Shama Zaidi

The police are called to investigate the death of a woman who was killed during a riot by a stone thrown by an agitated person. She was known in the community as "Sardari Begum", a popular singer and courtesan in her time. This story chronicles her youth, her contacts, and her lifestyle. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was invited to South Africa in 1893 to settle a case for a wealthy Indian settled there. He expected to return in a few months but instead got involved in the freedom movement and eventually stayed for 21 years. One of two feuding Mohammedan cousins of Indian origin living in Britain seek the assistance of an Indian Barrister to travel to Britain and settle their matter in a court of law. The Barrister travels to Britain, and finds that all Asians are treated as coolies and their status is worse than of servants. Despite being dressed in a suit and a tie, he is thrown out of a first-class train compartment; is asked to remove his cap in a court of law; asked to ride with the driver of the coach; and even shoved out on the footpath for daring to walk close to a bureaucrat's premises; beaten, and abused with no recourse to any justice. His attempts to deal with these issues is met with strong governmental and bureaucratic disapproval and opposition. Notwithstanding this, he settles the dispute between the two cousins out of court and sets about trying to organize the local Asians to assert their rights, and even represents some of them in court. Then he journeys to Durban, South Africa, where yet another struggle is taking place against the native Africans and the emigrant Asian community. This is where this young man summons his wife and three children and decides to garner support of the oppressed community to improve the lot of all people, and where he will find that though the laws are on his side, the people who interpret them, and legislators are opposed to any kind of fair or equal treatment that this young Barrister was requesting. The young Barrister will then re-locate to India to continue his struggle against the British--and he will soon be known and acknowledged by the world as Mahatma Gandhi. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Mammo moves to Pakistan during the Partition. Years later, with nowhere else to go, she visits Bombay to meet her sister and grandson but struggles to extend her visa. 13 year old Riyaz lives a poor lifestyle in Bombay, India, with his grandmother, Fayyuzi, and her sister, Mehmooda alias Mammo. Quite outspoken and embittered over his dad abandoning him, Riyaz does not have many friends, save for Rohan. When Mammo plans a surprise birthday party for him, Riyaz is offended as he believes his friends will make fun of him as his lifestyle is not as good as their's. Fayyuzi and Riyaz have an argument with Mammo, and she leaves for the Mosque at Haji Ali, but returns when both apologize to her. Although Mammo was born in Panipat during the British Raj, she was one of thousands of Muslims who left for Pakistan. She was married over there, could not conceive, was branded a "barren woman", and asked to leave. Having nowhere else to go, she came to live with her widowed sister in Bombay on a temporary Visa. Every month she would walk to the nearest Police Station and get an extension. She finally paid a Rs.4800/ as a bribe in order to get a permanent visa through Inspector Apte. When Apte was transferred, a new Police Inspector took over, processed her papers, held her to be an illegal immigrant, arrested her, had her escorted to the Bombay Central Railway Station, board the Frontier Mail, which would return her to Pakistan. Riyaz and Fayyuzi make every possible attempt to trace and bring her back, which was all in vain. Now 20 years later, Riyaz has grown up and has written a book about his Mammo, hoping that someday, somewhere she will find it and they will be reunited again. —rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

"This film narrative takes place over seven days during which time Manek Mulla, a young man barely out of his teens, tells three stories about himself. These stories revolve around Manek's involvement with women. In each case one or another circumstance leads to his separation from his beloved. The tone of the stories is tongue-in- cheek and sometimes borders on the fantastic and surreal. There is consistency and ambiguity a blurring of distinction between the real and the invented. For Menak Mulla, the purpose of telling these stories is to define the meaning of love. As it transpires, none of the stories Manek tells actually define Love. If they do, they define what love is not. The film is a comedy but not without a twinge of pain and a sense of loss. "

In 1961, the grandfather of a Portuguese family in Goa dies and his wife tries to call upon his ghost but ends up calling the souls of people the family has wronged in the past.

