Ghatashraddha
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Ghatashraaddha
| image = Ghatashraddha poster.jpg
| caption = Poster
| director = Girish Kasaravalli
| producer = Sadananda Suvarna
| writer = U. R. Ananthamurthy
| screenplay = Girish Kasaravalli
| starring = Meena Kuttappa
Ajith Kumar
Narayana Bhat
| music = B. V. Karanth
| cinematography = S. Ramachandra
| editing = Umesh Kulkarni
| distributor = Suvarnagiri Films
| released = {{Film date|1977}}
| runtime = 108 minutes
| country = India
| language = Kannada
| based_on = {{based on|Ghatashraddha|U. R. Ananthamurthy}}
}}
Ghatashraaddha ({{audio|Kn-ಘಟಶ್ರಾದ್ಧ.ogg|pronunciation}} {{translation|The Ritual}}) is a 1977 Indian Kannada language film directed by Girish Kasaravalli starring Meena Kuttappa, Narayana Bhat and Ajith Kumar in lead roles. It is based on a novella by eminent Kannada writer U. R. Ananthamurthy. The film was Girish Kasaravalli's first feature film as a director, and marked not only the arrival of a promising new filmmaker but also that of Kannada cinema in the India's 'New Cinema' horizon.{{Cite web |url=http://www.southasiancinema.com/reviews.htm |title=southasiancinema |access-date=5 December 2007 |archive-date=16 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716112132/http://www.southasiancinema.com/reviews.htm |url-status=dead }}
The film won three awards at the 25th National Film Awards, awarded for films of 1977. It won the award for Best Feature Film, Best Music Direction (B. V. Karanth) and Best Child Artist (Ajith Kumar).
In 2002, Ghatashraddha became the only Indian film to be chosen by the National Archive of Paris among 100 others, during the centenary celebrations of cinema.{{cite web |title= Asiatic Film Mediale |url= http://www.asiaticafilmmediale.it/2002/uk/intro.html |website= asiaticafilmmediale.it |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20081116041627/http://www.asiaticafilmmediale.it/2002/uk/intro.html |archive-date= 16 November 2008 |df= dmy-all }}{{cite news |title= Girish Kasaravalli to be felicitated |url= http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/girish-kasaravalli-to-be-felicitated/article1765035.ece |newspaper= The Hindu |date= 25 April 2011 |access-date= 25 March 2014}} At the 2009 International Film Festival of India, it was announced as one of the 20 best films in Indian cinema, having received 1.6 million votes.{{cite news |title= Ghatashraddha, one of the 20 best movies |url= http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Ghatashraddha-one-of-the-20-best-movies/articleshow/5297716.cms |newspaper= The Times of India |date= 4 December 2009 |access-date= 1 April 2015}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/music/a-film-festival-organised-to-celebrate-the-70th-birthday-of-girish-kasaravalli/article30185472.ece|title = A journey in reels|newspaper = The Hindu|date = 5 December 2019|last1 = Khajane|first1 = Muralidhara}}
Plot
Udupa (Ramaswamy Iyengar) runs a run down Vedic school, operating from his house in a village. Apart from his uncontrollable and unruly students, he lives with his young daughter, Yamuna (Meena Kuttappa), already a widow. Naani (Ajit Kumar), the innocent boy from a distant village, is a new student. A bond develops between a homesick Naani and Yamuna. Yamuna has a lover, a school teacher, whom she meets clandestinely. She is also pregnant by him. As Udupa goes out of town to raise funds for his crumbling school, things go out of hand at the school. The students go out of control and soon the entire village knows about Yamuna's pregnancy. The traditional village members excommunicate Yamuna. Her lover gets the baby aborted without anyone's knowledge. Udupa returns and on finding out what has happened, performs the last rites of his living daughter. Amidst all these, Naani is the only person in the village determined to support her but not for long for his father comes back to take him away. Yamuna is shaved bald and is abandoned under a banyan tree.{{cite news|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B02E2DD1330E631A25757C2A9629C946890D6CF|title=Ghatashraddha (1977) The Screen: A Vignette From India |last=Maslin|first=Janet|date=1979-04-24|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=3 February 2013}}
