Khandhar
(The Ruins)
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Three friends take a couple of days off and run away from the mad hurry of city life to enjoy themselves in the silence of the ruins, which once was a huge mansion of a feudal estate. In the midst of desolation lives a family of two, a mother and her daughter, heirs to a portion of the derelict mansion. The mother is sick, paralysed, and blind, surviving on a hope that a distant nephew of hers will one day come and, as promised, marry the daughter. But the fact is otherwise: the young man is now with his wife and a child living, perhaps, a settled life in the city. The daughter knows the truth but keeps it to herself. Two days and a half are enough to build a cruel story when, having been thrown into a peculiar situation, the visitors and the daughter are forced to go through a nerve breaking exercise, acting a dreadful play and giving an impression to the ailing and blind mother that the photographer among the visitors is the one who once promised to come and marry the daughter.
After two days and a half, the three friends prepare to leave the ruins and go back to the city. Just before they leave, the photographer and the girl have a short meeting which excites a brief dialog and a mute understanding. Soon after the photographer is back at his post in his studio and the girl is left to terrifying loneliness and to her mother who now will know the whole truth. And life goes on ... |
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Language: Hindi (1983, Colour) Screenplay: Mrinal Sen Direction: Mrinal Sen Producer: Jagdish Chokhani Story: Premendra Mitra Camera: K.K. Mahajan Music: Bhaskar Chandabharkar Cast: Naseeruddin Shah Shabana Azmi Gita Sen Pankaj Kapoor Sreela Mazumder Rajen Tarafdar Annu Kapoor Awards & Nominations: National Award - Best Direction (Mrinal Sen) National Award- Best Actress (Shabana Azmi) National Award - Best Editor - (Mrinmoy Chakraborty) Chicago Film Festival - Best Film (Golden Hugo) Montreal World Film Festival - Special Jury Prize International Film Guide Selection - Top 5 films of the year |
Naseeruddin Shah as the photographer.
Pankaj Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Annu Kapoor, and Sreela Mazumder.
Pankaj Kapoor and Shabana Azmi.
Shabana Azmi and Gita Sen as the blind mother.
Naseeruddin Shah and Gita Sen.
Rajen Tarafdar and Sreela Mazumder.
Gita Sen talking to Mrinal sen during location shooting in Birbhum, Wes Bengal. The person walking away is Debi Haldar, the makeup artist of most of Sen's films.
Lunch break during location shooting. Sitting around the table are Pankaj Kapoor, K. K. Mahajan, Mrinal Sen, Sreela Mazumder, Shabana Azmi, and Annu Kapoor.
Nisha Ruparel-Sen, Kunal Sen, and Shabana Azmi watching a shot during location shooting. Kunal and Nisha are Mrinal Sen's son and daugher-in-law.