''Junoon'' (

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

: ''The Obsession'') is a 1979

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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

film produced by Shashi Kapoor and directed by

Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (14 December 1934 – 23 December 2024) was an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. H ...

. The film is based on

's fictional novella, '' Parvaz'', set around the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

. The film's soundtrack was composed by

Vanraj Bhatia Vanraj Bhatia (Hindi: वनराज भाटिया ; 31 May 1927 – 7 May 2021) was an Indian composer best known for his work in Indian New Wave cinema. He was also one of the leading composers of Western classical music in India. Bha ...

, and cinematography by

Govind Nihalani Govind Nihalani (born 19 December 1940) is an Indian film director, cinematographer, screenwriter and producer, known for his works in Hindi cinema, particularly the movement of parallel cinema. He has been the recipient of six National Film Aw ...

. Its cast included Shashi Kapoor, his wife Jennifer Kendal, Nafisa Ali,

Tom Alter Thomas Beach Alter (22 June 1950 – 29 September 2017) was an Indian actor. He was best known for his works in Hindi cinema, and Indian theatre. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. Early life Born in Mussoorie ...

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 ...

Kulbhushan Kharbanda Kulbhushan Kharbanda (born 21 October 1944) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi and Punjabi films. He is best known for his role as the antagonist Shakaal in '' Shaan'' (1980), Starting off with the Delhi-based theatre group ' Yatrik' in the ...

Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He was notable in Indian parallel cinema and has starred in various international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfa ...

, Deepti Naval, Pearl Padamsee and

Sushma Seth Sushma Seth (born 20 June 1936) is an Indian stage, film and television actress. She started her career in the 1950s, and was a founder member of the Delhi-based theatre group Yatrik. Her first film was '' Junoon'' in 1978. She is known for pl ...

. The film also featured Shashi and Jennifer's children Karan Kapoor, Kunal Kapoor, and Sanjana Kapoor.

Plot

The story is set around the

. Javed Khan ( Shashi Kapoor) is a reckless feudal chieftain of

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Pathan heritage, whose world revolves around breeding carrier pigeons. His younger brother-in-law, Sarfaraz Khan (

) is politically awakened and actively plots the fight against the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

. Freedom fighters attack the local British administrators while they are in Sunday Worship at church, massacring them all. Miriam Labadoor ( Jennifer Kendal) manages to escape with her daughter, Ruth ( Nafisa Ali), and mother ( Ismat Chugtai), who is a Muslim woman from the royal

Nawab Nawab is a royal title indicating a ruler, often of a South Asian state, in many ways comparable to the Western title of Prince. The relationship of a Nawab to the Emperor of India has been compared to that of the Kingdom of Saxony, Kings of ...

i family of Rampur and was married to an Englishman. The three women seek refuge with the wealthy

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

family of Lala Ramjimal (

). Lala is torn between his loyalty to India and his privileged position under the British, and also his silent love towards Miriam, who seems to also reciprocate it silently. However, matters are taken out of his hands by Javed Khan who barges into Lala's house and forcibly takes Ruth and her family to his own house. This leads to jealousy on the part of his wife, Firdaus (

), and anger on the part of his brother, who ultimately gives in to the Pathan tradition of offering hospitality and sanctuary ( Nanawatai) even to uninvited guests. Various situations ensue due to cultural misunderstandings in the domestic routine of the Muslim household with its new English guests. Javed falls in love with Ruth, and wants to marry her but is opposed bitterly by her mother. Noticing the intense feelings of Javed for her daughter Ruth, Miriam cleverly makes an agreement with Javed that she would only give her daughter's hand to Javed if the British were defeated. At first, Javed is hesitant but accepts the deal when again Miriam asks him if he has misgivings in his war against the British. There is simmering of a love affair under the watchful suspicious eyes of Firdaus. Meanwhile, the Rebellion runs into problems and the British are defeating the poorly organised Indian forces. In a stormy scene, Sarfaraz destroys Javed's pigeon coops and sets his pets free after he finds out that Indian forces have lost the Battle for Delhi. There is a delayed recognition by Javed of his subjugated identity, colonised by the British. Sarfaraz dies in a battle against the British. The Labadoors return to the protection of the re-deployed British contingent, smuggled by Firdaus, who only wants to save her marriage. Javed finds out that the Labadoors have sought sanctuary in the church and rushes there to meet Ruth one last time. Surprisingly, Ruth comes out and expresses her feelings for Javed against her mother's will. However, Javed honourably keeps his word he had given Miriam Labadoor and leaves the church without Ruth. The movie ends here with the voiceover that Javed was martyred fighting the British while Ruth and her mother return to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Ruth dies fifty-five years later, unwed.

