Atul Kulkarni Movies

A young man learns the strange truth about a local outcast in this drama from filmmaker Chitra Palekar, starring one of India's most respected actresses, Nandita Das. Bragirath (Kshitij Gavande) is a bright young boy being raised by his father Narsu (Atul Kulkarni), a superstitious single father who can barely believe what his son has learned in science class. One day, curious Bragirath asks Narsu about Chandi (Das), an odd and unkempt woman who wanders through their village beating a metal pot to warn people of her presence. Narsu tells the lad that Chandi is a witch -- and that she also happens to be Bragirath's mother. In flashback, we are introduced to Chandi as a young and vibrant woman who is given the unpleasant task of overseeing the funerals of the village's children. Chandi sees her job as important if hardly pleasant, but in time her contact with the spirits of the dead has an unexpected impact on her and those around her. Maati Maay (aka A Grave-Keeper's Tale) received its North American premier at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Heading to Bombay with her lone surviving relative after she loses her parents and her town is destroyed by religious strife, young Mumtaz (Tabu) has a difficult time adjusting to a place where jobs seems scarce and life is cheap. Informed by distant relative Iqbal (Rajpal Yadav) that the only job available at the time is a position in the sordid Chandni Bar, Mumtaz's guardian, Mamu Irfan, reluctantly accepts the position in order to provide for her young charge. Soon addicted to drugs, Mamu Irfan finds solace only in the company of her equally despondent co-workers. The arrival of corrupt political henchman Potiya (Atul Kulkarni) provides a glimmer of hope as he falls for Mamu Irfan, though after a brief marriage and a pair of children later, Potiya quickly disappears never to be seen again. Despite Mamu Irfan's best efforts to keep Mumtaz and her children shielded from the bleak realities of her own life, fate soon descends a series of crippling blows on the hapless family. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide