Ankur was a brilliant debut for Shyam Benegal and a film which immediately gave him National prominence. Based on an actual incident in the Hyderabad area, the film focuses on power and privalege - not in the standard hero - villain and black and white terms but with careful thought and acute perception. The film is memorable for its engrossing details of rural life and its exposure of the feudal system that is brutal and indifferent. But before anything it is primarily a study of human rather than social relationships, and it is this facet of the story which gives it wider significance.
Before he embarked on Ankur, Benegal had made quite a name for himself as an advertising filmmaker. Blaze Advertising, which dominated the booking of ads into theatres, proposed backing Benegal in making a feature film as they had surplus funds to invest and wanted to enter feature filmmaking. Benegal immediately got the scenario for Ankur out of the closet and went to work. He had earlier tried for years to get funds for it but was unsuccessful.
Benegal's direction shows a sure, subtle control. The women particularly are directed with much sensivity and his handling of crowds suggest a seasoned virtuosity. The sounds of nature are omnipresent - the rustle of leaves in the wind, the chirruping of birds - and the colourful photography carries a warm golden glow. Benegal shows a keen eye for composition and his use of a tracking camera adds dramatic impetus to the script; at other times he is content to let the actors create their own tension - Surya being shaved in front of his house, or the moving return of Lakshmi's husband near the end.The final act of rebellion when a small boy throws a stone at the landlord's window foreshadows much of Benegal's later work. The film also sees the use of Hindi with a 'Hyderabadi' accent being deployed by the characters keeping in tune with the area where the story is set.
Ankur is greatly aided by a sensational performance by Shabana Azmi in the central role of Lakshmi. An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune (FTII), it is hard to believe it is her first feature film. It is a pyschologically penetrating performance, her eyes acting as ciphers for the emotions churning within her and went on to win Shabana the National Award for Best Actress. Ironically Shabana wasn't even the original choice for the film. Benegal had met Waheeda Rehman, Anju Mahendru and Sharda for Lakshmi's role but they all refused. Then he met Shabana and cast her in the film altering the script a little to suit her, making Lakshmi a younger woman.
Shabana is prefectly supported by rest of the cast including Sadhu Meher, Priya Tendulkar and Anant Nag. Again neither were Priya and Anant original choices. Zarina Wahab refused Priya's role and the actor playing Anant's role got jaundice. Meeting prospective actors, Anant came along with a friend of his who was the actor, to meet Benegal and got cast instead!
Ankur won a host of awards the world over and what's more was a success at the box-office too thus setting the basis for a fine career as a filmmaker for Shyam Benegal. In fact, the success that New India Cinema enjoyed in the 1970s and early 1980s could largely be attributed to Benegal's quartet Ankur (1973), Nishant (1975), Manthan (1976) and Bhumika (1977), which were artistically superior yet commercially viable films. Tapping fresh talent mainly from the FTII and NSD like Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smita Patil, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Amrish Puri, Benegal has made several sensitive and stimulating films since which have been appreciated by both the classes and the masses.
