Rudaali (1993)

Original title

रुदाली

Directed by

Kalpana Lajmi

Genre

drama film

Country

India

Runtime

2h 08m

Rated

U

Rating

4.7 of 10 from 10 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

In a small village in Rajasthan, a lonely woman who has endured a life of hardship and loss finds she cannot cry. She takes a job as a professional mourner, which forces her to confront her own feelings.

slow-burnmelancholicbleakunsettlingpoignantquietly intenseintrospectiveearthy

What happens

Rudaali (pronounced "roo-dah-lee"; transl. Female weeper) is a 1993 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Kalpana Lajmi, written by Lajmi and Gulzar and based on a 1979 short story of the same name by Bengali author Mahasweta Devi. Set in a small village in Rajasthan, the film stars Dimple Kapadia as Shanichari, a lonely and hardened woman who, despite a lifetime of misfortune and abandonment, is unable to express grief through crying and is challenged with a new job as a professional mourner. Raakhee, Raj Babbar, and Amjad Khan appear in supporting roles. Produced by the National Film Development Corporation of India and Doordarshan, the film was labelled part of India's neo-realist parallel cinema, but it employed several of the common elements of mainstream Hindi cinema, including songs composed by Bhupen Hazarika. Rudaali was a critical and unexpected commercial success. Particular critical praise was directed at Kapadia's performance, with further appreciation of the film's script, music, technical achievements, and Lajmi's direction. The film won three National Film Awards, including Best Actress for Kapadia, and was nominated for three Filmfare Awards, earning Kapadia a Critics Award for Best Performance. Kapadia won Best Actress honours at the 8th Damascus International Film Festival and the 38th Asia-Pacific Film Festival, where Hazarika was awarded for his music. The film was selected as the Indian entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards, but was not nominated. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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