Ghatashraddha
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''Ghatashraaddha'' ( ) is a 1977 Indian
Kannada language Kannada () is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, an ...
film directed by
Girish Kasaravalli Girish Kasaravalli (born 3 December 1950) is an Indian film director, in the Kannada cinema, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema. Known internationally for his works, Kasaravalli has garnered fourteen National Film Awards, including f ...
starring Meena Kuttappa, Narayana Bhat and Ajith Kumar in lead roles. It is based on a novella by eminent Kannada writer U. R. Ananthamurthy. The film was Girish Kasaravalli's first feature film as a director, and marked not only the arrival of a promising new filmmaker but also that of Kannada cinema in the India's 'New Cinema' horizon. The film won three awards at the
25th National Film Awards The 25th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Cinema of India, I ...
, awarded for films of 1977. It won the award for
Best Feature Film Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...
, Best Music Direction ( B. V. Karanth) and Best Child Artist (Ajith Kumar). In 2002, ''Ghatashraddha'' became the only Indian film to be chosen by the National Archive of Paris among 100 others, during the centenary celebrations of cinema. At the 2009
International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is an annual film festival currently held in Goa, on the western coast of India. The festival aims at providing a common platform for the cinemas of the world to project the excel ...
, it was announced as one of the 20 best films in
Indian cinema The cinema of India, consisting of motion pictures made by the Indian film industry, has had a large effect on world cinema since the second half of the 20th century. Indian cinema is made up of various film industries, each focused on p ...
, having received 1.6 million votes.


Plot

Udupa (Ramaswamy Iyengar) runs a run down Vedic school, operating from his house in a village. Apart from his uncontrollable and unruly students, he lives with his young daughter, Yamuna (Meena Kuttappa), already a widow. Naani (Ajit Kumar), the innocent boy from a distant village, is a new student. A bond develops between a homesick Naani and Yamuna. Yamuna has a lover, a school teacher, whom she meets clandestinely. She is also pregnant by him. As Udupa goes out of town to raise funds for his crumbling school, things go out of hand at the school. The students go out of control and soon the entire village knows about Yamuna's pregnancy. The traditional village members excommunicate Yamuna. Her lover gets the baby aborted without anyone's knowledge. Udupa returns and on finding out what has happened, performs the last rites of his living daughter. Amidst all these, Naani is the only person in the village determined to support her but not for long for his father comes back to take him away. Yamuna is shaved bald and is abandoned under a banyan tree.


Cast

* Meena Kuttappa as Yamuna * Narayana Bhat as Shastri * Ajith Kumar as Naani * Ramakrishna * Shantha * Ramaswamy Iyengar * Jagannath *
B. Suresha B. Suresha is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor who works in Kannada-language films. He is known for directing the films ''Artha'' (2003) and '' Puttakkana Highway'' (2011). Career B. Suresha made his debut as a child ...
* H. S. Parvathi


Production

Girish Kasaravalli Girish Kasaravalli (born 3 December 1950) is an Indian film director, in the Kannada cinema, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema. Known internationally for his works, Kasaravalli has garnered fourteen National Film Awards, including f ...
approached U. R. Ananthamurthy for the rights of ''Ghatashraddha'' through dramatist
K. V. Subbanna Kuntagodu Vibhuthi Subbanna (20 February 1932 – 16 July 2005) was an acclaimed dramatist and writer in Kannada. He was the founder of the world-famous ''NINASAM'' (''Neelanakantheshwara Natya Sangha'') drama institute.History of Ninasa ...
. Ananthamurthy, who was in the US at the time, gave his go-ahead on hearing the screenplay from Kasaravalli, on his return to India. It was on the former's suggestion that Meena Kuttappa, his former student, was signed to play the female lead in the film.


Restoration

During February 2024, US film publication
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
announced that the
Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...
's World Cinema Project,
George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...
' Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation and
Shivendra Singh Dungarpur Shivendra Singh Dungarpur (born 25 August 1969) is an Indian filmmaker, producer, film archivist and restorer. He is best known for his films '' Celluloid Man'', '' The Immortals'' and '' CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel''. He has also dir ...
's
Film Heritage Foundation Film Heritage Foundation is a non-profit organization, based in Mumbai, India, dedicated to film preservation, restoration and archiving of India’s film heritage. History The Film Heritage Foundation was founded in 2014 by Shivendra Singh Du ...
(FHF) have partnered to restore the film in time for its 50th anniversary from the original camera negative preserved at India's
National Film Development Corporation of India The National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) based in Mumbai is the central agency established in 1975, to encourage high quality Indian cinema. It functions in areas of film financing, production and distribution and under the Min ...
-National Film Archive of India. The restored version of the film was showcased in the Venice Classics section of the 81st
Venice International Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...
, where it was given the English-language title ''The Ritual''. It was also screened at the
MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 The MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 took place between 19 and 24 October 2024 in Mumbai, India. It was the first edition of the festival under interim festival director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, following the departure of Anupama Chopra from the ...
under the Restored Classics section.


Awards

;
25th National Film Awards The 25th National Film Awards, presented by Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India to felicitate the best of Cinema of India, I ...
*
Best Feature Film Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...
* Best Music DirectionB. V. Karanth * Best Child Artist — Ajith Kumar ;1977–78
Karnataka State Film Awards Karnataka State Film Awards are the most notable and prestigious film awards given for Kannada film industry in Karnataka, India. These are considered the highest awards for Kannada language films. They are given annually by the Government ...
* First Best Film * Best StoryU. R. Ananthamurthy *
Best Screenplay This list of screenwriting awards for film is an index to articles on notable awards given for film screenwriting. The list is organized by region and country of the awards venue or sponsor, but winners are not necessarily restricted to people fro ...
Girish Kasaravalli Girish Kasaravalli (born 3 December 1950) is an Indian film director, in the Kannada cinema, and one of the pioneers of the Parallel Cinema. Known internationally for his works, Kasaravalli has garnered fourteen National Film Awards, including f ...
* Best Child Actor — Ajith Kumar


References


External links

*
Overview at NY Times

ಕನ್ನಡಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ.ಕಾಮ್ ನಿಂದ ಗಿರೀಶ್ ಕಾಸರವಳ್ಳಿ ಗೌರವಾರ್ಥ - ಕನ್ನಡ ಪರ್ಯಾಯ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ರಸಗ್ರಹಣ ಶಿಬಿರ
{{Girish Kasaravalli 1977 films 1970s Kannada-language films 1970s Indian films Best Feature Film National Film Award winners Kannada literature Indian drama films Films based on Indian novels Films about widowhood in India Films directed by Girish Kasaravalli Films scored by B. V. Karanth 1977 directorial debut films 1977 drama films Films featuring a Best Child Artist National Award–winning performance 1970s rediscovered films Rediscovered Indian films Films about the caste system in India Films about interclass romance