Bhubaneswar: Film auteur Shyam Benegal, who passed away at 90 on Monday, made films that explored social issues, and relevant topics like casteism and politics. Set against rural backdrops and based on real-life stories, Benegal’s films were marked by stellar performances and pertinent themes that won widespread appreciation.
But did you know that Benegal’s debut film ‘Ankur’ (The Seedling) starring Anant Nag, Shabana Azmi, and Sadhu Meher has an Odia connection? Sadhu, who portrayed the role of Kishtayya, a deaf and mute alcoholic potter who communicates using gestures, won the Best Actor (Silver Lotus) award for this film in 1975.
‘Ankur’ was reportedly based on a true story that occurred in Hyderabad in the 1950s. It revolves around the central conflict of a village landlord’s son’s affair with a Dalit woman (portrayed by Shabana Azmi), the social drama portrayed the presence of casteism, tilted balance of power and perils of alcoholism. The film won three National Film Awards, including the Second Best Feature Film honour, the Best Actress award for Shabana Azmi and Best Actor for Sadhu Meher.
Like many others of Benegal’s films, Ankur belongs to the genre of Indian art films.
The story revolves around two characters, Lakshmi and Surya. Lakshmi lives in a village with her husband Kishtayya and the couple is poor and belongs to the lowly Dalit caste. Lakshmi attends a village festival and prays faithfully to the Goddess, stating that her only desire in life is to have a child.
Surya (Anant Nag), the son of the village landlord, had just finished his studies in the nearby city of Hyderabad and arrives back home. Surya is forced by his father into a child marriage with the under aged Saru (Priya Tendulkar), and begins to feel extremely sexually frustrated due to the fact that they cannot have sex until Saru reaches puberty.
Later, Surya takes over the administrative responsibilities of his share of land in the village and moves into a different, older house. Lakshmi and Kishtayya are sent as his servants. Not long after his arrival, he begins to exert his authority by introducing a number of different laws and measures, many of which are controversial among the village people. Surya starts to form an attraction towards Lakshmi, and gives her the task of cooking his meals and serving him tea much to the annoyance of the village priest, a man who traditionally delivers food to the landowner.
Surya also hires Kishtayya to ride his bullock cart and run his errands and sends him collect fertilizer from the landlord’s house. Surya uses Kishtayya’s absence to flirt with Lakshmi, but she fails to reciprocate. In the meantime, the villagers have begun to gossip that Surya has already slept with Lakshmi.
Meanwhile, Kishtayya is caught stealing toddy, after which he is publicly humiliated, and he decides to leave the village due to the embarrassment. In his absence, Surya and Lakshmi sleep together. Sometime later, Saru arrives at the village, in order to live with her husband. Saru does not approve of Lakshmi’s presence, partly because Lakshmi is a Dalit and partly because Saru has heard the villagers’ rumours. The next morning, Lakshmi has morning sickness, and Saru fires her.
Many days go by, and eventually Kishtayya returns, having cured himself of his alcoholism and made some money. Lakshmi is overwhelmed with a feeling of guilt, because she believes that she has betrayed her husband. On discovering Lakshmi’s pregnancy, he salutes the village goddess at her temple, acknowledging that his wife’s wish has been granted. He then decides to return to work and hopefully ride the bullock cart once again for Surya. Surya sees Kishtayya and mistakenly believes that Kishtayya is seeking revenge from him due to his infidelity with Lakshmi.
Surya orders three men to grab hold of Kishtayya and then proceeds to whip him. The commotion attracts others to the scene, and Lakshmi rushes to defend her husband. She angrily curses Surya andslowly returns home with Kishtayya. In the final scene, after the others have left, a young child throws a stone at Surya’s glass window and runs away.