Cast

* Shashi Kapoor as Javed Khan * Nafisa Ali as Ruth Labadoor * Jennifer Kendal as Miriam Labadoor (Ruth's mother) *

as Sarfaraz Khan, Javed's brother-in-law *

as Firdaus, Javed's wife * Ismat Chughtai as Miriam's mother *

as Lala Ramjimal * Sanjana Kapoor * Kunal Kapoor * Karan Kapoor * Benjamin Gilani as Rashid Khan *

as Javed's aunt *

as Priest (Ruth's father) *

Amrish Puri Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Cinema of India, Indian cinema and Theatre of India, theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himsel ...

as the Narrator * Jalal Agha as Kader Khan * Geoffrey Kendal * Rajesh Vivek * Deepti Naval as Rashid's wife * Pearl Padamsee as Akhtarbee, a bitter woman * Savita Bajaj

Reception

In a retrospective review, Raja Sen of Rediff.com called it "an overwhelmingly powerful film, a bittersweet, entirely futile love story."

Awards

1979 National Film Awards: * Best Feature Film in Hindi – Shashi Kapoor * Best Cinematography –

* Best Audiography – Hitendra Ghosh 27th Filmfare Awards: Won * Best Film – Shashi Kapoor * Best Director –

* Best Dialogue – Pandit Satyadev Dubey * Best Cinematography – Govind Nihalani * Best Editing – Bhanudas Divakar * Best Sound Recording – Hitendra Ghosh Nominated * Best Supporting Actor –

* Best Supporting Actress – Jennifer Kendal * Best Story –

Ruskin Bond Ruskin Bond (born 19 May 1934) is an Indian author. His first novel, ''The Room on the Roof'', published in 1956, received the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Bond has authored more than 500 short stories, essays, and novels which includes 69 books ...

Recognition

* Inaugural film at the 7th International Film Festival, New Delhi, 1979. * Official Indian entry at the XIth

Moscow International Film Festival The Moscow International Film Festival (, Transliteration, translit. ''Moskóvskiy myezhdunaródniy kinofyestivál''; abbreviated as MIFF) is a film festival first held in Moscow in 1935 and became regular since 1959. From its inception to ...

. * Featured at the

Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.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 ...

1979, the

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. , the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

1980 and the

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venic ...

1980.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack features 4 songs, composed by

, with original lyrics from Yogesh Praveen and other lyrics by

Amir Khusro Abu'l Hasan Yamīn ud-Dīn Khusrau (1253 – 1325 AD), better known as Amīr Khusrau, sometimes spelled as, Amir Khusrow or Amir Khusro, was an Indo-Persian culture, Indo-Persian Sufi singer, musician, poet and scholar, who lived during the per ...

Jigar Moradabadi Ali Sikandar (6 April 1890 – 9 September 1960), known by his pen name as Jigar Moradabadi, was an Indian Urdu poet and ''ghazal'' writer. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1958 for his poetry collection "Atish-e-Gul", and was the seco ...

and Sant Kabir. # "Khusro rain piya ki jaagi pee ke sang" – Jamil Ahmad # "Ishq ne todi sar pe qayamat" – Mohammad Rafi # "Come live with me and be my love" – Jennifer Kendal # "Ghir aayi kari ghata matwali sawan ki aayi bahaar re" –

Asha Bhosle Asha Bhosle (; ; born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer, entrepreneur, actress and television personality who predominantly works in Indian cinema. Known for her versatility, she has been described in the media as one of the ...

, Varsha Bhosle

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Junoon (1978 Film) 1978 films 1970s Hindi-language films 1970s Indian films Films directed by Shyam Benegal Films set in Lucknow Films set in the Indian independence movement Films set in the British Raj Films set in the 1850s Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography National Film Award Films about the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Films that won the Best Audiography National Film Award Best Hindi Feature Film National Film Award winners Films based on Indian novels