'Nishaant' is perhaps Benegal's most chilling movie to date. With this movie who also introduces the ever so talented Smita Patil to Hindi cinema. Through brilliant execution and with superb cinematography, Shyam Benegal tells us this compelling, brutally honest and haunting tragic story. The background music brilliantly adds to the mood. While dealing with various themes such as oppression, corruption, power, violence, abduction and poverty, he also presents controversial taboo issues like rape and homosexuality. 'Nishaant' is also quite graphic in nature. Particularly the scene where Anjaiya and Prasad gang rape Sushila is disturbing to watch and then there's the shattering ending which haunts the viewer.Like in all of Benegal's films, the actors do nothing short of a fantastic job. Amrish Puri gives a restrained performance and his silence makes his character much more frightening than any of the over-the-top villain roles he was more known for. Shabana Azmi is sublime. Smita Patil is very effective in a small but strong role. With a brave choice, she already proves that she's here to stay and if it weren't for her untimely death one would have witnessed more of India's best actress on screen. Naseeruddin Shah is excellent. Mohan Agashe and Anant Nag are scary as the evil brothers. Girish Karnad too is great.Benegal also deserves mention for portraying unusual relationships between the characters. When Sushila encounters her husband, she resents him for not rescuing her and chooses to come back to the 'zameendar's haveli' instead of going back home. Yet, she too is conflicted as she terribly misses her son but also develops an attraction towards her kidnappers' brother Vishwam (the only sympathetic brother in the household). There's Rukmani who was once proud of her faithful husband Vishwam but she perceives Sushila as a threat and once her husband begins a physical relationship with her, it becomes resentment.'Nishaant' is based on a true story and Benegal portrays the realities of a village sensibly as he shows a good understanding of life in the village. Although there have been plenty of films that try to use the same themes, they lack the gritty rawness of 'Nishaant'. Overall, 'Nishaant' is an excellent compelling drama that needs to be watched.

This movie is a timeless classic. One more feather to the cap of the director Shyam Benegal. This movie was nominated for Cannes film festival and unfortunately did not win any award. Again Benegal takes us on a tour of rural Andhra and he does it with his characteristic grace and élan. The camera work is as usual good which can be expected of a Benegal movie. The music is good and above all , all the actors have turned in performances of their life time. Smita Patil, though in a not so significant role, excels. Shabana as usual shines. The fall of the feudal system because of it's excesses is very ably painted on the celluloid screen. Again this movie was a commercial failure, and the time of it's release was witnessing a birth of a phenomenon of Bollywood , Amitabh. Maybe that was the reason for this movie's failure at the box office. But again the movie going masses in India have always treated the alternative cinema in a not so fair manner, so this movie was no exception. The only small defect that anyone can point out in such movies, is the facial makeup of the main characters. Always the heroes and heroines are a stand out from the general crowds. But again one may condone them as a matter of artistic or artiste's liberty.Any collector of movies should cherish this movie.

Nishant is a film that I first saw when I was about 12 years old and it had such a strong impact on me that I have felt the urge to view it again every 3-4 years. Nishant is the most dramatic and episodic of the three films that comprise Benegal's first trilogy - "Ankur", "Manthan" and "Nishant". The trilogy speaks to the coming of age of democracy and the last throes of the dying feudal system in India.In the early 70's, director Shyam Benegal harnessed some formidable talents in this set of films and the cast and crew is a who's who of modern Indian cinema. All the films were made on low budgets and are technically very spartan but this actually helps set the mood for the on-screen proceedings - making everything seem very real. The rural Indian locations, the performances of the extras, the weaving of local art and dance into the stories, the local dialects - all help make this film feel very real.In a nutshell, it is the story of a powerful local landlord (Amrish Puri before he became a caricature) who has two decadent alcoholic brothers (brilliantly wicked Mohan Agashe and Anant Nag), and one naive sibling (a very young Naseeruddin Shah), and who rules his village with an iron fist. He has inherited feudal power which is in slow decay. While he metaphorically rapes the people's land and crops, his brothers more literally prey on the women of the town - while their pet police patel (amazingly good Kubhushan Kharbanda in his pre-Shahkaal days) and village priest (writer Satyadev Dubey) collaborate in silence.In this time of discontent, a schoolteacher and his young wife (Girish Karnad & Shabana Azmi) arrive in town. Shortly thereafter, she is abducted by the two brothers as a gift for their youngest brother. The rest of the story deals with the schoolteacher's quest for justice - first through apathetic official channels and finally through revolution - leading to some very unpredictable and tragic consequences. The film starts slow, seethes and simmers and finally climaxes, set to a beautiful song by Priti Sagar, in a horrifying sequence that is among the best in Indian films - although it is very unlike Benegal.This is one of the best Indian films ever and as politically as relevant today as it was in the 1970s - especially given the many parallels that still exist in the world today. I give it a 9/10 - deducting one point because it fades when compared to the later films of my idol - Dev Anand.

Shyam Benegal has a well-deserved reputation for making hard-hitting social dramas which tell true Indian stories in a realistic manner, so you'll find no concessions to Bollywood here. The plot is brutal and compelling, and the film features an all-star cast who give uniformly excellent performances.Vishvam (Naseeruddin Shah) is one of four brothers who rule their feudal village in pre-independence India with an iron grip. They execute various criminal schemes to increase their own wealth at the expense of the villagers, with the village priest and constable powerless to stop them. However unlike his brothers he tries to lead a relatively restrained life, and at the start of the film we see him married and refraining from drinking and smoking.His brothers regularly exercise their droit de seigneur, ordering villagers to send their wives and daughters to the haveli so that they can be raped at leisure. At first Vishvam, restrained by his wife (played by beautiful and brilliant but tragically short-lived Smita Patil), refuses to join them. However when the new school teacher arrives with his young child and lovely wife he finds himself tempted, and the brothers abduct her.The rest of the film concerns the resolution of the abduction, with the villagers forced to make tough ethical decisions. The film ends in a shocking way which will leave audiences deeply disturbed, which is no doubt the cause of the low score that this film has received. However upon reflection the ending is thoroughly realistic, and provides a deep and unsettling insight into the human condition.Shyam Benegal grew up in rural India and so this film, which is based upon a true story, draws closely upon his own perceptions of village India and the people that inhabit it. However the story has universal appeal, and reveals how people's lives play out in the many parts of the world where civilization is still primitive and brutal.I am sad but unsurprised to see this film receive such low ratings. No doubt the viewers who rated it will have been expecting light Bollywood style entertainment, or at least some kind of feelgood resolution.This is an excellent social drama in the tradition of Ankur and Mandi, and should be seen by anyone interested in compelling stories, excellent acting and the realities of village life in the developing world.