FILMS OF THE SPIRIT

Curated by Rajiv Mehrotra

 

Diksha (Hindi)

(120 min; 1991; dvd; English subtitles)

Director: Arun Kaul

 

Diksha was the first feature film by film society activist, Arun Kaul. Based on the eminent Kannada novella ‘Ghatashraddha’, Kaul’s film is sturdily crafted, especially remarkable for its atmospheric details and the fluidity with which the story set against the feudal order is narrated. Told through the eyes of a child inducted into the Brahminical order, the plight of an unwed mother is harrowing. In a weaker moment during the long absence of her father, the young widow falls to temptation

 

(Collaboration: Foundation for His Holiness the Dalai Lama; and National Film Archive of India, Pune)