Janani (1993 film)

Indian film

Janani (1993 film)

Roopa Ganguly in a still from the film

Directed by| Sanat Dasgupta[1]
Screenplay by| Partha Banerjee
Ashutosh Sarkar
Sanat Dasgupta
Story by| Mahasweta Devi
Produced by| Sanat Dasgupta[2]
Starring|

* Roopa Ganguly
* Debesh Roy Chowdhury
* Shuvojit Dasgupta
* Gyanesh Mukherjee

Edited by| Prosanto Dey
Music by| Partha Sengupta

Running time

| 130 minutes
Country| India
Language| Bengali

Janani[a] (lit. 'Mother') is a 1993 Bengali film directed and produced by Sanat Dasgupta[b] with a financial assistance from National Film Development Corporation of India.[4][5] The film narrates the life of a little boy and his ostracized mother who is isolated from him as she is believed to be a witch in the village she lives in.[6][7] It is based on a Bengali short story named Bayen (Bengali: বাঁয়েন) written by the renowned Bengali author Mahasweta Devi.[8][9] It was scripted by Partha Banerjee, Ashutosh Sarkar and Sanat Dasgupta himself.[10] The music of the film was scored by Partha Sengupta.[11] It stars Roopa Ganguly in the central role.[12][13]

The film won the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues in 1993 for its delicate portrayal of an obscurantist practice like witchcraft, prevalent in certain parts of the country.[14][15] The film was internationally screened under the title Mother.[16] For its social issues, the film attracted attention at several international film festivals.[17] It was nominated for the Crystal Globe Award but lost to Mariano Barroso's film My Soul Brother (1994).[18] It won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury \- Special Mention at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 1994.[19][20] It was also screened in the category "Cinema of Today : Reflections of Our Time" at the Montreal World Film Festival, 1994.[21] It was also screened at several other international film festivals including Cairo International Film Festival, 1994 and Dhaka International Film Festival, 1994 as closing film.[22] The film was not theatrically released in India.[23]

## Plot

[edit]

Malindar and his wife Chandi work as village domas. Chandi intends to quit her job as she is overpowered with consternation each time she is appointed to bury the corpse of an infant. She repulses at the thought that scavengers would dig the burial and feed on the corpse of the infant. She is affectionate towards her son Bhagirath and an infant nephew of Bhagirath. When the nephew died of pox, Chandi is accused of having done witchcraft to the infant. Anyway, both Malindar and Chandi refuse to accept such blame. Once Chandi is spotted hovering at the burial of an infant, with a sickle in her hand. The villagers claim that she is a witch who breastfeeds corpses of infants. When Malindar is summoned, he too falls under the conviction of the villagers that Chandi is a witch who is supposed to be ostracised at this point. Even after she is expelled, she craves for her son Bhagirath's company. Despite his empathy for her, Malindar keeps Bhagirath away from her.

Once Chandi comes across several perpetrators who attempt to rob an oncoming train by accumulating bamboos on the track. They evade at the sight of Chandi. A helpless Chandi runs along the track to stop the train. The train stops hitting Chandi to her death. Next day, the local officer-in-charge and the BDO come to Malindar's place to confer the honorary medal in Chandi's name. A weeping Bhagirath now steps forward and asserts himself to be Chandi's son.

## Cast

[edit]

* Roopa Ganguly as Chandi
* Debesh Roy Chowdhury as Malindar, Chandi's husband
* Suvojit Dasgupta[c] as Bhagirath, Chandi's son
* Gyanesh Mukherjee
* Nemai Ghosh
* Ramen Roy Chowdhury
* Rajat Sen Gupta
* Simanta Chatterjee

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Year  | Award  | Category  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|

1993  | National Film Award | Best Film on Other Social Issues  | Won  | [24]
1994  | Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival | Special Mention  | Won  | [19][25]
Crystal Globe | Best Feature Film  | Nominated  | [19]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Pronounced as 'Jononee'.
2. ^ Sanat Dasgupta is an Indian director and producer who has received three National Awards.[3]
3. ^ Son of Sanat Dasgupta

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Roopa Ganguly on playing Draupadi in Mahabharat: I made double the effort, reported to sets at 5 am". Top Lead India. 29 May 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
2. ^ "হারিয়ে যাওয়া সেই ছবির কথা". reader.magzter.com. Anandalok. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
3. ^ "Media Gallery -". sanatdasgupta.weebly.com. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
4. ^ "Janani (1993)". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
5. ^ "Mahasweta Devi on celluloid". The Statesman. 3 August 2019. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
6. ^ "SM2-Gender: LESSON 2 GENDER, CULTURE AND HISTORY". sol.du.ac.in. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
7. ^ "Bengali films | Talking about cinema | Page 6". chasingcinema.wordpress.com. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
8. ^ "JANANI (1994)". BFI. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
9. ^ Chatterji, Shoma A. (2002). Parama and Other Outsiders: The Cinema of Aparna Sen. Parumita Publications. ISBN 978-81-87867-03-6.
10. ^ "Media Gallery -". sanatdasgupta.weebly.com. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
11. ^ "Media Gallery -". sanatdasgupta.weebly.com. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
12. ^ "Watch video: BJP MP Roopa Ganguly sings at farewell ceremony as she retires from membership of Rajya Sabha". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
13. ^ Janani (in Polish), retrieved 17 June 2017
14. ^ "Directorate of Film Festival" (PDF). iffi.nic.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
15. ^ "National Film Awards (1993)". gomolo.com. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
16. ^ "KVIFF | Mother". www.kviff.com. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
17. ^ Data India. Press Institute of India. 1994.
18. ^ "My Soul Brother: a film by Mariano Barroso. Film at Spain is culture". www.spainisculture.com. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
19. ^ a b c "Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (1994)". IMDb. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
20. ^ Visarius, Karsten. "Interfilm - Das Netzwerk kirchlicher Filmarbeit!". old.gep.de. Retrieved 23 July 2017.
21. ^ "Awards & Achievements -". sanatdasgupta.weebly.com. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
22. ^ "Awards & Achievements -". sanatdasgupta.weebly.com. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
23. ^ "Draupadi was a mediocre performance of mine". The Times of India. 11 January 2017. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
24. ^ "Directorate of Film Festival" (PDF). iffi.nic.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
25. ^ German Film & Literature. D. Holloway. 1992.

## External links

[edit]

* Janani at IMDb

*[lit.]: literal translation