Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda

I was strolling through amazon prime archives for movies in Hindi language. After crap load of 8 page search, i came across an oddly titled movie i had never heard of. It immediately kept my attention as i excitingly saw the director, Shaam Benegal. I had heard of middle cinema but had never witnessed one. And for the next 2 hr and some 20 minutes, movie had my utmost attention. It was gem of a find and it kept me engrossed with its masterful direction, crafty storytelling and surrealistic layers of symbolism scattered all throughout.

Movie is about 3 different stories entangled together at later stage. It amazingly captures same sequences through eyes of different subjects thus peeling of perspectives for same situation and scenes. It dwells into characters and suddenly comments through larger societal lens. And keeps on doing that for much of first half. For sure you would not have seen brutal realism of love stories as portrayed here. Narrative has no particular end, no moments of realization or take away but it flows on like life in general. Story itself is captivating enough. Our main protagonist is connected deeply with stories much later when we further learn how dicey human morals are, how we are mere product of our environment and act to maximize social gains from that environment. There is above all a surrealistic undertone, a detachment of sorts through out the movie. Characters are closely intertwined yet largely detached. And our protagonist is at forefront of this. Until of course the climax of movie hits us hard. And it tells us well that when the music is over, turn off the lights.

The movie revolves around the romantic involvement of the protagonist -- Manik Mulla (brilliantly essayed by Rajit Kapur) with three women from different strata of India's social hierarchy: the lower-caste, the middle class, the intelligentsia. The movie is consequently laid out in three parts which are excellently woven together to form a wonderful story with lyrically humorous dialog and excellent performances. Shyam Benegal's direction is flawless and one can notice the characteristic complexities he infuses into his characters. Also, typical of Benegal, is the portrayal of the family co-existing synchronously with society and the protagonist in a perpetual surrealistic state of mind. The finale will leave you dazed and in awe of Benegal's story-telling prowess.

I don't usually write reviews on films, whether I have liked the movie or not, but when I tried to search the best film I have ever seen I was shocked to notice that there was only one review for this movie and to add more to it the rating of this movie which probably should have been higher.

Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda title comes from the story of the seventh horse of the Sun's chariot, which is the weakest and youngest of the horses but goes on to become the driving horse of the chariot. The movie is about love seen from men's perspective at different situations.

The film is presented as a flashback of an artist, Raghuvir Yadav, who remembers the master raconteur Manik Mulla (Rajit Kapoor). In Allahabad, every evening, the bachelor Manik Mulla tells stories to a group of friends at his house. Over two evenings, he tells his friends three different stories of his love affairs to define what love is all about. These three stories are independent stories about three different women with whom Manik had relationships, first as pre-pubescent boy, then an adolescent and lastly as a mature adult. After each story, the friends discuss about the human traits and the definition of love. You are then surprised to notice that these stories were happening at the same time. The protagonist, Manik, is shown as an escapist in all his affairs. Each story is amazingly intertwined with the notion of love, romance and separation. The presence of the same characters in all the stories makes it the most amazing.

The way the film ends where in the raconteur, Manik just vanishes away, and in the process, a writer(Raghuvir Yadav) is born, makes it a classic. Its an ideal example of film-making. All the supporting cast for the film is fabulous.

This film is an adaption of Dharmvir Bharti's classic by the same name.

Shyam Benegal directs this 1993 film based on Bharti's Hindi novel. The highly experienced cast and talented production team manage to cook up a rich tapestry of semi-dream-like experiences of a young man, entering into adulthood. Using a story-teller mosaic, the narrator (Rajat Kapur) goes back and forth over the lives of 3 women whom he was involved with in his high-school and early college.

Simple-minded country bumpkins do lead colorful complicated lives filled with drama and intensity. Surely but occasionally. Mostly not as it is shown here. There's somewhat of a mismatch between the rural atmosphere and the refined, educated, urbane, clean-cut protagonist. That cavalier attitude of his ('Look, I've arrived') doesn't give it away, rather it only serves to confound. Benegal conditions you from the very start not to expect great drama until the very end. Watching the dead-pan account with an equally dead-pan expression is all you can do. Use of purist as opposed to colloquial Hindi fails to have the desired effect. Could be due to Benegal's early background in documentaries for Films Division, NFDC, 'Door'darshan, et al.

If one watches such movies at a theater, it will either be mostly empty to start with, or mostly empty within 10 min., or most certainly mostly empty halfway thru i.e you can sit anywhere post-interval and munch on your popcorn. Audiences thumb it down, and the producers foolishly tell themselves its because viewers are illiterate, they don't get it, etc.

No doubt the screenplay, direction, photography, etc are all top-notch. But if there's no drama and not much entertainment, why blame viewers? Style alone can't substitute for substance.

The movie made no ripples at the box-office and disappeared without a trace (can't blame that on Shahrukh-Madhuri). Left a lot to be desired by way of suggestibility (not suspense, go figure!)

I saw this movie about a year back and was really impressed by Benegal. I am not much of a reviewer, and decided to submit a review only because i was appalled by the reviews this movie has got here. This movie definitely deserves a watch, at least by all Indians. The screenplay was brilliant, the plot unfolds slowly and beautifully and you start feeling for the characters. The performances are brilliant, Nina Gupta and Amrish Puri being the most impressive. The direction and photography are flawless and clearly show why Benegal is so respected. Overall, the movie was entertaining and thought-provoking and definitely one of the best Hindi movies i have ever seen. And i can say i loved it more than several top 250 IMDb movies.

The Hindi, i agree, might be a little difficult to understand at times, but let it not bother you, or still better, use subtitles.