Nishant (1975)

Vishwam is the youngest brother of the powerful and cruel landowner Zamindar (Amrish Puri). He is married to Rukmani and, unlike his brothers, does not indulge in alcohol or women. But one day the village gets a new school teacher, whose wife Sushila (Shabana Azmi) instantly catches Vishwam's eye. Noticing this, his brothers come one night and kidnap Sushila for all to see, including her husband who tries to stop them but fails. He is shocked that no one of the so many present people dared to even raise a voice to stop this abduction. He turns to every possible authority, including the police, the court, the press, but is shocked to see a complete rejection resulting from the fear to face off the Zamindar. This is the story of Shyam Benegal's Nishaant, a well-made film which portrays the state of those times' rural India. The film depicts a reality which is a bit difficult to see. The proceedings are very serious and the film is dark and dim. Benegal's direction is excellent, with a serene narrative style that easily conveys the raw atmosphere of the village as well as the film's own mood. It is realistic and authentic, without any overt dramatisation. I did expect more from the ending though. The light at the end of the tunnel does finally seem to appear, but sadly the story itself remains somewhat incomplete and doleful. I think the ending did give the viewer an opportunity to interpret it the way he wants to, which is great, but one would expect to see some brightness in it. The film shows us the power of human nature. While Sushila terribly misses her son and goes through emotionally destructive experiences of gang-rape and humiliation, she later accepts the cruel reality, finds comfort in the house and ultimately starts getting attracted to the quiet Vishwam. Her absence tortures her husband and his helplessness makes his life miserable. One of the film's best scenes is when they finally meet in a local temple. She preaches him for his cowardice, ironically, in the same way he himself did with the people who did not stop her kidnappers. This makes him realise that a change must happen within the simple people and not the landowners.The film is very well acted. Girish Karnad is excellent as the tormented teacher who loses his wife and is unable to get her back. Shabana Azmi is outstanding as Sushila in a restrained and deep act. I particularly liked her outburst at her husband. Her anger was so easy to relate to. Smita Patil makes her acting debut with this very film and though her part is small, she makes the best of every scene she appears in. Amrish Puri is successfully frightening as the merciless Zamindar. Naseeruddin Shah is as always wonderful and his character is very sympathetic despite the conflict it creates. The boy who plays Sushila's son is extremely cute.Nishaant is a good film, a disturbing, real and engaging piece. What I particularly liked about the film is its unpredictability right until the very final scenes. My main complaint is that it was a tad too slow for my liking. While in the second half it gets far more enjoyable, and the film is thoroughly engaging thanks to its story and fantastic execution, the pace was still somewhat dragged, and at times made me like squirming in my seat. Nonetheless, it's a worthy effort. To those who expect to be purely entertained, this may not be the right film, but those who appreciate artistic excellence will definitely enjoy watching this picture.

'Nishaant' is perhaps Benegal's most chilling movie to date. With this movie who also introduces the ever so talented Smita Patil to Hindi cinema. Through brilliant execution and with superb cinematography, Shyam Benegal tells us this compelling, brutally honest and haunting tragic story. The background music brilliantly adds to the mood. While dealing with various themes such as oppression, corruption, power, violence, abduction and poverty, he also presents controversial taboo issues like rape and homosexuality. 'Nishaant' is also quite graphic in nature. Particularly the scene where Anjaiya and Prasad gang rape Sushila is disturbing to watch and then there's the shattering ending which haunts the viewer.Like in all of Benegal's films, the actors do nothing short of a fantastic job. Amrish Puri gives a restrained performance and his silence makes his character much more frightening than any of the over-the-top villain roles he was more known for. Shabana Azmi is sublime. Smita Patil is very effective in a small but strong role. With a brave choice, she already proves that she's here to stay and if it weren't for her untimely death one would have witnessed more of India's best actress on screen. Naseeruddin Shah is excellent. Mohan Agashe and Anant Nag are scary as the evil brothers. Girish Karnad too is great.Benegal also deserves mention for portraying unusual relationships between the characters. When Sushila encounters her husband, she resents him for not rescuing her and chooses to come back to the 'zameendar's haveli' instead of going back home. Yet, she too is conflicted as she terribly misses her son but also develops an attraction towards her kidnappers' brother Vishwam (the only sympathetic brother in the household). There's Rukmani who was once proud of her faithful husband Vishwam but she perceives Sushila as a threat and once her husband begins a physical relationship with her, it becomes resentment.'Nishaant' is based on a true story and Benegal portrays the realities of a village sensibly as he shows a good understanding of life in the village. Although there have been plenty of films that try to use the same themes, they lack the gritty rawness of 'Nishaant'. Overall, 'Nishaant' is an excellent compelling drama that needs to be watched.

by far, nishaant is the best of Hindi language cinema i have yet seen. this film provoked powerful emotional responses, a sense of dread and tension. the impossible situation that befalls schoolmaster and his wife is so terrible and the decisions that they are forced to make are so absolutely destructive. gritty, grimy and bleak, this film had me pulling hairs out of my head; oh the injustice, oh the pain. on the other hand, this film is made from the light of an Indian sun, burning wildly with exoticism and ethnicity. There is also a kind of beauty and tender touch that leaves your heart melted to your chest, in particular the moments of love shown between mother and son, husband and wife, Vishwam and Sushila are all played incredibly well. On a lighter note, I'm declaring that through my endless passion for beautiful women both in cinema and in general, that Shabana Azmi is simply just hot. her performance as Sushila is so natural and her beauty so rare, i find it hard to place a contemporary in Hindi cinema to match.

Nishant is a film that I first saw when I was about 12 years old and it had such a strong impact on me that I have felt the urge to view it again every 3-4 years. Nishant is the most dramatic and episodic of the three films that comprise Benegal's first trilogy - "Ankur", "Manthan" and "Nishant". The trilogy speaks to the coming of age of democracy and the last throes of the dying feudal system in India.In the early 70's, director Shyam Benegal harnessed some formidable talents in this set of films and the cast and crew is a who's who of modern Indian cinema. All the films were made on low budgets and are technically very spartan but this actually helps set the mood for the on-screen proceedings - making everything seem very real. The rural Indian locations, the performances of the extras, the weaving of local art and dance into the stories, the local dialects - all help make this film feel very real.In a nutshell, it is the story of a powerful local landlord (Amrish Puri before he became a caricature) who has two decadent alcoholic brothers (brilliantly wicked Mohan Agashe and Anant Nag), and one naive sibling (a very young Naseeruddin Shah), and who rules his village with an iron fist. He has inherited feudal power which is in slow decay. While he metaphorically rapes the people's land and crops, his brothers more literally prey on the women of the town - while their pet police patel (amazingly good Kubhushan Kharbanda in his pre-Shahkaal days) and village priest (writer Satyadev Dubey) collaborate in silence.In this time of discontent, a schoolteacher and his young wife (Girish Karnad & Shabana Azmi) arrive in town. Shortly thereafter, she is abducted by the two brothers as a gift for their youngest brother. The rest of the story deals with the schoolteacher's quest for justice - first through apathetic official channels and finally through revolution - leading to some very unpredictable and tragic consequences. The film starts slow, seethes and simmers and finally climaxes, set to a beautiful song by Priti Sagar, in a horrifying sequence that is among the best in Indian films - although it is very unlike Benegal.This is one of the best Indian films ever and as politically as relevant today as it was in the 1970s - especially given the many parallels that still exist in the world today. I give it a 9/10 - deducting one point because it fades when compared to the later films of my idol - Dev Anand.