Mutthi Bhar Chawal

{{Infobox film

| name = Mutthi Bhar Chawal

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| native_name =

| director = Sangeeta

| writer = Iqbal Rizvi

| screenplay = Rajinder Singh Bedi

| story = Rajinder Singh Bedi

| based_on = {{Based on|Ek Chadar Maili Si|Rajinder Singh Bedi}}

| producer =

| starring = {{plainlist|

| narrator =

| cinematography = Azhar Burki

| editing = Z.A. Zulfi

| music = Kamal Ahmed

| studio =

| distributor =

| released = {{Film date|1978|06|16|df=y}}

| runtime =

| country = Pakistan

| language = Urdu

}}

Mutthi Bhar Chawal (A Handful of Rice) is a 1978 Pakistani classical Urdu film based on a short novel of Rajinder Singh Bedi, Ek Chadar Maili Si.{{cite web | title=Remembering Rajinder Singh Bedi | website=Jammu Kashmir Latest News {{pipe}} Tourism {{pipe}} Breaking News J&K | date=2017-09-02 | url=https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/remembering-rajinder-singh-bedi/ | access-date=2021-10-20}} Directed by Sangeeta and composed by Kamal Ahmed, it features Sangeeta, Nadeem Baig, Kaveeta, Shehla Gill, Rahat Kazmi, and Ghulam Mohiuddin in lead roles. It is one of the greatest hits of Sangeeta and debut film of Syed Noor as a screenwriter.{{cite web | last=Ali | first=Mohammad | title=Lok Virsa To Screen Film Mutthi Bhar Chawal On Nov 26 | website=UrduPoint | date=2016-11-24 | url=https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/lok-virsa-to-screen-film-mutthi-bhar-chawal-65528.html | access-date=2021-10-20}}

The film is about a village life and struggle of a family to survive after father dies and a village woman becomes widowed as a result.{{cite book | last=Hayward | first=S. | title=Cinema Studies: The Key Concepts | publisher=Taylor & Francis | series=Routledge Key Guides | year=2002 | isbn=978-1-134-58790-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vziDAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA426 | access-date=2021-10-20 | page=426}} It is one of the Pakistani films with the maximum number of awards won, including six Nigar Awards. BBC Urdu made it in the list of 10 Best selected Pakistani cinema films.{{cite web | title=فلمی نقاد اعجاز گُل کی منتخب کردہ دس بہترین پاکستانی فلمیں | website=BBC News اردو | date=2020-09-05 | url=https://www.bbc.com/urdu/entertainment-54011042 | language=ur | access-date=2023-01-19}}

Plot

A Sikh woman Rani/Rano lives in East Punjab with her in-laws. When Rano suddenly becomes widowed after her husband dies in a horse and carriage accident, she struggles to raise her children. Her in-laws come with a marriage proposal and forcibly ask her to marry Rano's brother-in-law Mangal who is in love with a vegetable seller's daughter, Lajjo and is much younger than her and who always saw her as a sister-in-law.{{cite web | last=Gul | first=Aijaz | title=Mandwa to screen 'Muthi Bhar Chawal' on 26th - Islamabad | website=The News International | date=2016-11-24 | url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/167204-Mandwa-to-screen-Muthi-Bhar-Chawal-on-26th | access-date=2021-10-20}}

Cast

Nadeem Baig as Mangal
Shehla Gill as Rano's daughter
Sangeeta as Rano
Ghulam Mohiuddin as Ghulam Mohi-Vo-Din
Kaveeta as Lajjo
Rahat Kazmi

Remake

The film was remade as a television series with same title, directed by Sangeeta and aired in 2008.{{Cite web|url=https://www.urdupoint.com/daily/livenews/2007-08-05/news-39123.html|title={{Nq|سنگیتا اپنی فلم "مٹھی بھر چاول "پر ٹی وی ڈرامہ بنانے کی تیاری میں مصروف}}|date=5 August 2007|access-date=22 July 2022|language=ur}}

Awards and nominations

class="wikitable sortable" width=100%
width=5%\| Year ! style="width:40%;"\| Award ! style="width:40%;"\| Category ! style="width:40%;"\| Awardee ! style="width:40%;"\| Nominated work ! style="width:10%;"\| Result !width=5%\|{{Abbr\|Ref.\|Reference(s)}}
rowspan="6" \|1978 \| rowspan="6"\|Nigar Awards \| Best film \| Mutthi Bhar Chawal \| rowspan="6"\|Mutthi Bhar Chawal \| rowspan="6"{{won}} \| rowspan="6"\|{{cite web\|url=https://www.desimoviesreviews.com/index.php/2017/11/24/pakistans-oscars-nigar-awards/ \|title=Pakistan's "Oscars"; The Nigar Awards\|author=Swami ji\|date=24 November 2017\|website=Hot Spot Film Reviews website\|archive-date=13 June 2020\|access-date=21 January 2022 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613171619/https://www.desimoviesreviews.com/index.php/2017/11/24/pakistans-oscars-nigar-awards/}}
Best Director \| Sangeeta
Best Actress \| Sangeeta
Best Editing \| Z.A. Zulfi
Best Supporting Actress \| Shehla Gill
Best Special Performance \| Ghulam Mohiuddin

class="wikitable sortable" width=100%

width=5%| Year

! style="width:40%;"| Award

! style="width:40%;"| Category

! style="width:40%;"| Awardee

! style="width:40%;"| Nominated work

! style="width:10%;"| Result

!width=5%|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}

rowspan="6" |1978

| rowspan="6"|Nigar Awards

| Best film

| Mutthi Bhar Chawal

| rowspan="6"|Mutthi Bhar Chawal

| rowspan="6"{{won}}

| rowspan="6"|{{cite web|url=https://www.desimoviesreviews.com/index.php/2017/11/24/pakistans-oscars-nigar-awards/ |title=Pakistan's "Oscars"; The Nigar Awards|author=Swami ji|date=24 November 2017|website=Hot Spot Film Reviews website|archive-date=13 June 2020|access-date=21 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613171619/https://www.desimoviesreviews.com/index.php/2017/11/24/pakistans-oscars-nigar-awards/}}

Best Director

| Sangeeta

Best Actress

| Sangeeta

Best Editing

| Z.A. Zulfi

Best Supporting Actress

| Shehla Gill

Best Special Performance

| Ghulam Mohiuddin