Nishant (film)

Nishant 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 features an ensemble of parallel cinema actors including Girish Karnad, Amrish Puri, Shabana Azmi, Mohan Agashe, Anant Nag and Sadhu Meher with Smita Patil and Naseeruddin Shah. The film focuses on the power of the rural elite and the sexual exploitation of women, during the time of feudalism in Telangana (Hyderabad State in the 1940s and 1950s).

The film won the 1977 National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 1976 Cannes Film Festival. It was invited to the London Film Festival of 1976, Melbourne International Film Festival of 1977, and the Chicago International Film Festival of 1977, where it was awarded the Golden Plaque.

Plot
Vishwam is the youngest brother of the powerful and influential village jagirdar. The jagirdar 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 and, but his brothers Anjaiya and Prasad, make it a practice to demand the services of any village women they fancy.

The village gets a new schoolmaster, who arrives in the village with a wife, Sushila, and a son. When Vishwam sees Sushila 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. One night, while the schoolmaster is enjoying a quiet dinner with his family, someone knocks on the door and, when Shushila goes to answer the door, the two older brothers of Vishwam grab her and take her away forcibly. Several people are present, but no one dares to raise a hand or voice to stop this abduction. At the jagirdar's house Sushila is raped regularly and repeatedly at the will of the jagirdar and his brothers. The distraught schoolteacher, who is denied justice by everyone from the local police officer to the district collector, is helped by the old priest of the village temple. They succeed in mobilizing the villagers who slaughter their oppressors. In the end the frenzied villagers also kill the innocent Rukmani as well as Sushila whom her husband was trying to rescue.

Cast

 * Girish Karnad as School master
 * Shabana Azmi as Sushila, School master's wife
 * Amrish Puri as Anna, the Jagirdar.
 * Anant Nag as Anjaiya, younger brother of Jagirdar
 * Mohan Agashe as Prasad, younger brother of Jagirdar
 * Naseeruddin Shah as Vishwam, youngest brother of Jagirdar
 * Smita Patil as Rukmini, Vishwam's wife
 * Satyadev Dubey as Village Priest (Pujari)
 * Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Police Patel
 * Sadhu Meher - Special appearance, who is accused of stealing temple jewellery
 * Savita Bajaj as Jagirdar's household servant Pochamma
 * Master Altaf as Sushila's son

Production
Smita Patil and Naseeruddin Shah made their debut in this film.

The shooting location is Pochampalli village in Telangana, known as 'weavers village' and is popular for its hand woven sarees.

Soundtrack
The movie has only one song at the end "Piya Baj Pyala" sung by Preeti Sagar and the music is given by Vanraj Bhatia.

Reception
K.M. Amladi of India Today wrote, "It is however disappointing that Benegal's approach to the exploitation of the villagers is not subtle at all. The glaring facts which are exposed merely succeed in detracting from the credibility of the story. Benegal has, no doubt, used actual locations for his film and brought a measure of realism in the portrayal of the characters, but there seems to be an invisible gap between what he wants to depict and what the viewers want to comprehend or get involved in."

In a retrospective review, Ziya Us Salam of The Hindu wrote, "Miles removed from the work of everyday filmmakers, for many of whom cinema is nothing more than a hero waiting in eager anticipation of the heroine and post-dinner desserts, Benegal's "Nishant" (Night's End) is a dawn that did not come an hour too soon. The National Award for the best film, the nomination for the Oscars were just rewards for a film that lived up to its name."

Accolades

 * 1975
 * Freni M. Variava, Mohan J. Bijlani
 * National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi
 * Won
 * rowspan="4"|1976
 * Freni M. Variava, Mohan J. Bijlani
 * Bengal Film Journalists' Association – Best Indian Films Award
 * Won
 * Shyam Benegal
 * Best Director (Hindi section) - Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards
 * Won
 * Vijay Tendulkar
 * Best Screenplay (Hindi section) - Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards
 * Won
 * Shyam Benegal
 * Palme d'Or
 * Nominated
 * }
 * Shyam Benegal
 * Palme d'Or
 * Nominated
 * }
 * }