Sadgati

Screenplay bySatyajit RayBased onShort story Sadgati
by PremchandProduced byDoordarshanStarringOm Puri
Smita Patil
Mohan Agashe
Gita Siddharth
Richa MishraCinematographySoumendu RoyEdited byDulal DuttaMusic bySatyajit Ray52 min^[1]CountryIndiaLanguageHindi

Sadgati (transl. Salvation [or] Deliverance) is a 1981 Hindi television film directed by Satyajit Ray, based on a short story of same name by Munshi Premchand. Ray called this drama of a poor Dalit "a deeply angry film [...] not the anger of an exploding bomb but of a bow stretched taut and quivering."^[2]

Cast

• Om Puri as Dukhi
• Smita Patil as Jhuria
• Mohan Agashe as The Priest
• Gita Siddharth as The wife
• Bhaiyalal Hedao as The Gond
• Richa Mishra as Dhania

Reception

The Film Sufi's reviewer rated the film 3.5/5 and commented, "The Brahmin and his wife are not evil people, but they are comfortably situated inside a system that perpetuates injustice – and they take advantage of it for their own selfish gains. And those who remain, such as Dukhi and Jhuria, can do nothing but suffer. Dukhi was a dedicated believer in the social system in which he lived, even though he was an outcast. This filming of Sadgati has just the right tone for the telling of this tale. Besides the cinematography of Soumendu Roy, there is the impeccable work of Ray’s usual film editor, Dulal Dutta. And, as usual, there is Ray’s moody, low-key music that maintains the right tone."^[3] Shaikh Ayaz of The Indian Express noted, "Having the distinction of being Doordarshan’s first colour outing, Sadgati is 40 years old today but it’s message is still relevant".^[4]

Awards

• National Film Award – Special Jury Award (feature film) - Satyajit Ray

References

External links

• Sadgati at IMDb
• Satyajitray.org page Archived 16 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine