Mani Kaul

Based on a Rajasthani folk story of a merchant's son who returns to his village with his new bride. He has to leave the village on business, leaving her alone. A ghost, hiding in a tree, witnesses his arrival and departure, and impersonating the husband, starts living with the wife.

A woman waits for her truck driver husband, everyday, with his daily bread. Her concern for their dying relationship and her sister grows fast as she starts to doubt his loyalty. (imdb)

An exploration into dhrupad, the oldest genre of Hindustani classical music by the hand of Fariduddin Dagar and Zia Mohiyuddin Dagar, whose 'gharana'. or musical family traces back its origins back to the 15th century. (MUBI)

A documentary on the functional forms of industrial age and the decorative ones from Indian tradition. (theseventhart.info)

Chitrakathi is about the folk artists of western India who narrate with the help of leather puppets. Mani takes us to the sleepy Konkan coastal village and introduces us to the family that has preserved this unique art for several centuries. Now it faces extinction because younger men would rather go to the city and earn a living there, than practise an outmoded art which holds no future. (MUBI)

Episodic film about the ancient Indian tradition of terracotta sculpture and pottery and the several legends associated with this tradition. The artifacts involved include some of the oldest items of Indian civilization (from the Indus Valley, 2500BC) and have been, together with the legends associated with terracotta techniques, central to historical research into e.g. the origins of patriarchy, the shift from pastoral to agrarian systems, etc.

Kaul's film addresses the writings of Gajanan Madhav Muktibodh (1917-79), one of the main representatives of the Nai Kavita (New Poetry) movement in Hindi. Muktibodh also wrote several short stories, one of which provides the film with its title, and critical essays. The film integrates episodes from Muktibodh's writings with material from other source, including a reinvented neo-realism derived from Muktibodh's literary settings.

Kaul's legendary short film was intended as an early statement on the city of Mumbai, the city of migrants into which pour people, goods, food and cattle. The film is a montage of images and sound, and anticipates by some decades the fascination with the city's street culture merging with its informal economy.

A mesmerising 'filmscape' on the Kashmir valley. (idfa.nl)

An impressionistic biographical look at Siddheshwari Devi (19081977), the classical Indian singer whose voice was appreciated by the maharajas and public alike. She was from Varanasi, India, known as Maa (mother). Born in 1907, she lost her parents early and was brought up by her aunt, the noted singer Rajeshwari Devi. She won many accolades during her career, including "Padma Shri" by the Government of India (1966).

This was the first movie made by this group (see Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan (1978), a collective effort in direction and cinematography. The story tells the tale of Nanasaheb Phadnavis, the prime minister and real power of the Peshwa Maharaja, 1773-1797, and is used to make comment on Indian political history. (imdb)

A very clever parrot lives in a Hindu palace, surrounded by many beautiful girls, but the parrot escapes, and is trapped far from the palace. One day, when its new owner is sleeping, the bird convinces a young boy to open the cage door. In return, it shows the boy a secret passage to get into the palace.

Based on F. Dostkeyfski's "The Meek One", this is the saga of a Bombay-based antique dealer-cum-money lender, who at the age of 40, marries a woman who is 17. Their marriage is not a happy one, even though he hopes it will get better. But the bride, who had lived her live in an orphanage, is immersed in her own thoughts, and at one point even held a revolver against her husband's head while he was sleeping. (imdb)

A Monkey's Raincoat is a personal documentary about young artists working at the 'Rijksakademie'; an institute which offers residency to sixty talented artists from all over the world.

Aashad Ka Ek Din is an adaptation of the play that is based on Kalidasa's life in three acts. Kalidasa is renowned as one of the greatest writers, poets and dramatists in the history of Sanskrit language.