Rukmini Bai has been running a brothel for years and business is thriving. But when one of the girls has an illicit affair, the whole establishment is threatened.

For years, an aging Rukmini Bai (Shabana Azmi) has been the Madame of a brothel in Hyderabad, India. The women in the brothel live in harmony. Rukmini Bai takes pride in the talent of her women, especially Zeenat (Smita Patil) who is a classical singer and Basanti (Neena Gupta) who is a classical dancer. Rukmini Bai is quite possessive about Zeenat and does not let her get engaged in prostitution. Ramgopal (Om Puri) is a photographer who frequents the brothel. Ramgopal is lusting after Basanti, but she is not interested in him. The Doctor (Annu Kapoor) comes every month for health check-ups. Phoolmani (Sreela Majumdar) is a new entrant into the brothel. She was sold to the brothel for Rs 4000 by a supplier Srikanth (who had married Phoolmani and then lured her to the brothel) and she had a torrid start to her first day. She was frightened, ran all over the brothel, tried to escape and then finally lost the energy and calmed down. Rukmini is protective of her from the customers who wish to deflower Zeenat. One day Rukmini Bai gets the news, that she, now, has a new landlord Mr. Gupta (Kulbhushan Kharbanda), whose daughter Malti (Ratna Pathak) is to marry Mr. Aggarwal's (Saeed Jaffrey) son, Sushil (Aditya Bhattacharya), shortly. Given the finesse of Zeenat and Basanti, Mr. Gupta invites Rukmini Bai with her women to perform at the engagement ceremony of his son. During the performance, Sushil is smitten by Zeenat's beauty and approaches her in the dressing room. Zeenat also gets attracted to Sushil. In the meanwhile, it is shown that the City Councilor, Shantidevi (Gita Siddharth), who also runs the Women Organization of the town is averse to Rukmini Bai and her brothel. In reality Shanti Devi is coordinating with Mr. Gupta to build public opinion against the brothel, so he can get it demolished for his new construction project at the right time. Shantidevi's assistant (Pankaj Kapur) Via Mr Gupta, Shanti gets news that a minor Phoolmani has been kept at the brothel without her wishes. Shanti enters the brothel with a large public crowd to rescue the minor. But Rukmini traps Shanti's assistant in a room with one her other girls, who claims that he was trying to sexually assault her. This puts Shanti on the back foot, and she is forced to withdraw for the time being. Meanwhile Nadira tries to force Phoolmani into her first time. She has a stroke and later tries to commit suicide. To save Phoolmani the Doctor asks Rukmini to take her to a hospital, but since it is a suicide case, a police report is required first. And that means the entire brothel will be kept in a lockup, just so that Phoolmani can be saved. Mr. Agarwal bails the girls out. In a Municipal Committee meeting, Shanti proposes that the brothel should be moved out of town, in order to protect the town from getting corrupted. The committee agrees to her demands and Rukmini Bai and her women are forced to relocate to a new place in the outskirts of the city, which happens to be near the Dargah of Baba Karak Shah. Mr. Agarwal comes to apologize to Rukmini that he could not stop from the brothel being relocated but promises to take care of the Phoolmani case. Agarwal also gets Mr. Gupta to offer Rs 51K, a house and land to Rukmini at the new site, to help her relocate. But the new location attracts a lot of people (as it the religious grave site of one Baba Kharak Shah, whom the locals revere and visit often), and Rukmini Bai's brothel starts thriving. In the meanwhile, Rukmini Bai gets to know about the budding love between Zeenat and Sushil and she forbids Zeenat from going ahead with the relationship. She reveals that Zeenat is the illegitimate child of Mr. Aggarwal and another prostitute, and Rukmini Bai had kept it as a secret for years, in order to save the face of Mr. Aggarwal. It makes Zeenat and Sushil siblings and renders their romantic relationship as prohibited. The complications set in when Sushil refuses to marry Malti and runs away from his house in order to pursue Zeenat. He asks Zeenat to elope from the brothel with him in search of better existence and Zeenat accepts his proposal. The whole brothel is in a state of panic when the news of Zeenat's elopement breaks out. Rukmini Bai and Aggarwal go in search of the children. However, during the way, Zeenat is overcome by guilt as she is aware of their biological relationship and thus, runs away from Sushil as well. Sushil is heartbroken. Rukmini Bai too, is unable to come to terms with the news of Zeenat's disappearance. She is sobbing in her brothel and instead of getting sympathy, she is rebuked by a Nadira (Soni Razdan), a prostitute who works for her. She asks Rukmini Bai to exit the brothel as the women do not need her anymore and can run the brothel on their own. Rukmini Bai is in a state of shock and with a heavy heart, she quits the brothel with her faithful helper Tungrus (Naseeruddin Shah). On their way, due to exhaustion, they halt for water. While looking for water, Tungrus accidentally comes across a Shiv Lingam. He calls out to Rukmini Bai and they both pray to the Shivlingam for a better future. Just then, they see Phoolmani, a former brothel woman, running towards them. Rukmini Bai is delighted at the sight of Phoolmani and thanks the almighty.

