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Nishant is a film of genre Drama directed by Shyam Benegal with Shabana Azmi
Nishant (1975)
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Add to a movie listLength 2h20
Directed by Shyam Benegal
Themes Films about music and musicians, Films about sexuality, Rape in fiction, Musical films, Bollywood
Rating75%
Nishant (English title: "Night's End") is a 1975 Hindi drama film directed by Shyam Benegal, based on an original screenplay by noted playwright Vijay Tendulkar, with dialogues by Satyadev Dubey.
The film stars Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah and Smita Patil. This film focus the power of the rural elite and the sexual exploitation of women, during feudalism in India.
The film won the 1977 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi, and was invited to Cannes Film Festival, the London Film Festival 1976, Melbourne International Film Festival 1977, and the Chicago International Film Festival 1977, where it was awarded Golden Plaque.
Synopsis
Vishwam (Naseeruddin Shah) is the youngest brother of the powerful and influential village Zamindar (Amrish Puri). The Zamindar will not hesitate to do anything for the welfare and protection of his family, which also includes bending the law to his own advantage. The shy and quiet Vishwam is married to Rukmani (Smita Patil) and, unlike his brothers, does not indulge in alcohol or women, nor does he have any bad habits. Then the village gets a new schoolmaster (Girish Karnad), who has a wife, Sushila (Shabana Azmi). When Vishwam sees her for the first time, he is unable to take his eyes off her, and unable to get her out of his mind. Sushila does not reciprocate his attentions. Then one night, while the schoolmaster is enjoying a quiet dinner with his family, the bell rings and the two older brothers of Vishwam grab Sushila and take her forcibly when she goes to answer the door. Several people are present, but no one dares to raise a hand nor even a voice to stop this abduction. The distraught schoolteacher, who is denied justice by everyone from the local police officer to the district collector, is helped by the old priest (Satyadev Dubey) and finally they succeed in mobilizing the villagers and they slaughter their oppressors. In the end the frenzied villagers also kill the innocent Rukmani as well as Sushila whom her husband tried to rescue with the help of the rebellious villagers.Actors
Shabana Azmi
(Sushila)
Naseeruddin Shah
(Vishwam)
Girish Karnad
(Schoolmaster)
Smita Patil
(Rukmini)
Anant Nag
(Anjaiya)
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