Sara Aakash

Last updated

Sara Akash
Directed by Basu Chatterjee
Written byBasu Chatterjee (screenplay),
Kamleshwar (dialogue)
Rajendra Yadav (story)
Based on'सारा आकाश', Novel by Rajendra Yadav [1]
Produced byBasu Chatterjee
Starring Rakesh Pandey
Madhu Chakravarty,
Nandita Thakur,
A. K. Hangal,
Dina Pathak,
Mani Kaul,
Tarla Mehta,
Shaily Shailendra,
Jalal Agha,
Aarti Bole
Cinematography K. K. Mahajan
Edited byIshwar Chandra
Ashok Gaind
Music by Salil Choudhury
Production
company
Cineye Films
Release date
  • 1969 (1969)
Running time
82 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Sara Aakash (English: The Whole Sky) is a 1969 Hindi film directed by Basu Chatterjee, based on first part of novel Sara Akash (The whole Cosmos, 1951) by Rajendra Yadav. This was Yadav's debut novel, originally published as Pret Bolte Hain (Ghosts Speak), renamed in 1960, the title in turn was taken from a poem by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar. [2] [3] The film starred Rakesh Pandey, Madhu Chakravarty, Nandita Thakur, A. K. Hangal and Dina Pathak in lead roles. Set in a traditional middle class joint family in Agra, the film deals with internal conflicts of a newly wed couple, both of whom find themselves unprepared for domestic life. [4]

Contents

The film marked the debut of Basu Chatterjee as director, and was also the first film of cinematographer K. K. Mahajan, who won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for his black-and-white camera work in the film. [5] Along with Uski Roti and Bhuvan Shome other notable films of the year, it is regarded as one of the films which started the Indian New Wave. [6] [7]

Plot

Agra-based collegian, Samar Thakur (Rakesh Pandey), lives in a joint family consisting of his father (A. K. Hangal), mother (Dina Pathak), brother Amar (film director Mani Kaul, in his only major acting role) and his wife; as well as a married sister, Munni, estranged from her husband. His parents force him to marry Prabha (Madhu Chakravarty), a matriculate, much to his chagrin as this interferes with his future plans. The marriage does take place, and he soon finds that he is not only incompatible with her, she was well versed in household chores. Leading to arguments, abuse and neglect, which may result in the end of this marriage.

Cast

Production

The film was shot on location in Agra, and in Rajendra Yadav's old family house in Raja Ki Mandi area, Agra. [3] [7] In his foreword to the second edition of the novel, Yadav relates how it was a thrilling experience to go around the house with the director and cinematographer. Mahajan said to Chatterjee that the house was a "ready-made set", better than anything that could be built in Bombay. Yadav offered to make it available for the shooting. [8]

Awards

Critical reception

Sara Akash was one of the films featured in Avijit Ghosh's book, 40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed.[ citation needed ]

The making of Sara Akash has been covered in a lot of detail in Anirudha Bhattacharjee's book , Basu Chatterji: And Middle of the road cinema (Penguin Random House, 2023). It has extensive and exclusive interviews with Basu Chatterji, and all the living members of the cast, including Madhuchhanda Chakrabarty, Rakesh Pandey, Nandita Thakur, Rachana Yadav (progeny of Rajendra Yadav and Mannu Bhandari), Assistant director Ramesh Gupta, people from Agra who were associated with the shoot, among others. [10]

Related Research Articles

<i>Rajnigandha</i> 1974 Indian film

Rajnigandha (transl. Tuberose) is a 1974 Hindi film directed by Basu Chatterjee. It is based on the short story "Yehi Sach Hai" by noted Hindi writer Mannu Bhandari. The movie starred Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha and Dinesh Thakur in the lead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rajendra Yadav</span> Indian writer (1929–2013)

Rajendra Yadav was a Hindi fiction writer, and a pioneer of the 'Nayi Kahani' movement of Hindi literature. He edited the literary magazine HANS, which was founded by Munshi Premchand in 1930 but ceased publication in 1953 – Yadav relaunched it on 31 July 1986,.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basu Chatterjee</span> Indian film director (1927–2020)

Basu Chatterjee was an Indian film director and screenwriter in Hindi Cinema.Through the 1970s and 1980s, he became associated with what came to be known as middle cinema or middle-of-the-road cinema filmmakers, such as Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Basu Bhattacharya, whom he assisted on Teesri Kasam (1966). Like their films, his films dealt with light-hearted stories of middle-class families often in urban settings, focusing on marital and love relationships.

