Rudaali
DVD cover of Rudaali.
Directed by	Kalpana Lajmi
Produced by	Ravi Gupta Ravi Malik
Written by	Mahasweta Devi (story) Sampooran Singh Gulzar
Starring	Dimple Kapadia Raakhee Gulzar Amjad Khan
Release date(s)	1993
Running time	128 min.
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Rudaali is a 1993 Hindi film directed by the Feminist Indian director Kalpana Lajmi, based on the short story written by famous Bengali litterateur Mahasweta Devi.

Contents 1 Cultural Background 2 Plot 3 Awards and honors 4 Soundtrack 5 External links

[edit] Cultural Background

The title is a reference to a custom in certain areas of Rajasthan where women of a lower caste are hired as professional mourners upon the death of upper-caste males. These women are referred to as a 'rudaali' (roo-dah-lee),literally translated as 'female weeper' or "Weeping Woman"[1]. Their job is to publicly express grief of family members who are not permitted to display emotion due to social status.

[edit] Plot

The film is set in a small village in Rajasthan, India. It tells the story of a woman named Shanichari, who was abandoned by her mother shortly after her father's death. Bad fortune follows as she marries an alcoholic, who leaves her with little hope of a brighter future for herself and her mentally-retarded son.

Throughout Shanichari's lifetime of misfortune she has never cried. This creates great difficulty once she is called to become a rudaali until Bhinkni, an experienced mourner, enters her life[2]. Shanichari and the local landlord's son fall in love with each other, but Shanichari is reluctant to ask the rich lover for money as she does not want to lower her love even for the sake of getting out of poverty and misery.

[edit] Awards and honors

Dimple Kapadia won a National Film Award for her role of Shanichari in the film. The film also features Raakhee, Raj Babbar and Amjad Khan in one of his last films. Amjad Khan had died before the film's release and the film is dedicated to him at the beginning of the film's credits.

[edit] Soundtrack

The film has music by Bhupen Hazarika - one of his few forays of this classical musician into providing soundtracks for Bollywood.

[edit] External links

• Rudaali at the Internet Movie Database
• Plot synopsis,

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