

Shyam Benegal

Genre

drama film

Country

India

Runtime

2h 05m

Rating

6.2 of 10 from 28 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A wealthy young man returns to his rural family estate and begins a secret affair with his servant. The relationship reveals the entrenched class and power dynamics in a small Indian village.

groundednaturalisticsomberslow-burnrawseriousintimateunflinching

What happens

Ankur (English: The Seedling) is a 1974 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Shyam Benegal in his directorial debut. The film features Shabana Azmi in her acting debut, alogside Sadhu Meher and Anant Nag. Like later Benegal's films, Ankur belongs to the genre of Indian art films, or more precisely, Indian parallel cinema. The plot is based on a true story that occurred in Hyderabad, apparently in the 1950s. The film was shot in Hyderabad and filmed almost entirely on location. Ankur won three National Film Awards, including Second Best Feature Film, Best Actress for Azmi and Best Actor for Meher, as well as numerous other prizes in India and abroad. It was nominated for the Golden Bear at the 24th Berlin International Film Festival. This film includes one whipping scene and more profanity than is usually found in Indian films. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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