Mani Kaul

Mani Kaul's diploma film shot at Ajanta Caves

Ramesh is a poorly paid employee in the city Power House. His only child has high temperature, but he mistakes it for common fever. At the Power House, employees including Ramesh demand a pay rise. When the management turns down this demand, they plot to turn off the main switch of the Power House for a few minutes in order to teach a lesson to authorities. Ramesh is entrusted with this job. In the meantime, the doctor takes the decision to immediately operate on Ramesh's child. Ramesh is not aware of this. In the Power House, Ramesh turns off the main switch. The lights go off in the operation theatre too...

This documentary is a three-part tribute to director Guru Dutt, who died in 1964 at the age of 39. The work traces Guru Dutt's personal story through many interviews with his family members and colleagues and observes his work through the use of extensive film excerpts. The documentary was produced by the British television network Channel 4 producer Nasreen Munni Kabir.

Samar wants to be successful in life but his parents force him to get married. His wife is shy and reserved and Samar does not like this. The other members in the family often ill-treat her.

A personal video diary film using an audio recording of filmmaker Mani Kaul giving a Dhrupad lesson to poet Udayan Vajpeyi.

In this short, rather satirical film we meet various ill-assorted characters who are seeking their own individual ‘Gods’. The characters are a mad preacher, two drunkards, an old beggar, a little innocent boy and a withered demented woman. All of them are chasing a mirage of a supreme deity who will save them.

A stylized version of Vijay Tendulkar’s radical Marathi play chronicling the Peshwa regime in western India, a collective effort of direction and cinematography made by an independent group of young filmmakers.

A middle-aged antique dealer and money lender recollects his marriage to a 17-year-old orphan girl.

A middle-aged antique dealer and money lender recollects his marriage to a 17-year-old orphan girl.

A very clever parrot lives in a Hindu palace, surrounded by many beautiful girls, but the parrot escapes, and is trapped far from the palace. One day, when its new owner is sleeping, the bird convinces a young boy to open the cage door. In return, it shows the boy a secret passage to get into the palace.

A very clever parrot lives in a Hindu palace, surrounded by many beautiful girls, but the parrot escapes, and is trapped far from the palace. One day, when its new owner is sleeping, the bird convinces a young boy to open the cage door. In return, it shows the boy a secret passage to get into the palace.

The precautions to be taken during and after an air-raid by the people, are shown in this film.

A literary film based on a play in three acts, One Day Before the Rainy Season (Ashad Ka Ek Din) portrays the love of Mallika and Kalidasa, the renowned Sanskrit poet and dramatist. Vilom, a friend to both and interested in Mallika, is a passive onlooker for the first two acts. Kalidasa leaves his verdant mountain valley home for the splendour of far off Ujjain, where he wins fame. The action of the film is rooted in the village to which Kalidasa returns years later and finds Mallika married to Vilom and the mother of his child. Mallika sacrificed her love so that the poet could pursue his muse.

A literary film based on a play in three acts, One Day Before the Rainy Season (Ashad Ka Ek Din) portrays the love of Mallika and Kalidasa, the renowned Sanskrit poet and dramatist. Vilom, a friend to both and interested in Mallika, is a passive onlooker for the first two acts. Kalidasa leaves his verdant mountain valley home for the splendour of far off Ujjain, where he wins fame. The action of the film is rooted in the village to which Kalidasa returns years later and finds Mallika married to Vilom and the mother of his child. Mallika sacrificed her love so that the poet could pursue his muse.

A newly-married merchant’s son is sent away for business. A ghost, who laid eyes on the bride, falls madly in love with her and takes the form of the husband and begins living with her.

A newly-married merchant’s son is sent away for business. A ghost, who laid eyes on the bride, falls madly in love with her and takes the form of the husband and begins living with her.

An impressionistic biographical look at Siddheshwari Devi (1908–1977), the classical Indian singer whose voice was appreciated by the maharajas and public alike.

An impressionistic biographical look at Siddheshwari Devi (1908–1977), the classical Indian singer whose voice was appreciated by the maharajas and public alike.

Mani Kaul's diploma film shot at Ajanta Caves

Despite its suggestive title, this multi-part Danish omnibus film is not a work of exploitation. Instead, it presents 20 different short films (back-to-back) on the general theme of Danish women, directed by filmmakers including Krzysztof Zanussi, Monika Treut, Gustav Hamos, David Blair, Vibeke Vogel, Dusan Makavejev, Morten Skallerud and Lars Norgaard. Some dramatic vignettes mix with other comedic ones, but all are offbeat and experimental. The picture includes one animated sequence (by Norgaard).

Chitrakathi is about the folk artists of western India who narrate with the help of leather puppets. Mani takes us to the sleepy Konkan coastal village and introduces us to the family that has preserved this unique art for several centuries.

Based on the text written by Vijaydan Detha and Kamal Kothari, the film is set in the arid desert of Rajasthan, a setting similar to Duvidha, where two rival clans face off one another in the desert.

Taking an experimental approach to the relationship between the written text and moving image, Mani Kaul has a series of texts read aloud in voice-overs (poetry, essays, and stories), while the characters within the texts walk through real or imaginary landscapes.

Taking an experimental approach to the relationship between the written text and moving image, Mani Kaul has a series of texts read aloud in voice-overs (poetry, essays, and stories), while the characters within the texts walk through real or imaginary landscapes.

A 'filmscape' on the Kashmir valley.

This film suggests a network of hierarchical relations between people through sometimes subtle and at other times blunt illustrations.

In a poetic hour and a half, director Mani Kaul looks at the ancient art of making pottery from a wide variety of perspectives.

In a poetic hour and a half, director Mani Kaul looks at the ancient art of making pottery from a wide variety of perspectives.

To the city come men, women, fruits, flowers, vegetables, goats and sheep – all ready for consumption. It is the process of consumption/exploitation that forms the core of the film.

To the city come men, women, fruits, flowers, vegetables, goats and sheep – all ready for consumption. It is the process of consumption/exploitation that forms the core of the film.