Cast
- Meena Kuttappa as Yamuna
- Narayana Bhat as Shastri
- Ajith Kumar as Naani
- Ramakrishna
- Shantha
- Ramaswamy Iyengar
- Jagannath
- B. Suresha
- H. S. Parvathi
Production
Girish Kasaravalli approached U. R. Ananthamurthy for the rights of Ghatashraddha through dramatist K. V. Subbanna. Ananthamurthy, who was in the US at the time, gave his go-ahead on hearing the screenplay from Kasaravalli, on his return to India. It was on the former's suggestion that Meena Kuttappa, his former student, was signed to play the female lead in the film.{{cite news |title= Ghatashraddha was ideal for a movie: Girish Kasaravalli |url= http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/kannada/movies/news/Ghatashraddha-was-ideal-for-a-movie-Girish-Kasaravalli/articleshow/40754321.cms |newspaper= The Times of India |date= 23 August 2014 |access-date= 1 April 2015}}
Restoration
During February 2024, US film publication Variety announced that the Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, George Lucas' Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation and Shivendra Singh Dungarpur's Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) have partnered to restore the film in time for its 50th anniversary from the original camera negative preserved at India's National Film Development Corporation of India-National Film Archive of India.{{Cite news |last=Ramachandran |first=Naman |date=February 24, 2024 |title=Martin Scorsese, George Lucas Team With Film Heritage Foundation to Restore Indian Classic 'Ghatashraddha' |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/martin-scorsese-george-lucas-film-heritage-foundation-ghatashraddha-restoration-india-1235920278/ |access-date=February 24, 2024 |work=Variety}}[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/restoration-of-kannada-film-by-martin-scorsese-and-george-lucas-foundations/articleshow/107979991.cms]
The restored version of the film was showcased in the Venice Classics section of the 81st Venice International Film Festival, where it was given the English-language title The Ritual.{{Cite news |last= |date=2024-08-27 |title=Kasaravalli's restored 'Ghatashraddha' to be showcased in Classics section of Venice International Film Festival |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/kasaravallis-restored-ghatashraddha-to-be-showcased-in-classics-section-of-venice-international-film-festival/article68572069.ece?utm_source=cinema&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter&pnespid=6rU6EiVWLK4d3qifvyq7EorW5RSgWpduKeTkkPExrxZmLkds.LHpa7LHKqAYLXMy9415_o8s |access-date=2024-11-08 |work=The Hindu |language=en-IN |issn=0971-751X}} It was also screened at the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024 under the Restored Classics section.{{Cite web |last=Deb |first=Deepshikha |date=2024-09-30 |title=MAMI Mumbai Film Festival Unveils 2024 Official Lineup |url=https://www.highonfilms.com/mami-mumbai-film-festival-unveils-2024-official-lineup/ |access-date=2024-10-18 |website=High On Films |language=en-US}}
Awards
- Best Feature Film
- Best Music Direction — B. V. Karanth
- Best Child Artist — Ajith Kumar
;1977–78 Karnataka State Film Awards
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0076080|title= Ghatashraddha}}
- [https://archive.today/20130130132427/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/283279/The-Ritual/overview Overview at NY Times]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090219222122/http://samvaada.com/themes/editorial/unicode ಕನ್ನಡಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ.ಕಾಮ್ ನಿಂದ ಗಿರೀಶ್ ಕಾಸರವಳ್ಳಿ ಗೌರವಾರ್ಥ - ಕನ್ನಡ ಪರ್ಯಾಯ ಸಿನಿಮಾ ರಸಗ್ರಹಣ ಶಿಬಿರ]
{{NationalFilmAwardBestFeatureFilm}}
{{Girish Kasaravalli}}
Category:1970s Kannada-language films
Category:Best Feature Film National Film Award winners
Category:Films based on Indian novels
Category:Films about widowhood in India
Category:Films directed by Girish Kasaravalli
Category:Films scored by B. V. Karanth
Category:1977 directorial debut films
Category:Films featuring a Best Child Artist National Award–winning performance
Category:1970s rediscovered films
Category:Rediscovered Indian films