Bangarwadi

Bangarwadi
Theatrical poster of the Marathi film Bangarwadi
Poster of the film Bangarwadi
Directed byAmol Palekar
Written byVyankatesh Madgulkar (screenplay and dialogues)
Produced byNational Film Development Corporation of India
Doordarshan
StarringChandrakant Kulkarni
Chandrakant Mandare
Adhishree Atre
Nandu Madhav
Sunil Ranade
Upendra Limaye
CinematographyDebu Deodhar
Edited byWaman Bhosale
Music byVanraj Bhatia
Release date
  • 1995 (1995)
Running time
124 mins
CountryIndia
LanguageMarathi

Bangarwadi (Marathi: बनगरवाडी) is a 1995 Indian Marathi film directed by Amol Palekar. It is based on an eponymous novel written by Vyankatesh Madgulkar and published in 1955. It is the story of a young school teacher and his experiences in a small village of shepherds in the princely state of Aundh during the 1940s.

Plot

The story begins with a young school teacher, played by Chandrakant Kulkarni, walking alone towards a village called Bangarwadi, across a deserted landscape. When he reaches Bangarwadi, he finds that the school has shut down and that the people of the village are reluctant to send their children to school. With the support of the Karbhari (the village head), the teacher convinces the villagers to send their children to school. He runs the school for the next few months and helps the illiterate and the needy in the village, which sometimes lands him into trouble. Soon, he convinces the villagers to set up a gymnasium through community participation. He invites the king of the state, Pant Pratinidhi for its inauguration. The sudden death of the village head leaves the village and the teacher shocked. Then comes prolonged drought. The teacher tries his best to get help from the government, writing frequent letters describing the graveness of situation, but he gets no response. Drought forces the people of Bangarwadi to abandon the village, leaving the school teacher alone and with no students.

Cast

Reception

Reviewing the film at the Indian Panorama section of the International Film Festival of India, S. R. Ashok Kumar of The Hindu wrote that "If only Amol Palekar had concentrated a little more on the screenplay and editing it would have become a memorable movie".[1]

Awards

  • National Award for the best Feature Film in Marathi, 1996[2]
  • Kalnirnaya Award Best Film, 1997[citation needed]
  • Filmfare Award for Best Film and Direction, 1997[citation needed]
  • Maharashtra state awards in five categories, 1996[citation needed]
  • Screen Awards - Best Actress[3]

Film festivals

Bangarwadi was screened at several international film festivals:

  • Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 1996
  • Birmingham International Film Festival, 1996
  • London Film Festival, the UK, 1996
  • 15th FAJR International Film Festival, Iran, 1997
  • Cairo International Film Festival, Egypt, 1996
  • Bogota International Film Festival, Colombia, 1996
  • Sarajevo Film Festival, Prague 1996

References

  1. ^ Kumar, S. R. Ashok (12 January 1996). "The cream of Indian cinema". The Hindu. p. 26. Archived from the original on 21 December 1996.
  2. ^ "43rd National Film Awards, 1996" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. p. 80. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  3. ^ "8th Annual STAR SCREEN Weekly Awards". 17 January 2002. Archived from the original on 17 January 2002. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
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