Chakra (1981 film)

Last updated

Chakra
Chakra mdvd 240x300.jpg
DVD cover
Directed byRabindra Dharmaraj
Written by Jaywant Dalvi
Produced by Pradeep Uppoor
Starring Naseeruddin Shah
Smita Patil
Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Cinematography Barun Mukherjee
Music by Hridaynath Mangeshkar
Distributed byNeo Films
Release date
  • 1981 (1981)(India)
Running time
140 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Chakra is a 1981 Hindi movie directed by Rabindra Dharmaraj. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. [1]

Contents

Plot

Amma and her son Benwa become Bombay's slum-dwellers after running away from their village after her husband kills a moneylender who tried to rape her. The husband is then shot trying to steal some tin to build a hut.

In Bombay, Amma has a lover who provides for her and her son. Since the lover is a truck driver who travels most of the time, Amma takes on another lover – a vain pimp and petty crook, Lukka, who becomes Benwa's idol. Lukka is on parole and ordered to be present before the police every day.

Benwa marries the young Amli. Amma meanwhile becomes pregnant, though it is never clear whose child it is. Amma, of course, lets Anna know that it is his because she knows that of her two lovers, he alone is capable and responsible enough to take care of her and her child.

Lukka reappears, ravaged by syphilis and drugs; he is now a changed man and is disenchanted with the criminal life. But he still lives a life of crime and it is implied that there is no other choice for him. He even tries to dissuade Benwa from a life of crime without much success. Lukka is assaulted by the police at his illicit liquor den. The climax has Lukka assaulting a chemist who refuses to give him medicines unless he pays for it. Lukka grabs some medicines and makes a run for it, is chased by the police and hides in Amma's hut. The cops find him and arrest both him and Benwa, beating them brutally in the process. Amma has a miscarriage in the scuffle. In the end, bulldozers arrives to flatten the entire slum. A sort of exodus is shown in the final moments of the movie – and Benwa and Amli move on to a new slum, and a new shanty hut to continue the Chakra.

Cast

Awards and nominations

YearCategoryRecipient(s)Results
Filmfare Awards
1982 Best Film Pradeep Uppoor Nominated
Best Director Rabindra DharmarajNominated
Best Actor Nasseruddin Shah Won
Best Actress Smita Patil Won
Best Story Jaywant Dalvi Nominated
Best Art Direction Bansi Chandragupta Won
Locarno International Film Festival
1981 Golden Leopard Rabindra DharmarajWon
Prize of the Ecumenical JuryWon
National Film Awards
1981 Best Actress Smita Patil [3] Won

Related Research Articles

<i>Monsoon Wedding</i> 2001 film by Mira Nair

Monsoon Wedding is a 2001 comedy-drama film directed by Mira Nair, written by Sabrina Dhawan, and starring Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah and Vasundhara Das. The story depicts romantic entanglements during a traditional Punjabi Hindu wedding in Delhi. Dhawan wrote the first draft of the screenplay in a week while in Columbia University's MFA film program. Although set entirely in New Delhi, it was internationally co-produced between companies in India, the United States, Italy, France and Germany.

<i>Mirch Masala</i> 1987 Indian film

Mirch Masala is a 1987 Hindi psychological thriller film directed by Ketan Mehta. It stars Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil in the lead roles. On the centenary of Indian cinema in April 2013, Forbes included Smita Patil's performance in the film on its list, "25 Greatest Acting Performances of Indian Cinema".

<i>Bhumika</i> (film) 1977 Indian film

Bhumika is a 1977 Indian film directed by Shyam Benegal. The film stars Smita Patil, Amol Palekar, Anant Nag, Naseeruddin Shah and Amrish Puri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smita Patil</span> Indian actress (1955–1986)

Smita Patil was an Indian film and theatre actress who primarily worked in Hindi and Marathi films. Regarded among the finest and greatest actresses in the history of Indian cinema, Patil appeared in over 80 films, in a career that spanned over a decade. Patil was the recipient of two National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award, a Maharashtra State Film Award and two Filmfare Awards Marathi. In 1985, she received the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kulbhushan Kharbanda</span> Indian actor (b. 1944)

Kulbhushan Kharbanda is an Indian actor who works in Hindi and Punjabi films. He is best known for his role as the antagonist Shakaal in Shaan (1980), Starting off with the Delhi-based theatre group 'Yatrik' in the 1960s, he moved to films with Sai Paranjpye's Jadu Ka Shankh in 1974. He worked in several parallel cinema films before working in the mainstream Hindi film industry. He appeared in Mahesh Bhatt's classic Arth (1982), Ek Chadar Maili Si (1986), Waaris (1988), and in all three parts of Deepa Mehta's Elements trilogy: Fire (1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005). After nearly two decades he was seen on the theatre stage at the Padatik Theatre in Kolkata in the production of Atmakatha, directed by Vinay Sharma.

<i>Manthan</i> 1976 Indian film

Manthan, also released under the translated title The Churning, is a 1976 Hindi film directed by Shyam Benegal, inspired by the pioneering milk cooperative movement of Verghese Kurien, and is written jointly by him and Vijay Tendulkar. It is set amidst the backdrop of the White Revolution of India. Aside from the great measurable success that this project was, it also demonstrated the power of "collective might" as it was entirely crowdfunded by 500,000 farmers who donated Rs. 2 each. Manthan is the first crowdfunded Indian film.

