Banaras (2006 film)

Banaras - A Mystic Love Story
Directed by	Pankuj Parashar
Starring	Urmila Matondkar,Ashmit Patel,Dimple Kapadia,Raj Babbar,Naseeruddin Shah
Music by	Himesh Reshammiya
Language	Hindi

Banaras - A Mystic Love Story is the name of an Indian Bollywood film directed by Pankuj Parashar released in 2006. The film takes place in the Hindu Holy city of Varanasi (a city for the pilgrimage of millions of Hindu worshippers annually) and is centered around the relationship of a young woman with her parents and her lover. The storyline also has a strong religious dimension.

Synopsis

Template:Spoiler A young woman, Shwetambari (played by Urmila Matondkar) is the daughter to wealthy Brahmin parents, Mahendranath and Gayatri Devi (played by Raj Babbar and Dimple Kapadia respectively) and studies at university in the city. She falls in love with a low-caste mystic named Soham (played by Ashmit Patel). Soham, after one meditative session, is illumined by Babaji, his mentor (played by Naseeruddin Shah) and decides there is no harm in falling in love with the girl from the high-caste Brahmin family.This creates a citywide scandal. Shwetambari's parents initially object but eventually support the relationship, despite the objections of orthodox elements. The orthodox elements of the society discourage the relationship actively,driving Shwetambari to depression. She eventually finds salvation in her religious beliefs.Eventually, a disheartened Shwetambari leaves the city for greener pastures.

17 years later, Shwetambari, now a philosopher and a religious scholar, is torn between returning to her beloved city if Varanasi to see her dying father and avoiding all the unpleasantness associated with her inter-caste liason in the past. She returns, which creates turbulence in the mindscape of her so-called self-realized being.

Reviews

The film, essentially a love story, makes frequent allusions to Dharmic Mysticism and philosophy, with references to Buddha,Kabir,Tulsidas and Adi Shankara. Some reviewers praised this concept, while others criticized it as superficial, presenting a facade of religious piety over what is a standard Bollywood romance. The film was praised for being rich in human emotions. The acting was received well, and the cinematography was praised with respect to the portrayal of the beauty of the holy city of Varanasi.

Trivia

• Most of the film was shot in Varanasi, with some scenes shot in Mauritius.
• Javed Siddiqui, the writer for the film, is famous for writing the play "Tumhari Amrita".

References

• Film Site
• Apun Ka Choice
• Review of film- apunkachoice.com
• Review of film - bollyvista.com
• Indiafm.com