Annu Kapoor's birthday: Revisiting his Hindi art films
Actor, singer, director, host, radio disc jockey, and National Film Awardee Annu Kapoor is celebrating his 68th birthday on Tuesday. The multi-hyphenate artist has been nurturing the Hindi film industry since the 1980s. While contemporary audiences would best remember him from films such as Vicky Donor and Dream Girl, Kapoor has adorned several art films with his polished acting skills. Here are our recommendations.
'Mandi'
Shyam Benegal's piercing critique of society and the male gaze, Mandi is based on an Urdu story Aanandi by Ghulam Abbas. It is remarkable due to its predominantly female cast, comprising Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Soni Razdan, and Neena Gupta. Set around a brothel, it also featured Naseeruddin Shah, Satish Kaushik and was the recipient of the National Film Award for Best Art Direction.
'Damul'
Prakash Jha's National Award-winning Damul is a story of oppression, subjugation, caste politics, and slavery. Kapoor shared the screen with Manohar Singh, Deepti Naval, Ranjan Kamath, and Pyare Mohan Sahay. It also won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie and marked the first of Jha's many films surrounding the socio-political climate of India. Stream it on YouTube.
'Khandhar'
Mrinal Sen's Khandhar was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival. Fronted by Azmi, Shah, and Pankaj Kapur, Khandhar is the story of a young woman Jamini, awaiting Subhash, a man who is betrothed to her but already married to another woman. It snagged three National Film Awards (Azmi, Sen, and Mrinmoy Chakraborty for Best Editing).
'Droh Kaal'
IMDb describes crime thriller Droh Kaal's story as, "Riveting suspense thriller about a dedicated cop who leads an under-cover squad against a group of terrorists." "He manages to capture their leader, but finds himself and his family mentally and physically manipulated by the wily terrorist and his followers." It is emboldened by Kapoor, Ashish Vidyarthi, Shah, Amrish Puri, and Manoj Bajpayee's performances.
