''Split Wide Open'' is a 1999 Indian film directed by

Dev Benegal Dev Benegal is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter, most known for his debut film ''English, August (film), English, August'' (1994), which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English, Best Feature Film in English at the 42nd ...

. It is his second feature film after ''

English, August ''English, August: An Indian Story'' is a novel by Indian author Upamanyu Chatterjee. It is written in English and first published in 1988. The novel was adapted into a film of the same name in 1994. The novel portrays the struggle of a civil ...

'' (1994). The film primarily deals with the

Water conflicts Water conflict typically refers to violence or disputes associated with access to, or control of, water resources, or the use of water or water systems as weapons or casualties of conflicts. The term ''water war'' is colloquially used in media ...

in the slums of

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, and

paedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of pube ...

, and also looks at the subversive

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

in modern

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 ...

and how the notions of morality are challenged when sex and poverty collide. The film came under harsh criticism when released in

and has been one of the most controversial Indian films.

Cast and characters

Rahul Bose Rahul Bose (born 27 July 1967) is an Indian actor and athlete who works in Hindi films. Bose is the president of Rugby India. He has appeared in Bengali films such as '' Mr. and Mrs. Iyer'', '' Kalpurush'', '' Anuranan'', '' Antaheen'', ''L ...

as KP (Kut-Price) *

Laila Rouass Laila Rouass ( Abdesselam; born 22 June 1971) is a British actress. She is best known for her portrayals of Amber Gates in ''Footballers' Wives'' (2004–2006) and Sahira Shah in ''Holby City'' (2011–2012, 2021). She has also starred in ''Pri ...

as Nandita * Ayesha Dharkar as Leela *

Shivaji Satam Shivaji Satam (born 21 April 1950/1953) is an Indian television and film actor. He is best known for his role as ACP Pradyuman in the detective television series '' CID''. Early life and education Shivaji Satam attended school at the Antonio ...

as Shiv *

Abhimanyu Sharma Abhimanyu (, ) is a character in the ancient Hindu epic ''Mahābhārata''. He was a young and valiant warrior of the Kuru lineage, born to Arjuna—the third Pandava brother—and Subhadra—a Yadava princess. He was also one of the few individ ...

as Shiv * Farida Haider Mulla as Didi *

Kiran Nagarkar Kiran Nagarkar (2 April 1942 – 5 September 2019) was an Indian novelist, playwright and screenwriter. A noted drama and film critic, he was one of the most significant writers of Independence of India, post-colonial India.#Sa, Sanga, p. 177 A ...

as Brother Bono * Rajika Puri as Auntie *

Virendra Saxena Virendra Saxena (born 23 November 1961) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi theatre, film, and television. He is an alumnus of the National School of Drama. Saxena is known for his character roles as well as his unique voice. He has acted i ...

as Altaf * Aadya Bedi

Awards and recognition

* The official selection at the 1999

Venice 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 ...

. * Awarded a Special Jury Award to the film and the Best Actor award (

) at the 2000

Singapore International Film Festival The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) (Simplified Chinese, Chinese: 新加坡国际电影节) is the longest-running film festival in Singapore, founded in 1987. The 35th Singapore International Film Festival took place from 28 Novem ...

. * Won the Grand Prix at the 2000 Belgium International Film Festival. * Nominated for the Grand Prix at the 2000

Bratislava International Film Festival The Bratislava International Film Festival (also known as Bratislava IFF) is an international film festival established in 1999 and held annually in Bratislava, Slovakia. Apart from the international competition programme, it also regularly featu ...

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack of the film consists of 17 total songs with 9 soundtrack songs and 5

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

tracks composed by

Nitin Sawhney Nitin Sawhney (; born 1964) is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian and other ...

.http://www.tropicfilm.com/ Split Wide Open audio-video goodies page The film also credits

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol, England, by Robert Del Naja, Robert "3D" Del Naja, Daddy G, Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, Tricky (musician), Adrian "Tricky" Thaws and Andrew Vowles, Andrew "Mushroom" ...

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan (, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997), also known by his initials NFAK, was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. Khan was primarily a singer of qawwali, a form of Sufi devot ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

, Krome Assassins, Touch and Go, Purvi Parikh, the

Dagar Brothers The Dagar Brothers are one of two generations of singers of the Indian classical music vocal genre dhrupad: * Senior Dagar Brothers, Nasir Moinuddin Dagar (1919-1966) and Nasir Aminuddin Dagar (1923-2000) * Younger Dagar Brothers The Junior D ...

and

Kishori Amonkar Kishori Amonkar (10 April 1932 – 3 April 2017) was an Hindustani classical music, Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Jaipur-Atrauli gharana, Jaipur Gharana, or a community of musicians sharing a distinctive musical style. She is cons ...

for their music used in the production of the film.

Notes

Poster Art & Design and Title Images by Artist

Jaideep Mehrotra Jaideep Mehrotra (born 1954) is an Indian contemporary artist based in Mumbai, India. He started his artistic career with a solo exhibition at the young age of 13 in 1967. Despite having no formal training in art, Mehrotra managed a parallel care ...

External links

Film Overview

* {{IMDb title, id=0215196, title=Split Wide Open

1999 films English-language Indian films Films about organised crime in India Films about poverty in India Films scored by Nitin Sawhney Films shot in Mumbai Films set in Mumbai Works about police brutality Films set in slums