Dina Pathak was an Indian actress and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was an activist and President of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW).

The Filmfare Best Screenplay Award is given by the Filmfare magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films.

<i>Uttaran</i> Indian television soap opera

Uttaran is an Indian soap opera that aired on Colors TV from 1 August 2008 to 16 January 2015. The third longest-running Indian television series of Colors TV, it starred Tina Datta, Rashami Desai, Nandish Sandhu, Rohit Khurana, Sreejita De and Mrunal Jain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">K. K. Mahajan</span> Indian cinematographer (1944–2007)

K. K. Mahajan was an Indian cinematographer who was known for his work in Parallel Cinema. In a career that spanned over four decades, he won four National Film Awards. He was best known for his work with filmmakers such as Kumar Shahani, Mani Kaul, Basu Chatterjee and Mrinal Sen.

<i>Chakravyuha</i> (1978 film) 1978 Indian film

Chakravyuha is a 1978 Bollywood thriller film directed by Basu Chatterjee with screenplay by Jainendra Jain. The film stars Rajesh Khanna in the lead role, supported by Neetu Singh, Vinod Mehra, Simple Kapadia, Pradeep Kumar, Om Shivpuri, Dina Pathak, Master Raju Shrestha, Yunuz Parvez, Pinchoo Kapoor and others. Upon release, the film became critically acclaimed. This film was co-produced by Rajesh Khanna with Yusuf Hassan.

<i>Manzil</i> (1979 film) 1979 Indian film

Manzil is a 1979 Indian Hindi-language romantic drama film directed by Basu Chatterjee. The film was a loose adaptation of the 1965 Bengali film Akash Kusum. Manzil stars Amitabh Bachchan and Moushumi Chatterjee in pivotal roles. Filming was intermittent between 1972 and 1979, when it was finally released. The film won critical acclaim for its story, while Bachchan was praised for his performance, although, the film did only average business at the box office. The song Rimjhim Gire Saawan was a chartbuster, and the picturization of Lata Mangeshkar's version of the song that was shot in real rain in Mumbai made it a perennial favorite. The movie was reported to be the only Hindi movie to have galvanometer in its core plot.

Rakesh Pandey is an Indian actor in Hindi and Bhojpuri films. He has appeared in TV serials such as Chotti Bahu and Dehleez. He is an alumnus of the Indian Film and Television Institute, Pune.

<i>Gandii Baat</i> Indian adult 18+ comedy web series

Gandii Baat is an Indian adult comedy web series directed by Sachin Mohite for ALTBalaji. Now this series has been removed from the ZEE5 and MX Player because of the adult content, since Indian government released new OTT Platform Rules.

<i>Mumbaicha Jawai</i> 1970 Indian film

Mumbaicha Jawai is a 1970 Indian Marathi-language film directed by Raja Thakur and produced by Tushar Pradhan. The film stars Arun Sarnaik, Rajeeta, Ratnamala, Sharad Talwalkar. Film received National Film Award for Best Marathi Feature Film at 18th National Film Awards.

References

  1. ↑ Yadav, Rajendra (1951). सारा आकाश (in Hindi). Radhakrishna Prakashan Pvt Ltd. ISBN   9788183612531.
  2. ↑ Alan Goble (1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. p. 940. ISBN   978-3-11-095194-3.
  3. 1 2 "Eminent Hindi writer Rajendra Yadav passes away". The Times of India. 29 October 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  4. ↑ Srivastava Banerjee (13 September 2013). One Hundred Indian Feature Films: An Annotated Filmography. Taylor & Francis. pp. 198–. ISBN   978-1-135-84105-8.
  5. ↑ "17th National Film Awards" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals . Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  6. ↑ "'Mani Kaul's films didn't come to you, you had to go to them'". Indian Express. 16 July 2011. Retrieved 31 October 2013.
  7. 1 2 K. Moti Gokulsing; Wimal Dissanayake (2013). Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas. Routledge. p. 21. ISBN   978-1-136-77284-9.
  8. ↑ Yadav, Rajendra (2000). Sara Akash. Radhakrishna Prakashan. ISBN   81-7119-443-5.
  9. ↑ "Best Screenplay Award". Filmfare Award Official Listings, Indiatimes . Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  10. ↑ Bhattacharjee, Anirudha (2023). Basu Chatterji: And middle of the road cinema. Vintage Books. ISBN   97-8067-009-6251.

Sara Aakash at IMDb

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.