Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda

Manik Mulla (played by Rajit Kapoor) mesmerizes his listeners with his thoughts about love being disciplined on economic restrictions. The direction is mind blowing . The way the stories are connected is just superb, every story portrays manik mulla as central character , how his life takes shapes as he comes across three girls at different stages of his life... In the end there are definite conclusions (with little socialist angle ) The language in the movie is so pure and serene , it inspires to learn Hindi vocab. I have seen this movie several times .. there is a nice song in it too..

A must see if you like art movie , I bet you will fall in love with the characters as you see them.

When the movie was released that time people did not watch that kind of movies.I watched today and I would say this was the performance by rajit Kapoor underrated actor ..

What worked:

• the screenplay and storytelling; it's one of those movies which touches you instantly as you go through the movie. The mood, setting and the narrative is balanced and tells the story with sub layers and each with a separate but intertwined theme. I am especially impressed by the way story unfolds, the narrator narrating the stories and he is somehow present in all these stories. Also, the use of vantage point to explore the characters' individual perspective is so clever and smart. I am hugely satisfied with the time of the movie, made me relate to the story although it's set in different time zone. And of course the songs , they are awesome.
• strong performances; Rajit Kapoor, Amrish Puri and Neena Gupta stole the show. It's so satisfying to see such a phenomenal performances. And of course, Shyam Benegal, for me , it's one of his finest movie. Overall production team deserves the praise.
• multiple interpretations and analysis; the movie questions our definition of love, marriage in a society with different socioeconomic status in a linear focus. Many instances of the movie shows the characters interpretation about love, events in life and human behaviors.The movie also is a metaphorical satire. Each set of stories has a weak, strong and confused character. As a psychological enthusiast, the movie is filled with many references in the field.The title was of the movie is explained at the end of the movie, and it does make sense.

Final verdict: highly recommended.

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.