At the time of watching this, I wasn't bothering with many films at all. The reason being, it seemed most films were dramatic for the sake of drama, and in the process, they sacrifice the purity of the message. That didn't happen here. The film has a subheading of 'A Mystical Love Story'.. And thats exactly what you get. When I weigh everything up, other comments posted here, my own experience, then I come to this conclusion: I'd say This film achieves what it set out to achieve & The story doesn't falter in its culmination. I felt quite satisfied at the end, and not just tantalized by some over-dramatic cheap thrill with no lasting message.

Has all ingredients of an all-time great movie! Powerful storyline - Love, Romance, status & clash of social values, joy/sorrow, desire/surrender, success/failure,covetousness, suspense of the who-dun- it, control interference and the fight for freedom, purity/sin, justice retribution/understanding, the dilemma of science (physics) vs metaphysics(spiritual/religious thought), the deep hunger/urge in man for meaning & Verities/"Truth" and ideas of Eternal/Ephemeral existence - in short a cameo of LIFE itself."Banaras" even has "action", murder/violence/death which is idiomatically alluded to for each viewer to visualize - or is simply depicted with quiet finality - as in life! I cannot say when I last enjoyed such a totally absorbing masterpiece. I has always wondered if someone would attempt to make a movie that would address all these issues in 2/3 hours. I finally found one that fits the bill! The portrayal of culture, locale is excellent and authentic. The superb music and lyrics - which run completely true to storyline - mood and message as well as events - both timely and timeless. Banaras presents even very deep "fantastic" spiritual concepts: such as 1. the expansion/mergence of the human consciousness with super/cosmic consciousness and 2. Love as the bedrock of all existence 3. The guru-disciple relationship which fords life, death and Infinity seamlessly 4. Principles of spiritual crisis and healing 5. The karma - the cause and effect principle (where we sows the result if our actions - and create/destroy our joy/life by our actions), 6. Forgiveness - cessation of "blame" by absolute love/understanding/surrender (despite awareness of the "sinful" actions) 7. Intuitive transmission/reception of thought/ideas in an excellent manner - with seemingly effortless natural ease - which is again as it should be because "Truth is simple". I saw this once and then had to go back to see it again - because I felt I needed to be a true critic more balanced in my opinion and so must find fault if there is some. I could not fault even the cinematography. The perception of the untouchable - was expressed through the sweeping, the rising of the dust, and the dropping of the broom, all too effectively - the effect was almost viscerally tangible!The authenticity of portrayal of "supernatural" events with real spiritual experience is also astounding!A big thank you to the team! Kudos to each performer - for perfect portrayal of each role and to Pankaj and the editors for a very slick presentation. If Oscars were mine to give - Banaras would surely have had them! May it be the first of many more in its genre - to come from my beloved India!

Jalwa, Chaalbaaz were two of my favorite movies from Punkaj Parashar. Though he has directed a few more films after that but these two movies from him were memorable ones. Most of his movies are different from each other in term of story, presentation, idea. This time he has attempted another different story about spirituality with love story. That's why the name of the movie is BANARAS - A Mystic Love Story. This is a movie that is well narrated and made from heart. But then the movie didn't cater to the masses as it was a film which won't be liked by all types of audiences.If you want to enjoy this movie truly, then you need to watch this movie with a open mind and concentration. It's not like those regular movies with some stupid songs, comic scenes. This is a movie that is based on caste system that is still prevalent in most parts of our country. The movie conveys a very simple message. "Don't look out for answers for life's unsolved mysteries.Try to find the answers within you." This is a movie for those kind of audiences who like to watch meaningful movies.Swtembari (Urmila) the daughter of a rich Brahmin parents Raj Babbar and Dimple Kapadia studies at a local university in Banaras. Sohan (Ashmit Patel) is a low caste mystic teaches music at the same university. When the two fall in love, Banaras was in fire. Initially Sweta's parents disapprove of the match but then the truth of Sohan forces them to approve. On the day of the marriage Sohan is found murdered. Shwetambari visibly shaken decides to leave the city and decides to find out the answers as to why he was murdered. Seventeen years later she is back to the city as a world teacher in religion and philosophy. She has a choice to make - To meet her dying father or continue denying all worldly attachments.

What a refreshing movie. I was expecting a typical three hour Bollywood entertainment, with pretty settings and some songs and dances. I was surprised and quite moved by the film afterward. first of all, the mystical subject matter interested me and the wonderful settings in Banaras provides authentic inspirations to me, the cinema photographer did a great job by setting atmospheric tones visually. Urmila looks stunning in this film both as a young girl in love and years later a spiritual teacher. Once again, she proves herself a versatile actress in this film, her presence always brings an emotional depth to a story. The soundtrack in the movie is very beautiful and haunting, especially the music in some ritual scenes, I still can't forget the melodies. I especially appreciate the consistent mood in the storying telling, a solid two hours without usual three-hour Bollywood action/fighting scenes nor irrelevant comic sidetrack.