Amiran is sold to a brothel by a corrupt cop after her father testifies against him. Years later, she grows up to become an accomplished poetess and the renowned courtesan, Umrao Jaan.

Set on the eve of the Indian rebellion of 1857, the film depicts two noblemen who devote themselves to endless rounds of chess, while their kingdom gets annexed.

The film is set in 1856 on the eve of the Indian rebellion of 1857. The British are about to annex the Indian State of Awadh (also spelled Oudh). The daily life of two wealthy men who are devoted to chess is presented against the background of scheming officials of the British East India Company, the history of its relations with the Indian ruler of Awadh, and the ruler's devotion both to his religious practice and the pursuit of pleasure. the Indian princely state of Awadh (whose capital is Lucknow) and its Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah (Amjad Khan). He lives with the Queen (Veena), Mother of Wajid Ali Shah. Awadh is rich and prosperous. The population is satisfied and have a large disposable income. Wajid Ali is a languid artist and poet (Dresses up like Krishna, composes his own songs, praising himself, and has 400 concubines and 29 Muta (enjoyment wives)), no longer in command of events and unable to effectively oppose the British demand for his throne. Wajid was not interested in ruling his kingdom but loved his crown none-the-less. Lord Dalhousie had his eyes on the Kingdom of Awadh and wanted to swallow it within the British empire. He also already swallowed Punjab, Burma, Nagpur, Satara and Jhansi. Historically Awadh's ruler Shuja-Ud-Daulah allowed the Brits in for trading. Eventually the Brits went to war and Awadh lost. But Brits allowed Shuja-Ud-Daulah to keep his crown for a penalty of Rs 50 MM and a promise to fund Brit wars, as and when needed. General James Outram (Richard Attenborough) is plotting against Wajid at the behest of Dalhousie. The role of Captain Weston (Tom Alter), Outram's aide De camp, so British in his ways, but in love with Urdu poetry, is also worth noting. Outram declares Wajid to be an incompetent ruler and gets Weston to support him by promising a plum position post the takeover. Parallel to this wider drama is the personal (and humorous) tale of two rich, indolent noblemen of this kingdom, Mirza Sajjad Ali (Sanjeev Kumar) and Mir Roshan Ali (Saeed Jaffrey). Inseparable friends, the two nobles are passionately obsessed with the game of Shatranj (chess). Munshi Nandlal (David Abraham) reaches out to both nobles and tells them that a British takeover of Awadh is imminent. Brits are bringing railways and wireless to India to speed up transportation and establish control over all of India. Mirza and Mir think this is only another ploy for the Brits to demand more money from the King. Both effectively neglect their wives (Khurshid (Shabana Azmi), Mirza's wife & Nafisa (Farida Jalal), Mir's wife). Khurshid is angry that Mirza won't spend time with her even though he is at home. She also curses Mir, that his wife is having an affair and yet he spends all of his time with Mirza. Khurshid wants to have sex with Mirza and calls his away from his game with Mir. But Mirza can only think about his unfinished game and goes back to Mir, after failing to perform in bed with Khurshid. She thinks that Mirza doesn't love her. In retaliation Khurshid steals Mirza's chess pieces. Hirya (Leela Mishra), Khurshid's maid helps her in this. Meanwhile on 31st Jan 1986, Dalhousie makes his moves and issues orders for the takeover of Awadh, from Calcutta. Outram delivers the orders