''Khandhar'' (English: ''Ruins'') is a 1984 Indian

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

-language film directed by Mrinal Sen, based on a

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 ...

short story, ''Telenapota Abishkar'' (Discovering Telenapota) by

Premendra Mitra Premendra Mitra (4 September 1904 – 3 May 1988)Samsad Bengali Charitabhidhan Vol.II edited Anjali Bose, Published by Sagitta Samsad, Kolkata, Edition January,2019,Page-240 was an Indian poet, writer and film director in the Bengali language. ...

. The film stars Shabana Azmi,

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

and Pankaj Kapur. It was screened in the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the

1984 Cannes Film Festival The 37th Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1984. The Palme d'Or went to the ''Paris, Texas'' by Wim Wenders. The festival opened with ''Fort Saganne'', directed by Alain Corneau and closed with '' The Bounty'', directed by Roger D ...

Plot

Three friends from the city visit some ruins where an aged mother (Gita Sen) and her daughter Jamini ( Shabana Azmi) live. Mother awaits the arrival of a distant cousin to marry Jamini, but the man is already married and living in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

. The photographer Subhash (

) takes pity on the family and pretends to be the awaited suitor. They keep up the charade for the duration of the trio's visit, Subhash quietly becoming attracted to Jamini even as he understands the fate awaiting her. When the friends leave, Jamini stays behind, facing a life of loneliness in the ruins.

Cast

* Shabana Azmi as Jamini *

as Subhash * Gita Sen as The Mother * Pankaj Kapur as Dipu * Annu Kapoor as Anil * Sreela Majumdar as Gauri * Rajen Tarafder as Harihar (voice over by

Om Puri Om Prakash Puri (18 October 1950 – 6 January 2017) was an Indian actor who appeared in mainstream commercial Hindi films as well as Bengali, Kannada,English, Punjabi and one Telugu film, as well as independent and art films and also starred ...

)

Awards

* 1985:

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

Grand Prize A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements.

(Best Film) * 1985 Filmfare Best Screenplay Award: Mrinal Sen * 1984 National Film Award for Best Director: Mrinal Sen * 1984

National Film Award for Best Actress The National Film Award for Best Actress (officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actress) is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India since 1968 to an actress for the best performance in a leading role wit ...

: Shabana Azmi * 1984 National Film Award for Best Editing : Mrinmoy Chakraborty

Restoration

Ujwal Nirgudkar Ujwal Nirgudkar is a Technical Advisor for India’s National Film Heritage Mission and a chemical engineer by training. He member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, joining the Class of 2017. He is the first Indian to join the ...

received Assocham Award for Best Film Restoration of ''Khandhar''.

References

External links

* 1984 films 1980s Hindi-language films Films directed by Mrinal Sen Films featuring a Best Actress National Award-winning performance Films based on short fiction Films whose director won the Best Director National Film Award Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing National Award {{1980s-Hindi-film-stub