Mammo
Shyam Benegal
India. 1994. 130 min
Cast :  Farida Jalal, Surekha Sikri, Amit Phalke

13 year old Riyaz lives a poor lifestyle in Bombay, India, with his grandmother, Fayyuzi, and her sister, Mehmooda alias Mammo. Quite outspoken and embittered over his dad abandoning him, Riyaz does not have many friends, save for Rohan. When Mammo plans a surprise birthday party for him, Riyaz is offended as he believes his friends will make fun of him as his lifestyle is not as good as their’s. Fayyuzi and Riyaz have an argument with Mammo, and she leaves for the Mosque at Haji Ali, but returns when both apologize to her.

Although Mammo was born in Panipat during the British Raj, she was one of thousands of Muslims who left for Pakistan. She was married over there, could not conceive, was branded a “barren woman”, and asked to leave. Having nowhere else to go, she came to live with her widowed sister in Bombay on a temporary Visa. Every month she would walk to the nearest Police Station and get an extension.

Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda
Shyam Benegal
India. 1992. 130 min
Cast :  Rajit Kapoor, Raghuvir Yadav, Siraj Ahmed

A man shares some lazy memories about his friend, Manek Mulla, who had a knack for telling stories. On this particular afternoon, Manek narrates a ‘unique’ love affair with the help of different stories, various characters’ point of views and the social relevance of these stories. As these stories proceed, reality mixes with fiction.

Susman
Shyam Benegal
India. 1987. 140 min
Cast :  Shabana Azmi, Om Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda

A story about the “Ikat” handloom weavers of Pochampally through the master weaver Ramulu and his family struggle in time of mass-production.

Bhumika
Shyam Benegal
India. 1977. 140 min
Cast :  Smita Patil, Anant Nag, Naseeruddin Shah

Coming from a poor and destitute family, Urvashi is encouraged by her mother, Shanta (Sualbha Deshpande) to be on more than friendly terms with a much older male, Keshav Dalvi (Amol Palekar). Keshav takes a liking to young Urvashi, and encourages her to explore her talents in films, which she does, and does gain popularity, starting as a singer, than accomplishing herself as an actress/singer. She decides to marry Keshav, only to be discouraged by her own mother, but she is strong-willed, and does marry him. She has a baby girl after the marriage, but feels stifled and oppressed with Keshav, and has affairs with her co-star Rajan (Anant Nag), a film producer, Sunil Verma (Naseeruddin Shah), but ends up dissatisfied. Then she meets wealthy Vinayak Kale (Amrish Puri), and decides to settle down with him, little knowing that he is already married to another woman, and also has a son. By the time she finds out it is too late, she has already been accepted in his household, and any woman,

Ankur
Shyam Benegal
India. 1974. 130 min
Cast : Shabana Azmi, Sadhu Meher, Anant Nag

Laxmi lives a poor lifestyle in a small village in India along with her husband, Kishtaya, who is a deaf-mute. Both husband and wife work for the wealthy landlord. The landlord’s son, Surya, has to cancel his studies and return home to look after the estate, as well as formalize his marriage to Saroj, the girl he was compelled to get married to when he was very young. Shortly thereafter Kishtaya is apprehended stealing toddy from the fields, is severely beaten, left senseless, and when he recovers he absconds, leaving Laxmi alone to fend for herself. Surya finds her attractive and starts an intimate relationship with her, much to the chagrin of the rest of the family. Things only get worse when Saroj moves in to live with Surya – compelling him to make a final decision about a visibly pregnant Laxmi.

Musafir
Hrishikesh Mukherjee
India. 1957. 145 min
Cast :  Dilip Kumar, Suchitra Sen, Shekhar

Musafir is a 1957 Hindi movie, written by Ritwik Ghatak and Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and directed by the latter in a directorial debut. The film is about a house and the lives of three families who live in it, so in essence it is three stories linked by the house. The movie is Hrishikesh’s directorial debut. The film stars Dilip Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Keshto Mukherjee,  Suchitra Sen and Nirupa Roy.
The music is by Salil Chowdhury.

Saat Pake Bandha
Ajoy Kar
India. 1963. 128 min

Suchitra Sen gives a major performance in this marital melodrama. The independent Archana (Sen) tries to overcome her domineering and snobbish mother (Chhaya Devi) by marrying Sukhendu (Chatterjee), a serious university lecturer, but mother continues to interfere, reminding her son-in-law of his poverty. Suffering from divided loyalties, Archana’s problems are aggravated when her husband insists that she sever all ties with her parents. She separates from her husband and decides to complete her studies while living independently. When she finally accepts her wifely duties and returns home it is too late, as Sukhendu has resigned his job and gone abroad. Sen’s finely honed performance often undercuts the ideology her character is supposed to exemplify, evoking the possibility of a more egalitarian representation of women in Bengali cinema. Despite the conservatism of the story, issues of marital compatibility are extensively discussed without invoking conventional patriarchal moralism.

AJOY KAR

Ajoy Kar (27 March 1914 – 25 January 1985) was an Indian film director and cinematographer . He directed 26 films between 1949 and 1983. His 1961 film Saptapadi was entered into the 3rd Moscow International Film Festival. Ajoy Kar provided a whole new expression to Bengali cinema. His 1971 film Malyadan won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Bengali.

After initially working as an assistant to Jatin Das, Kar became a cinematographer at Indrapuri Studios, Calcutta, in 1938. Over the next four decades, he shot more than 80 feature films. He also shot a number of documentary films.

Kar’s first film as director was Ananya (1949), made by the Sabyasachi collective launched by Kanan Devi. The first film for which he received individual directorial credit was Bamuner Meye (1949). During the 1950s and early 1960s, he emerged as a key figure in mainstream Bengali cinema, with a string of commercially successful films such as Shyamali (1956), Harano Sur (1957), Saptapadi (1961) and Saat Pake Bandha (1963). Of these, Harano Sur and Saptapadi involved the popular romantic pair of Uttam Kumar and Suchitra Sen. These films also received critical acclaim.