Goyam Jain I was strolling through amazon prime archives for movies in Hindi language. After crap load of 8 page search, i came across an oddly titled movie i had never heard of. It immediately kept my attention as i excitingly saw the director, Shaam Benegal. I had heard of middle cinema but had never witnessed one. And for the next 2 hr and some 20 minutes, movie had my utmost attention. It was gem of a find and it kept me engrossed with its masterful direction, crafty storytelling and surrealistic layers of symbolism scattered all throughout.Movie is about 3 different stories entangled together at later stage. It amazingly captures same sequences through eyes of different subjects thus peeling of perspectives for same situation and scenes. It dwells into characters and suddenly comments through larger societal lens. And keeps on doing that for much of first half. For sure you would not have seen brutal realism of love stories as portrayed here. Narrative has no particular end, no moments of realization or take away but it flows on like life in general. Story itself is captivating enough. Our main protagonist is connected deeply with stories much later when we further learn how dicey human morals are, how we are mere product of our environment and act to maximize social gains from that environment. There is above all a surrealistic undertone, a detachment of sorts through out the movie. Characters are closely intertwined yet largely detached. And our protagonist is at forefront of this. Until of course the climax of movie hits us hard. And it tells us well that when the music is over, turn off the lights.

aamirmushtaque a neglected masterpiece...i am sure if people will get to know about it more and more will like it..there is no dearth of good cinema lovers in India...not everybody loves over the top romance..but this movie at least deserves more than 5000 votes so that it can enter the top movie list...please see and vote this movie...it will prove to be an experience you will never forget..such beautiful illusion of fact meeting fiction is never seen in Hindi cinema before...Shyam Benegal sir is a magician..and Rajit Kapoor...what a phenomenal actor..its a shame Bollywood didn't gave him the recognition he deserved..its good to see an actor like Christoph Waltz being recognised in Hollywood only because of his acting..Rajit Kapoor, Pankaj Kapoor are of same talent but its their luck(or bad luck) that they are in an industry where over the top over actors are megastars and those deserving are struggling for recognition....

anuj-vivek I saw this movie about a year back and was really impressed by Benegal. I am not much of a reviewer, and decided to submit a review only because i was appalled by the reviews this movie has got here. This movie definitely deserves a watch, at least by all Indians. The screenplay was brilliant, the plot unfolds slowly and beautifully and you start feeling for the characters. The performances are brilliant, Nina Gupta and Amrish Puri being the most impressive. The direction and photography are flawless and clearly show why Benegal is so respected. Overall, the movie was entertaining and thought-provoking and definitely one of the best Hindi movies i have ever seen. And i can say i loved it more than several top 250 IMDb movies.The Hindi, i agree, might be a little difficult to understand at times, but let it not bother you, or still better, use subtitles.

Shankar Kalyanaraman The movie revolves around the romantic involvement of the protagonist -- Manik Mulla (brilliantly essayed by Rajit Kapur) with three women from different strata of India's social hierarchy: the lower-caste, the middle class, the intelligentsia. The movie is consequently laid out in three parts which are excellently woven together to form a wonderful story with lyrically humorous dialog and excellent performances. Shyam Benegal's direction is flawless and one can notice the characteristic complexities he infuses into his characters. Also, typical of Benegal, is the portrayal of the family co-existing synchronously with society and the protagonist in a perpetual surrealistic state of mind. The finale will leave you dazed and in awe of Benegal's story-telling prowess.