''Daughters of This Century'' is a

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

anthology film An anthology film (also known as an omnibus film or a portmanteau film) is a single film consisting of three or more shorter films, each complete in itself and distinguished from the other, though frequently tied together by a single theme, premise ...

directed by

Tapan Sinha Tapan Sinha (2 October 1924 – 15 January 2009) was one of the most prominent Indian film directors of his time forming a legendary quartet with Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. He was primarily a Bengali filmmaker who worked both ...

. The film, comprising of six segments, has its fourth segment based on the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

novel ''Ei Daho'' (1961) by

Gour Kishore Ghosh Gour Kishore Ghosh (20 June 1923 – 15 December 2000) was an Indian writer and journalist in Bengali language, Bengali. Associated with ''Anandabazar Patrika'' for decades, Ghosh was known for his novels ''Desh Mati Manush'' and ''Prem Nei''. ...

while rest of the segments are based on five Bengali short stories ⸺ '' Jibita o Mrita'' (1904) by

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

, ''Abhagir Swarga'' (1918) by

Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay (anglicised as Sarat Chandra Chatterjee; 15 September 1876 – 16 January 1938) was a Bengali novelist and short story writer of the early 20th century. He generally wrote about the lives of Bengali family and socie ...

, ''Satgharia'' (1976) by

Prafulla Roy Prafulla Roy (11 September 1934 – 19 June 2025) was a Bengali author, lived in West Bengal, India. He received Bankim Puraskar and Sahitya Akademi Award for his literary contribution in Bengali. Roy died on 19 June 2025, at the age of 90. ...

, ''Kaanch'' (1984) by

Dibyendu Palit Dibyendu Palit (; 5 March 1939 – 3 January 2019) was a Bengali novelist, poet, and short-story writer. His oeuvre consists of some forty novels, twenty-five short-story collections, ten poetry collections and several essays. He was senior ass ...

and the last one by

Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay Tarasankar Bandyopadhyay (23 July 1898 – 14 September 1971) was an Indian novelist who wrote in the Bengali language. He wrote 65 novels, 53-story-books, 12 plays, 4 essay-books, 4 autobiographies, 2 travel stories and composed several songs. ...

. Each segment runs for 30 minutes. The film delves into the plight of Indian women in the

20th century The 20th century began on 1 January 1901 (MCMI), and ended on 31 December 2000 (MM). It was the 10th and last century in the 2nd millennium and was marked by new models of scientific understanding, unprecedented scopes of warfare, new modes of ...

. It stars

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of film, television and theatre. Her career in the Hindi cinema, Hindi film industry has spanned Shabana Azmi filmography, over 160 films, mostly within independent and neorealist paral ...

Jaya Bachchan Jaya Bachchan (''née'' Bhaduri; born 9 April 1948) is an Indian actress and politician. She is regarded as one of the greatest actresses of Hindi cinema. She is serving as member of the parliament in the Rajya Sabha from the Samajwadi Party ...

Madhuri Dixit Madhuri Dixit Nene (Maiden and married names, née Dixit, ; born 15 May 1967) is an Indian actress and television personality. She has appeared in Madhuri Dixit filmography, over 70 Hindi films. Praised by critics for her performances and danc ...

Pallavi Joshi Pallavi Joshi (born 4 April 1969) is an Indian actress, writer, and film producer who works primarily in Hindi films and television. In a career spanning across films and television, Joshi is the recipient of such accolades as three National Fi ...

Deepa Sahi Deepa Sahi is an Indian actress and producer, best known for her role as Maya in the 1993 movie ''Maya Memsaab'', opposite actor Farooq Sheikh. She made her directorial debut with the movie ''Tere Mere Phere'' in 2011. Early and personal life ...

Nandita Das Nandita Das (born 7 November 1969) is an Indian actress and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das appeared in the films ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth'' (1998), '' Bawandar'' (2000), '' Kannathil Muthamittal' ...

Sulabha Deshpande Sulabha Deshpande (; 1937 – 4 June 2016) was an Indian actress and theatre director. Apart from Marathi theatre and Hindi theatre in Mumbai, she acted in over 73 mainstream Bollywood films. She also performed in art house cinema such as '' Bh ...

