Shyam Benegal Movies

A man with a knack for storytelling puts this gift to the test when he has to explain where he's been for several months in this comedy from Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal. Armaan Ali (Boman Irani) works as a chauffeur for a powerful businessman, and when Ali asks for a one month leave of absence, his boss is happy to honor the request. However, Ali doesn't return to work for three months, and when he appears to report back to work, his employer is furious and demands an explanation. Knowing his future is on the line, Ali explains at great length just how things got out of control. Ali has a beautiful daughter (Minissha Lamba) and he's taken it upon himself to find her a suitable husband, but this project meant to take four weeks became unexpectedly complicated. However, while Ali can spin an impressive tale, his boss isn't sure just how much of it he can believe, especially since a few important details don't add up. Well Done Abba was an official selection at the 2009 BFI London Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The winner of India's 46th annual National Film Award for Best Film, Samar offers both commentary on India's caste system and a spin on those seeking to observe and provide their own commentary on it. In a small village located in the Madya Pradesh province, the Thakur and Dalit castes fight over the installation of a water pump. When a Dalit, Nathu (Kishore Kadam), fearfully protests against what he feels is an unjust situation, he arouses the ire of the nasty Thakur landowner Chamak Singh (Ravi Jhankal), who duly imposes economic sanctions that threaten to starve the Dalits out of town. After Nathu's house burns down in mysterious circumstances, he goes to the local temple to ask God for help, but his contrition only gets him beaten and urinated on by Singh for breaking the ban on Dalits (also known as India's "untouchables") in a place of worship. At this point, it is revealed that the conflict is the subject of a film that is being made by a pompous Bombay director (Rajit Kapur), and that the "real" Nathu (Raghubir Yadav) is actually an energetic fellow who, wife in tow, busies himself on the film set by providing advice and factual clarification. The real Singh is now dead, and the actor playing him is an egomaniacal hipster. Tensions abound on the set, resulting in the sort of violence that the film-within-a-film purports to denounce. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide

Boy meets girl -- it's still the same old story. As this program reveals, some of the world's earliest and greatest literature is about sex. Actor Peter Coyote, of Roman Polanski's dark sex comedy Bitter Moon, narrates this History Channel series that examines human biology, art, humor, and attitudes about sex through the ages. Directed by Melissa Jo Peltier, this second of five episodes takes a peek at India's Kama Sutra, China's pillow books, and Arabic poetry. The program is closed-captioned. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide

Actor Peter Coyote, of Roman Polanski's dark sex comedy Bitter Moon, narrates this History Channel series that examines human biology, art, humor, and attitudes regarding sex through the ages. Directed by Mark Hufnail, this last of five episodes examines the importance of sex to the movie industry, the pioneering Masters and Johnson study of human sexuality, the sexual revolution triggered by the simplicity and ease of the female birth control pill, the phenomena of Viagra, and the prevalence of pornography on the Internet. The program is closed-captioned. ~ Steve Blackburn, All Movie Guide

This 2 1/2 hour long epic biopic from India recounts the crucial years Ghandi spent in South Africa. Beginning in Bombay as Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi begins practicing law after studying in England. One of his first assignments is to take a case over in South Africa in 1893. Ghandi is totally unprepared for the racism he encounters there. In court, he gets off to a rocky start when he refuses to doff his turban for a white judge. Later he joins the South African bar and obeys the rule. He also becomes an activist for East Indian rights and over the next 21 years launches a major civil rights movement based on pacifism. Ghandi also sets up two major cooperative farms and during the Boer War manages a Red Cross unit for the British Army. In addition to focusing on the great leader's humanitarian efforts, the filmmakers also offer a rarely chronicled look into Ghandi's personal life and the sacrifices his family made. The film's climax comes when Ghandi organizes and leads an enormous gathering of Indian laborers across South Africa. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This Indian documentary profiles the life of Mary Evans, one of India's most popular stunt women. Evans, the daughter of a soldier, was born in Perth, Australia during 1910. They moved to India after her father was transferred. Before her big break in films, Evans worked as a circus performer and singer. She became a star by playing the adventurous, tough heroine in "Hunterwali," a Hindu action movie that allowed Evans (who was billed as "Fearless" Nadia) to beat up evil characters and wield a whip. Following that, Evans appeared in at least 40 more action films until her career ended in the late '50s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Ramulu (Om Puri) is a master weaver whose excellence is noticed by a female government official, and his work is selected to represent his country in an exhibition in Paris. Unfortunately, the selection brings about worker discord and jealousy. Ramulu alienates his daughter by using the fine silk intended for her wedding dress for a piece he submits to the international exhibit. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

This informative, nearly three-hour historical tour focuses on the life and times of Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), the first Prime Minister of India after independence from Great Britain in 1947. Nehru gained international stature for his leadership, so much so that the "Nehru jacket" became a fashion craze for awhile. Old newsreels cover events both inside of India and in the world, as Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi together led the nation to independence. Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi is constantly seen alongside her father, as she herself obtains the training necessary to eventually walk in his footsteps. Dying in 1964, Nehru was spared the experience of the assassinations that would cut down his beloved Indira and her son long before their time.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

With songs and musical numbers that are woven through the storyline, this unevenly-paced drama is about a brothel that has been an institution in a small town for a very long time. The women entertain the local clients with suggestive songs and dances and are not the type of prostitutes that ply their trade in New York City, for example. Unfortunately for the business of the brothel, a developer wants to schedule some new buildings for the town, so the madam is forced to move her women to the outskirts, and things will just never be the same again. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

The title of this film is actually Kali Yuga, the worst of the four Hindu time periods in which morality and ethics are all but lost, wars and famines abound, and suffering is at its worst. Needless to say, it is our current time period -- due to last for a total of 432,000 years. Against this setting, a widow and her three sons are running a large industrial factory with the help of her brother-in-law, his son, and another top manager. The family starts to separate over business affairs, and then matters turn much worse as murder enters the picture. The underside of business expansion is revealed, with its attendant corruption and loss of ethics -- the kali yuga incarnate. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

During one of the many violent uprisings against the English colonial overlords in India, a church filled with people is massacred. The only people to survive are three generations of women in one family, hidden by a friendly Indian. They are then kidnapped by a Muslim (Sashi Kapoor), who wants to keep the youngest woman as his second wife, despite the objections of his first wife who despises the women for their Englishness. Also, the girl he is enamored of finds him frightening. He goes off to join the fighting and eventually comes back to a much-changed situation. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide