Underplayed Gems

Ghashiram Kotwal (1976)

Ghashiram Kotwal poster
Original title
घाशीराम कोतवाल
Directed by
K. Hariharan
Genre
biographical film, historical film
Country
India
Runtime
1h 48m
Rating
6.8 of 10 from 4 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This film adapts a play about a corrupt official in 18th century India. It follows his rise to power and the abuse of authority. The story critiques political and social structures.

theatricalintensehistoricalslow-burncollectivebleakexpressiveunsettlingpolitical

What happens

Ghashiram Kotwal is a 1976 Indian Marathi-language film, which is an adaptation of Vijay Tendulkar's play of the same name. Tendulkar himself wrote the screenplay. Coming at the height of the Parallel cinema movement in India, the film was an experiment in collective filmmaking. It was produced by YUKT Film Cooperative, a 16-member collective consisting mostly of graduates of the Film and Television Institute of India. The title role was played by Om Puri, who made his debut with this film. The final shot of the film lasts for more than ten minutes. According to K. Hariharan, one of the four directors of the film, this shot is unique in film history as "the world’s longest shot on a standard reel of 1,000 feet to be shot by four camera operators". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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