WHY ANKUR STILL CONTINUES TO BE RELEVANT IN MODERN TIMES

In 1974, Shyam Benegal came out with his first feature film in Hindi, Ankur. The film marked the debut of two budding new actors, Anant Nag and Shabana Azmi, and they have continued to do some groundbreaking work in the Indian film Industry since then. It is also referred to one of the very few art films in the Indian film Industry, or as Parallel Cinema, because it was part of the bunch of films that expressed the real aspect of society unlike the other films of Bollywood during that time that was all about the glitz and glamour.



The film tells the story of Surya (Anant Nag), the son of a wealthy landlord, who is forcibly married after passing his secondary examination and given the responsibility of looking after his father’s land in the village. There he meets Lakshmi, who works as a servant in the household. Lakshmi is married to Kisthayya a deaf and dumb alcoholic. Both of them are part of the lower dalit caste, and Lakshmi’s only desire in life is to have a child. Her fate changes when she meets Surya. Surya is not like others and he treats her very normally and allows her to cook for him also. In due course of time, Lakshmi’s husband runs away and after which she begins to stay in the big house. Surya begins an intimate relationship with Lakshmi. He also gets her pregnant in the process and in that period, Surya’s legitimate wife arrives in the household.
He abandons her and tells her he will have no hand in raising the child. Finally Lakshmi’s husband returns and he finds out she is pregnant. He is joyous, thinking the child is his. He rushes to ask Surya for work, but Surya assumes that he is here to kill him and he calls out people to beat Kisthayya. The film ends with Lakshmi cursing Surya, for the swine of the man he is.

In the whole movie, Shyam Benegal has made use of metaphors and analogies very well. Even the title, Ankur, which translates to seedling, refers to the seedling that was growing in Laxmi’s womb. Even in the first scene, Laxmi looks at the fruit seedling being offered to the Goddess and wishes for a child, hence the analogy between the seedling and the child.
The film is also a reflection of the changes in attitude in people. For this Shyam Benegal has used a boy in the movie, who appears at two different scenes. This boy reports to Surya that there is a heft in the field and in the last scene of the movie, he is shown throwing a stone at Surya’s house, depicting his change in attitude towards Surya.


The film won critical praise from abroad also, because of its accurate representation of the social issues that existed in the society during that time. It brings to light social evils such as dowry and also caste discrimination. The movie is still a reflection of the issues that exist in Rural India. This movie brought about a new trend in Indian cinema and it is a classic, because it is an extremely realistic movie. If you haven’t watched Ankur yet, please do!!

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