Mani Kaul | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Rabindranath Kaul[1] (1944-12-25)25 December 1944 |
| Died | 6 July 2011(2011-07-06) (aged 66) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation(s) | Film director, film academic |
| Known for | Uski Roti,Duvidha,Siddeshwari |
Mani Kaul (25 December 1944 – 6 July 2011) was an Indian director ofHindi films and a figure in Indianparallel cinema.[1][2] He graduated from theFilm and Television Institute of India (FTII) where he was a student ofRitwik Ghatak and later became a teacher. Starting his career withUski Roti (1969), which won him theFilmfare Critics Award for Best Movie, he went on to win four of them in all. He won theNational Film Award for Best Direction in 1974 forDuvidha and later the National Film Award for his documentary filmSiddheshwari in 1989.[3]
Born inJodhpur,Rajasthan in aKashmiri family,[1][4] Kaul first joined FTII, Pune as an Yearbook photographer and later shifted to the acting course, where noted film director Ritwik Ghatak was a teacher, graduating in 1966.[5][dubious –discuss]
He was a nephew of the actor-directorMahesh Kaul, who made films likeRaj Kapoor starrerSapno Ka Saudagar (1968).[5]
His first filmUski Roti (1969) has been described as "one of the key films of the New Indian Cinema or the Indian New Wave".[5][6] It marked a drastic departure from earlier Indian cinema technique, form and narrative. It was one of the early formal experimental films in Indian cinema.
Ashadh Ka Ek Din (1971), his next film, was based on a play byMohan Rakesh.
Duvidha, his third film, was his first in colour. It grew out of a short story byVijaydan Detha and tells the story of a merchant's son, who returns with his new bride. When he departs on a business trip, a ghost falls in love with the wife. It was widely shown across Europe. He was awarded the prestigiousJawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1974.[7]
Kaul was one of the co-founders of the Yukt Film Co-operative (Union of Kinematograph Technicians) in 1976, leading to avant-garde films. Critics[5] opined in "Mani Kaul's cinematic conception, fiction and documentary films have no clear demarcated dividing line." He also taught music in the Netherlands, and was Creative Director of the film house at Osian's Connoisseurs of Art, Mumbai.
In 1971, he was a member of the jury at the21st Berlin International Film Festival.[8]
He was a visiting lecturer atHarvard University for the 2000–2001 school year.[9]
Mani Kaul died on 6 July 2011 at his home inGurgaon, near Delhi, after prolonged battle with cancer.[4][10][11] He is survived by two sons and two daughters.[1]
According to a tribute[11] from Prabha Mahajan on the Indian documentary film discussion network Docuwallahs2[1], Mani Kaul's significant body of work included both feature films and documentaries. In an interview Mani stated: "The dividing line from my films and documentaries is thin. Some of my films likeSiddheshwari are like poetic documentaries." Mani Kaul's fellow alumni fromFTII intend to put together a collective tribute to Mani Kaul and his work, and interested persons were invited to send in their thoughts on Mani as a film maker, teacher/ mentor, colleague, and as a person.
Indian film criticKhalid Mohamed commented,[12] "As a film director, he discussed the status of women (Uski Roti,Duvidha), crafted visually seductive documentaries (Arrival,Before My Eyes,A Desert of a Thousand Lines) and went through a spell of interpretingFyodor Dostoevsky’s masterworks. The Russian writer’s short storyA Gentle Creature inspiredNazar, shot in low, chiaroscuro lighting."
FilmmakerSameer Wadhwa, in his obituary of Mani Kaul published inHindustan Times writes: “Mani Kaul had perfected the art of deeply moving his audience cerebrally by meticulous philosophical exposition. His films effortlessly employed temporality to create a deep spatial landscape in which human emotions oscillated with an incendiary provocation. This cinematic gesture was so subtle that if one were not attentive the meaning would be lost.”[13]
Mani Kaul wonFilmfare Critics Award for Best Movie four times.
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