Gyanesh Mukherjee Gyanesh Mukherjee (5 July 1926 – 8 May 2008) was a Bengali actor, director and theater personality. Career He was involved with Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA). In his film career, Mukherjee worked with number of famous directors ...

Debashree Roy Debashree Roy (born 8 August 1962) also known as Debasree Roy, is an Indian actress, dancer, choreographer, politician and animal rights activist. She was a bankable star of Bengali cinema during 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. She received mo ...

Mamata Shankar Mamata Shankar (born 7 January 1955) is an Indian actress and dancer. She is known for her work in Bengali cinema. She has acted in films by directors including Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Rituparno Ghosh, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and Gautam Ghosh. ...

Pankaj Kapoor Pankaj Kapur (born 29 May 1954) is an Indian actor who has worked in Hindi theatre, television and films. Recipient of a Filmfare Award and three National Film Awards, his most acclaimed film roles include that of Inspector P.K. in '' Raakh'' ...

Milind Gunaji Milind Gunaji (born 23 July 1961) is an Indian actor, model, television presenter, writer and author, most known for his roles in Marathi and Hindi cinema. He made his first film appearance in 1993's ''Papeeha'' and has since performed in over ...

Kaushik Sen Koushik Sen (born 19 September 1968) is an Indian actor in film, television, OTT and theatre, based in Kolkata. He is the founder and director of the theatre group Swapnasandhani. He won the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Award for best ...

and Jeet. Despite an ensemble cast, the film was a critical and commercial failure. Most of the critics stated that Sinha failed to weave a strong screenplay. The performance of the cast was well-appreciated. It was screened at 28th International Film Festival of India held in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

, in 1997. At the

Cairo International Film Festival The Cairo International Film Festival is an annual internationally accredited film festival held in Cairo Opera House. It was established in 1976 and has taken place every year since its inception, except for 2011 and 2013, when it was cancelled ...

in 2001, the film was screened without the last segment featuring Madhuri Dixit, because of time-constraint, and was nominated for

Golden Pyramid Award The Golden Pyramid Award is the highest prize for best film in the international competition of the Cairo International Film Festival, hosted annually in Cairo, Egypt. Winners and nominees References Bibliography * External links Pyra ...

. In the same year, it was re-released in India.

Plot

Cast

as Kadambini *

as Abhaagi *

as Champia *

as Charu *

as Hemlata *

as Manorama *

* Amit Banerjee *

* Jeet (Cameo) * Sudip Mukherjee *

Prem Prakash Modi Prem Prakash Modi (born 17 July 1968) is an Indian filmmaker, writer, producer and actor known for his works in Hindi & Bengali cinema. He made his debut as a director in 2013 with the Bengali feature film ''Arjun – Kalimpong E Sitaharan'' sta ...

Arjun Chakraborty Arjun Chakraborty () is an Indian actor and director based in Kolkata. He made his debut as an actor in the 1983 Hindi film ''Zara Si Zindagi'', and his first major role was in the 1986 film '' Ankush'' starring Nana Patekar. Later he shifted ...

as Vinod, Rama's husband and Hemlata's son-in-law *

Papiya Sengupta Papiya Sengupta is an Indian television actress, who has appeared in numerous Hindi television series, like Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani, ''Savdhaan India'', '' Fear Files: Darr Ki Sacchi Tasvirein'' and '' Anamika''. She appeared in ''Yeh Kahan Aa ...

Rita Koiral Rita Koiral or Rita Kayral (3 July 1959 – 19 November 2017) was an Indian Bengali actress, known for her television and film roles. She appeared in several soap opera roles, often as villains and often opposite Monami Ghosh. Directors she ...

* Amit Banerjee * Joy Badlani

Reception

The film received positive review for the performance of the cast, but negative reviews followed for Sinha's weak screenplay. ''

Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, also referred to as ''the classic Outlook'' an e-mail client and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook for Windows, also referred to as ''the ...

'' wrote, "All the characters ignite sparks through their bright performances but fail to start the fire. In the end, the viewer feels let down by Sinha". Monish Kumar Das of Upperstall.com describes the film to be "a strong statement depicting the neglect and abuse Indian women have faced throughout the 20th century."

Accolades

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* {{Subject bar, Film, India, d=yes, d-search=Q100329013 1995 films Indian anthology films 1990s Hindi-language films