Remembering Mani Kaul on his 6th death anniversary.
Mani Kaul (25 December 1944–6 July 2011) was arguably the greatest Indian director of Hindi films and an influential figure in Indian parallel cinema. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) where he was a student of Ritwik Ghatak and later became a teacher. Starting his career with Uski Roti (1969), which won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie, he went on to win four of them in all. He won the National Film Award for Best Direction in 1974 for Duvidha and later the National Film Award for his documentary film, Siddheshwari in 1989.
His first film Uski Roti (1969) has been described as “one of the key films of the New Indian Cinema or the Indian New Wave”. It marked a drastic departure from earlier Indian cinema technique, form and narrative. It was one of the early formal experimental films in Indian cinema.
Ashadh Ka Ek Din (1971), his next film, was based on a play by Mohan Rakesh.
Duvidha, his third film, was his first in colour. It grew out of a short story by Vijaydan Detha and tells the story of a merchant’s son, who returns with his new bride. When he departs on a business trip, a ghost falls in love with the wife. It was widely shown across Europe. He was awarded the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1974.
Kaul was one of the co-founders of the Yukt Film Co-operative (Union of Kinematograph Technicians) in 1976, leading to avant-garde films. Critics opined in “Mani Kaul’s cinematic conception, fiction and documentary films have no clear demarcated dividing line.” He also taught music in the Netherlands, and was Creative Director of the film house at Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art, Mumbai.
In 1971, he was a member of the jury at the 21st Berlin International Film Festival.
He was a visiting lecturer at Harvard University for the 2000–2001 school year.