to Prime Minister "Madar-Ud-Daula" (Victor Banerjee). The orders are justified by the "misrule" of Awadh by the King and include taking Wajid's title away from him. The orders are backed by the British armies at Cawnpore, who are straining at the least to be let lose against Awadh. Meanwhile Mir and Mirza are dying to play chess and decide to borrow pieces from their lawyer Abbajani (Bhudo Advani). But when they get to his house, they realize he is on his death bed, and quietly make their exit. It is Friday and the market is closed. PM delivers the news of the takeover to Wajid. The nobles decide to play chess with condiments and vegetables as their pieces, much to the disappointment of Khurshid. She throws the pieces back at Mirza. Mirza decides to play at Mir's going forward. Now Wajid is distraught at losing his titles and laments that he got rid of his formidable army at the insistence of the Brit officials a few years ago. Wajid contemplates his position (The Brits have an earlier treaty with Awadh in which they explicitly agree to let the King remain on the throne) and refuses to vacate the throne. The Brits, including Outram, know of the treaty and feel Wajid is entitled to challenge this forced abdication of the throne. Outram knows that a 100,000 pounds a month is generous compensation, but Wajid may decide to fight the abdication. Wajid has 5 days to respond and Outram is worried that there has been no response yet. Outram decides to meet the Queen mother. Meanwhile Mir's wife Nafisa is worried that Mir is playing chess with Mirza at home. Her lover is Aqueel (Farooq Sheikh). Mir catches them red-handed when he enters Nafisa's room, but they are able to convince him that Aqueel is hiding from the King's army, as they are forcibly taking youth to fight against the British. Queen mother refuses the compensation and demands justice for Wajid. She says she will advise Wajid to fight for his throne. The 2 nobles fail to fight the takeover of their kingdom by the East India Company. Instead, they escape their harangued wives and responsibilities, fleeing from Lucknow to play chess in a tiny village untouched by greater events. they are trying to find an abandoned mosque, where they can play in peace, but can't find it. They are invited to rest at the house of poor farmer. Ray's basic theme in the film is the message that the self-centered nature, detachment and cowardice of India's ruling classes catalyzed the annexation of Awadh by a handful of British officials. Wajid meanwhile agrees to meet Outram at 8 am the following morning. Outram presses Wajid to sign the new treaty. Wajid is willing to give up his crown, but refuses to sign the new treaty, which he feels is unjust. Meanwhile the chess match rages on and Mirza is losing for a change. He blames the mosquitoes for distracting him. Mirza then dawns on Mir that Nafisa is cheating on him, to throw him off his game. In the last scene, after which Mir shoots at Mirza and complains out loud "(If you die) I won't have a partner to play chess with", Mirza responds to him "but you have one in front of you!" (thus, making him understand that he forgives him). He finally concludes that "after nightfall, we will go back home. We both need darkness to hide our faces."

"Kanneshwara Rama " is a 1977 Indian Kannada film, directed by "M S Sathyu" and Produced by " Moola Brothers".The film Stars "Ananthnag, Shabana Azmi, Amol Palekar, B V Karanth, Malathi, Dheerendra Gopal, Ashok Mandanna", in lead roles. The film had musical score by "B V Karanth". Watch the full Movie, Kanneshwara Rama , online, only On Eros Now.