<i>Masoom</i> (1983 film) Hindi film

Masoom is a 1983 Indian Hindi-language drama film, the directorial debut of Shekhar Kapur. It is an adaptation of the 1980 Erich Segal novel Man, Woman and Child, which was also adapted into a Malayalam movie Olangal and an American movie Man, Woman and Child. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi in lead roles along with Tanuja, Supriya Pathak and Saeed Jaffrey. It features Jugal Hansraj, Aradhana and Urmila Matondkar as child actors. The screenplay, dialogues and lyrics are by Gulzar with music by R.D. Burman. The film has been remade into a Telugu movie named Illalu Priyuralu and in Turkish as Bir Akşam Üstü.

<i>Ghulami</i> 1985 Hindi-language Indian feature film directed by J. P. Dutta

Ghulami (transl. Slavery) is a 1985 Indian Hindi-language action drama film directed by J. P. Dutta. The film features an ensemble cast of Dharmendra, Mithun Chakraborty, Mazhar Khan, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Raza Murad, Reena Roy, Smita Patil, Anita Raj, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Shivpuri. Lyrics were by Gulzar and music by Laxmikant–Pyarelal, the latter of whom would go on to collaborate with Dutta in all his films until Kshatriya (1993). It was shot at Fatehpur, Rajasthan. Amitabh Bachchan narrated the film.

<i>Shakti</i> (1982 film) 1982 Indian film

Shakti (transl. Strength) is a 1982 Indian Hindi-language crime drama film, directed by Ramesh Sippy, written by the Salim–Javed duo, and produced by Mushir-Riaz. It stars Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Rakhee Gulzar, Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Amrish Puri. Shakti was notable for being the first and only film to feature veteran actors Kumar and Bachchan together on screen. Considered to be one of the greatest films in the history of Indian cinema, it went on to win four Filmfare Awards, for Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Sound Editing, and Best Actor for Kumar. It's inspired from Tamil film Thangappathakkam.

<i>Ardh Satya</i> 1983 Indian film

Ardh Satya is a 1983 film directed by Govind Nihalani and screenplay by Vijay Tendulkar. The film was based on the short story, 'Surya', by S. D. Panvalkar, and featured dialogues by Vasant Dev.

<i>Arth</i> (film) 1982 Indian film

Arth (transl. Meaning) is a 1982 Indian drama film directed by Mahesh Bhatt, starring Shabana Azmi and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in lead roles and Smita Patil, Raj Kiran and Rohini Hattangadi in supporting roles. It features some of the most memorable soundtracks by Ghazal duo, Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh.

<i>Junoon</i> (1978 film) 1979 Indian film

Junoon is a 1979 Indian Hindi language film produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by Shyam Benegal. The film is based on Ruskin Bond's fictional novella, A Flight of Pigeons, set around the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The film's soundtrack was composed by Vanraj Bhatia, and cinematography by Govind Nihalani.

<i>Nishant</i> (film) 1975 Indian film

Nishant is a 1975 Hindi drama film directed by Shyam Benegal, based on an original screenplay by noted playwright Vijay Tendulkar, with dialogues by Satyadev Dubey.

<i>Mandi</i> (1983 film) 1983 Indian film

Mandi is a 1983 Hindi-language film directed by Shyam Benegal. Based on a classic Urdu short story Aanandi by writer Ghulam Abbas, the film narrates the story of a brothel, situated in the heart of a city, an area that some politicians want for its prime locality. The film is a satirical comedy on politics and prostitution, and stars Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and Naseeruddin Shah among others.

Haadsaa (transl. Accident) is a 1983 Indian Hindi-language action thriller film directed and produced by Akbar Khan. The film stars Khan, Ranjeeta, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Amrish Puri as main characters. The music was composed by Kalyanji-Anandji.

<i>Oonch Neech Beech</i> 1989 Bollywood film by Wasi Khan

Oonch Neech Beech is a 1989 Bollywood film directed by Wasi Khan. It stars Sanjeev Kumar, Shabana Azmi, Shashi Kapoor and Smita Patil in leading roles and Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Nilu Phule, Sudhir, Jagdish Raj, N.A. Ansari, Sangeeta and Krishan Dhawan in supporting roles. The film is based on a true story about a village woman who gets lost at a railway station and waits fourteen years for her husband to come back.

Thikana is a 1987 Hindi crime drama film directed by Mahesh Bhatt. It stars Smita Patil, Anil Kapoor and Amrita Singh in lead roles.

<i>Situm</i> (film) 1982 Indian film

Situm is a 1982 Hindi film directed by Aruna Raje and Vikas Desai starring Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil, Vikram and Asrani among others. The then husband-wife duo worked together in the name of Aruna-Vikas jointly, before Aruna went her separate way. The rights of this film are now owned by Glamour Eyes Films.

Game is a 1993 Indian Bollywood action crime drama film directed by Anil Mattoo and produced by Romesh Sharma and starring Naseeruddin Shah, Aditya Pancholi, Rahul Roy and Sangeeta Bijlani in the pivotal roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smita Patil filmography</span>

Smita Patil was an Indian film and theatre actress. Patil is regarded among the finest and greatest stage and film actresses in the history of Indian cinema. She appeared in over 80 films in several languages, but mostly in Hindi and Marathi, in a career that spanned just over a decade. Patil is a recipient of two National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award, two Filmfare Awards Marathi and received the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian honour in 1985.

References

  1. Purie, Aroon (15 May 1981). "Film review: Chakra, starring Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Kulbhushan Kharbanda". India Today . New Delhi: Living Media India Limited. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  2. Kaushik, Satish (10 July 2019). "Satish Kaushik revisits Chakra". First of Many (Interview). Interviewed by Mimansa Shekhar. New Delhi: The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2023.
  3. "28th National Film Awards". Directorate of Film Festivals. Archived from the original on 19 February 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2013.