Chakra (1981 film)
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Chakra
| image = Chakra mdvd 240x300.jpg
| caption = DVD cover
| director = Rabindra Dharmaraj
| producer = Pradeep Uppoor
| writer = Jaywant Dalvi
| narrator =
| starring = Naseeruddin Shah
Smita Patil
Kulbhushan Kharbanda
| music = Hridaynath Mangeshkar
| cinematography = Barun Mukherjee
| editing =
| distributor = Neo Films
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1981|||India}}
| runtime = 140 minutes
| country = India
| language = Hindi
| budget =
}}
Chakra is a 1981 Hindi movie directed by Rabindra Dharmaraj. The film stars Naseeruddin Shah, Smita Patil and Kulbhushan Kharbanda.{{cite magazine |last=Purie |first=Aroon |date=15 May 1981 |title=Film review: Chakra, starring Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Kulbhushan Kharbanda |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-and-the-arts/films/story/19810515-film-review-chakra-starring-smita-patil-naseeruddin-shah-kulbhushan-kharbanda-805947-2014-02-27 |magazine=India Today |location=New Delhi |publisher=Living Media |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-date=1 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230501144813/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/society-and-the-arts/films/story/19810515-film-review-chakra-starring-smita-patil-naseeruddin-shah-kulbhushan-kharbanda-805947-2014-02-27 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}
Plot
Amma and her son Benwa become Bombay's slum-dwellers after running away from their village after her husband kills a moneylender who tried to rape her. The husband is then shot trying to steal some tin to build a hut.
In Bombay, Amma has a lover who provides for her and her son. Since the lover is a truck driver who travels most of the time, Amma takes on another lover – a vain pimp and petty crook, Lukka, who becomes Benwa's idol. Lukka is on parole and ordered to be present before the police every day.
Benwa marries the young Amli. Amma meanwhile becomes pregnant, though it is never clear whose child it is. Amma, of course, lets Anna know that it is his because she knows that of her two lovers, he alone is capable and responsible enough to take care of her and her child.
Lukka reappears, ravaged by syphilis and drugs; he is now a changed man and is disenchanted with the criminal life. But he still lives a life of crime and it is implied that there is no other choice for him. He even tries to dissuade Benwa from a life of crime without much success. Lukka is assaulted by the police at his illicit liquor den. The climax has Lukka assaulting a chemist who refuses to give him medicines unless he pays for it. Lukka grabs some medicines and makes a run for it, is chased by the police and hides in Amma's hut. The cops find him and arrest both him and Benwa, beating them brutally in the process. Amma has a miscarriage in the scuffle. In the end, bulldozers arrives to flatten the entire slum. A sort of exodus is shown in the final moments of the movie – and Benwa and Amli move on to a new slum, and a new shanty hut to continue the Chakra.
Cast
- Naseeruddin Shah as Lukka
- Smita Patil as Amma
- Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Anna
- Ranjit Chowdhry as Benwa
- Dilip Dhawan as Amma's husband
- Kaluram Dhobale as Child
- Arun Bakshi as Police inspector
- Rohini Hattangadi as Laxmi
- Salim Ghouse as Raghu
- Anjali Paigankar as Chenna
- Savita Bajaj as mentally challenged Chamnya's mother
- Suresh Bhagwat as Sweeper
- Yunus Parvez as Minister
- Suhas Bhalekar as drunkard in slums
- Alka Kubal as Amli
- Sudhir Pandey as Bhandari
- Uttam Sirur as Chamnya
- Sharayu Bhopatkar as Bhagi
- Satish Kaushik as boot polish guy{{cite interview |last=Kaushik |first=Satish |subject-link=Satish Kaushik |interviewer=Mimansa Shekhar |title=Satish Kaushik revisits Chakra |work=First of Many |date=10 July 2019 |publisher=The Indian Express |location=New Delhi |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/satish-kaushik-debut-film-chakra-first-of-many-5792127/ |access-date=11 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031230604/https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/satish-kaushik-debut-film-chakra-first-of-many-5792127/ |archive-date=31 October 2022}}
- Madan Jain as Amli's brother
- Sumant Mastakar as Amli's father
- Ratan Gaurang as watchman
Awards and nominations
class="wikitable" |
Year
! Category ! Recipient(s) ! Results |
---|
colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"|Filmfare Awards |
rowspan="6"|1982
|{{nom}} |
Best Director
|Rabindra Dharmaraj |{{nom}} |
Best Actor
|{{won}} |
Best Actress
|{{won}} |
Best Story
|{{nom}} |
Best Art Direction
|{{won}} |
colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"|Locarno International Film Festival |
rowspan="2"|1981
|rowspan="2"|Rabindra Dharmaraj |{{won}} |
Prize of the Ecumenical Jury
|{{won}} |
colspan="4" style="background: LightSteelBlue;"|National Film Awards |
1981
|Smita Patil{{cite web |title=28th National Film Awards |url=http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm28thNFAAward.aspx |publisher=Directorate of Film Festivals |access-date=13 January 2013|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219064301/http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm28thNFAAward.aspx |archive-date=19 February 2014 }} |{{won}} |
References
{{Reflist}}