Console best movie i've ever seen.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

braddugg Ankur means the Seedling. And indeed, this film was a seed to the parallel movement in films that ran in 70's and 80's. It's a wonderful depiction of the reality which existed then, and even today in some remote parts of India. The narrative is simple and indeed very slow, there are no major subplots as the main plot in itself is heart rending and superior to many films that have come till then. In an age, where superstars were being made, and Amitabh Bachhan was transformed as Angry Young Man, this film silently made its way into the public with a limited released and later on with the word of mouth. All because of many good traits that the film possesses.Shyam Benegal, who is now considered as a father of Parallel Cinema, wrote this long back and had to go to struggle to a lot to get this made. All this was done with a meager budget and the product that was obtained out of the hard work is a stand-out even today. Ankur is a pioneer and has it's moments of greatness considering the time, it was made. Subsequently, even Shyam Benegal was revered as a great film maker as many more wonderful films came from him.Now, today when I saw it, it felt a bit anachronistic and antiquated coz I do not see such kind of vulgar oppression anywhere now, may be there is but it's not reported or it's not there any more. Having said that, the emotions are universal and the feeling of being oppressed, the helplessness, the hopes that are there for well being and then a revolution being sparked. All this is put wonderfully. The last shot where a boy throws a stone at the Zamindar's house is of great symbolism and portrays a feeling that echoes with the poor who keep the poor as poor. The acting was superb, Shabana Azmi was a revelation and a blessed actor and we were grateful to have firstly and also grateful for makers to give her ample opportunities that helped her showcase her talent with an array of emotions. Thanks to Benegal to have found her and given Shabana to us. It needs applause in many areas, firstly for starting a kind of cinematic revolution in India. Yet, my only crib is the editing, I wish the film could have been slicker with sharp editing. It would have added to the pace and helped the new-age viewers like me. I am going with 4/5. It's a kind of film that's strong in social issues. But it's a laid back film that makes us recede in time. So just be warned of the pace coz it's a great film.

runamokprods Very moving and powerful look at both the caste system and the treatment of women as objects in rural India, in the early 1950s. A young woman from the serf class is taken in and slowly seduced by her arrogant, handsome young "master" whose house she keeps. But when she becomes pregnant, and his promised child bride finally becomes old enough to join him in the house, our heroine is slowly, painfully pushed aside and locked out. The film is occasionally heavy handed in its politics, but the truth behind the story makes the slightly agit-prop nature forgivable. This has none of the singing, dancing and theatrics we have come to associate with modern Indian cinema. This hearkens back to the stark, quiet realism of Satyajit Ray, with complex characters and surprising subtlety.

sashank_kini-1 Surya (Anant Nag) reluctantly becomes the landlord of his father's fields, after his requests to continue further studies are rejected by his father. Surya's father wants him to be financially sound and socially secure, and so gets him married to a young Saroj. Saroj, still a kid, stays back at her house till she comes of age.Meanwhile, Surya stays in the village, where he acquaints Laxmi, the domestic help and her deaf-mute husband Kishtaya, who had been a potter once but was unemployed now. Surya sets things straight in the fields by cutting off the water supplies to his step-mother and step-brother and also ordering the local caretaker to find out who is behind the theft of the juice from the trees. Kishtaya, who is provided the job of taking the village kids to school, turns out to be the culprit and is publicly flayed. He leaves the village without informing anyone, and his wife, Laxmi is left alone with Surya. Surya, being sexually frustrated, makes advances to her and she at last succumbs. Things turn out for the worse when she gets pregnant with his baby and Surya's wife comes to the village to stay with him.Shabana Azmi is a fine and consistent actress and here too she brings temperance to her performance. The scene of compunction is performed with great sincerity and humanness. The same scene could've been ruined with pretentious overacting but under Shyam Benegal's guidance, everything at least looks real. The supporting cast also put truthfulness in their performances, something that I prefer. Usually, I do not like sappiness and I find it a lot in Indian films.The background is verdant and glowing; my favorite color green is frequently seen in the form of grass and trees. Shyam Benegal's direction is cogent, and there are many scenes which touch upon a number of issues prevalent in those times and even now, especially the disturbing attitude of villagers towards caste and the position of women.The movie lacks in completeness, however. One can see a feministic approach Benegal has given here, since Shabana takes up quite a lot of screen time and is also given a mind of her own. But I felt that unfair justice was given to the story in its entirety, mainly because of the excessive focus on Priya Tendulkar's character rather than Shabana's towards the end. It would've been better to keep the direct focus on Anant Nag and Azmi and their characters' behavior towards each other with the coming of Priya's character, who should've got indirect focus. Also, the film does not consider Surya's father's character at the end and ends abruptly with all the blame being put at Surya. I, as a viewer, wanted an ending that was satisfactory for all the characters, as I felt Surya here was not a villain, but just a coward. An example of a perfect climax and catharsis would be 'The Passage to India', which is longer yet more satisfying.Ankur to me is a good film, better than most Indian films today, but not at par with my other Hindi favorites, Pyaasa and Kora Kaagaz ( the Jaya Bachchan movie).My Rating: 6.5/10

golem3 Ankur is literally one the best Indian movies I have ever seen – actually, it ranks as one of my most favorite films of all time. There is something to be said about the Indian Film Industry – while it has altogether crumbled and become wildly glamorous and crass, many of the Indian movies since the advent of cinema and up until the early eighties were stupendous, thought provoking, and wholly a testament to the power of film.Ankur takes place in rural Andhra Pradesh, where a young man fights his father's wishes to run the family farm. He loses the battle, as all good boys would, gets married, and takes up agrarian life. His switch to that lifestyle is jarring, and he becomes rapidly bitter and enraged – essentially greed takes a hold of him, and he is unable to control himself in many respects. The story continues, largely focused on his housekeeper, Lakshmi (Azmi), and his relationship with her and the surrounding townspeople. His seemingly consistent life of exerting semi-torture and quasi-love for those he encounters is turned upside down when his wife finally arrives.The character of Lakshmi – an young, largely oppressed by still happy worker is not at all unlike the realities of life in India (especially at that time). Benegal uses her exceptional beauty as a sort of scaffold for the viewer – not only are we sympathetic to her social predicament, but we are because of who she is, her kind words and fidelity.The most powerful aspect of the film is the director's play on family dynamic, caste, and power. These themes are so interwoven and densely packed into the film, that it is hard to imagine it all coalescing so beautifully in just under two hours. Benegal's films, sometimes noted in the Indian 'New Wave' movement, are generally as such. There is no doubt that this movie has many aspects that are far ahead of its own time – and far too advanced for the people who watched it when it was released.Benegal's ability to deal with such vital themes makes the movie all the more amazing. Of course, from a simple entertainment standpoint, the movie is rife with short humor and phenomenal close up shots. In fact, there are many off screen elements to the movie that throw hints at the viewer about what is happening; Benegal almost emulates the great Thomas Hardy, except in film.RATING: 10/10