Char Adhyay

The Bamboo Flute is Kumar Shahani’s cinematic tribute to the flute and its importance to Indian civilisation.

In his debut feature film, Kumar Sahahani employs highly innovative forms for depicting the conflict between oppressive feudal norms and a changing industrial landscape while making female sexuality and its complex mindscape the focus. The protagonist, Taran, the younger daughter of a Rajasthani zamindar revolts against the social code set by the class system by a sexual encounter with an engineer. This film was one of the earlier and successful examples experimentation in colour during the advent of New Indian cinema.

Tackling the theme of identity from the perspective of Asian and Afro-Caribbean actors, the film emerged from an acting workshop exploring the relationship between acting idioms in theatre and cinema led by Kumar Shahani and Alaknanda Samarth.

An experiment and a homage, Bhavantarana is a spiritually intoxicating documentary about classical Odissi dance maestro Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra.

The story centers around a small town entrepreneur named Maniram who makes a major profit by cheating people and selling them tainted food. His business is run by his daughter-in-law Tejo, who is married to Maniram's mentally challenged younger son. When Maniram's elder son comes back into town to get married, things start to go awry. He runs away from his wife after their marriage night and ends up being arrested in Delhi. The police, with further investigation, start to crack down on Maniram's corrupt business all the while Tejo starts to become mad with power and greed.

Rahul, the son-in-law of an old industrialist and one of the heirs to his fortune, clashes with Dinesh, the industrialist’s nephew who is openly unscrupulous. Rahul, on his part, conceals his personal ambition under a cloak of liberalism and encourages indigenous production.

Kumar Shahani's FTII Diploma film

A music student listens to stories and legends about the birth and evolution of the Khayal form of classical Indian singing. These stories are re-enacted by actors who play several key figures throughout the history of classical music.