Mani Kaul
Encyclopedia
Mani Kaul was an Indian film director of Hindi films. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India
Film and Television Institute of India
Film and Television Institute of India , is an autonomous Institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India. It is fully aided by Central Government of India. It is situated in the premises of the erstwhile Prabhat Film Company in Pune, India...

 (FTII) where he was a student of Ritwik Ghatak and later became a teacher. Started his career with Uski Roti (1969), which won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie
Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie
The Filmfare Awards are the oldest and most prominent film awards given for Hindi films in India. The yearly awards started in 1953. Movie awards were first given by popular vote...

, he went on to win four of them in all. He won the National Film Award for Best Direction in 1974 for Duvidha
Duvidha
Duvidha is a 1973 Bollywood ghost movie directed by Mani Kaul. The film stars Ravi Menon and Raisa Padamsee. The film was critically acclaimed and won the director National Film Award for Best Direction and Critics Award for Best film at the 1974 Filmfare Awards.The film is based on a story by...

and later the National Film Award for his documentary film, Siddheshwari in 1989.

Early life and education

Born as Rabindranath Kaul in Jodhpur
Jodhpur
Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital, Jaipur and from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...

, Rajasthan into a Kashmiri
Kashmiri people
The Kashmiri people are a Dardic linguistic group living in Kashmir Valley in Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and parts of the Pakistani territory of Azad Kashmir who speak the Kashmiri language...

 Kaul family, he first joined Film and Television Institute of India
Film and Television Institute of India
Film and Television Institute of India , is an autonomous Institute under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India. It is fully aided by Central Government of India. It is situated in the premises of the erstwhile Prabhat Film Company in Pune, India...

 (FTII), Pune as an acting student and later shifted to the direction course, graduating in 1966.

He was the nephew of actor-director Mahesh Kaul. Initially studying acting at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, he changed over to directing. He is a 1966 graduate of the FTII.

Professional life

His first film Uski Roti (1969) has been described as "one of the key films of the New Indian Cinema or the Indian New Wave". It marked a drastic departure from earlier Indian cinema techique, form and narrative. It was one of the early formal experimental films in Indian cinema.

Asad ka Ek Din (1971), his next film, was based on a play by Mohan Rakesh.

Duvidha (1973), his third, was his first in colour. It grew out of a short story by Vijayan Detha and tells the story of a merchant's son, who returns with his new bride to have to depart on family business. A ghost falls in love with the bride... It was widely shown across Europe.

Mani Kaul was one of the co-founders of the Yukt Film Co-operative (Union of Kinematograph Technicians) in 1976, leading to avantgarde films. Critics suggest that in "Mani Kaul's cinematic conception, fiction and documentary films have no clear demarcated dividing line." He also taught music in the Netherlands, and was Creative Director of the film house at Osian's Connoisseurs of Art, Mumbai.

Career

In 1971, he was a member of the jury at the 21st Berlin International Film Festival
21st Berlin International Film Festival
The 21st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 26 to July 6, 1971.-Jury:* Bjørn Rasmussen * Ida Ehre* Walter Albuquerque Mello* Paul Claudon* Kenneth Harper* Mani Kaul* Charlotte Kerr* Rex Reed* Giancarlo Zagni...

.

He was a visiting lecturer at Harvard University for the 2000–2001 school year. Currently he was the Creative Director of the Film House at Osian's Connoisseurs of Art, Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

.

Personal life and death

He was a nephew of the noted Hindi film director Mahesh Kaul, who made films like Raj Kapoor
Raj Kapoor
Known as Ranbir Raj Kapoor Rāj Kapūr, 14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), also known as The Show-Man, was an Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema. He was the winner of nine Filmfare Awards, while his films Awaara and Boot Polish were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the...

 starrer Sapnon Ka Saudagar (1968). Mani Kaul died on 6 July 2011 at his home in Gurgaon, near Delhi. He had been ailing for sometime.

According to a tribute from Prabha Mahajan on the Indian documentary film discussion network Docuwallahs2http://groups.yahoo.com/group/docuwallahs2, Mani Kaul's significant body of work included both feature films and documentaries. In an interview Mani stated: "The dividing line from my films and documentaries is thin. Some of my films like "Siddheshwari" are like poetic documentaries." Mani Kaul's fellow alumni from FTII intend to put together a collective tribute to Mani Kaul and his work, and interested persons were invited to send in their thoughts on Mani as a film maker, teacher/ mentor, colleague, and as a person.

Indian film critic Khalid Mohamed commented, " As a film director, he discussed the status of women (Uski Roti, Duvidha), crafted visually seductive documentaries (Arrival, Before My Eyes, A Desert of a Thousand Lines) and went through a spell of interpreting Fyodor Dostoevsky’s masterworks. The Russian writer’s short story A Gentle Creature inspired Nazar, shot in low, chiaroscuro lighting."

National Film Awards

  • 1974: Best Direction: Duvidha
    Duvidha
    Duvidha is a 1973 Bollywood ghost movie directed by Mani Kaul. The film stars Ravi Menon and Raisa Padamsee. The film was critically acclaimed and won the director National Film Award for Best Direction and Critics Award for Best film at the 1974 Filmfare Awards.The film is based on a story by...

  • 1989: Best Documentary Film
    National Film Award for Best Non-Feature Film
    The National Film Award – Best Non-Feature Film is given by the Directorate of film festivals under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The winners are given a Swarna Kamal and a cash prize of Rs.1,00,000.-Winners:...

    : Siddheshwari

Filmfare Awards

Mani Kaul won Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie
Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie
The Filmfare Awards are the oldest and most prominent film awards given for Hindi films in India. The yearly awards started in 1953. Movie awards were first given by popular vote...

 four times.
  • 1971: Uski Roti (1970)
  • 1972: Ashad Ka Ek Din (1971)
  • 1974: Duvidha (1973)
  • 1993: Idiot
    Idiot (1992 film)
    Idiot is a Hindi film based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel, The Idiot. It was directed by Mani Kaul and starred Shahrukh Khan and Ayub Khan-Din. The film debuted at the New York Film Festival on 8 October 1992, although it was originally made for television...

     (1992)

Filmography

  • Uski Roti (1969)
  • Ashadh Ka Ek Din
    Ashadh Ka Ek Din
    Ashadh Ka Ek Din is a debut Hindi play by Mohan Rakesh in 1958 and is considered the first Modern Hindi play. The play received a Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for best play in 1959 and has been staged by several prominent directors to critical acclaim...

     (1971)
  • Duvidha
    Duvidha
    Duvidha is a 1973 Bollywood ghost movie directed by Mani Kaul. The film stars Ravi Menon and Raisa Padamsee. The film was critically acclaimed and won the director National Film Award for Best Direction and Critics Award for Best film at the 1974 Filmfare Awards.The film is based on a story by...

     (1973)
  • Ghashiram Kotwal
    Ghashiram Kotwal
    Ghashiram Kotwal is a Marathi play written by playwright Vijay Tendulkar in 1972 , as his response to the rise of a local political party, Shiv Sena, in Maharashta . The play is a political satire, written as historical drama. Based on the life of Nana Phadnavis , one of the prominent minister in...

     (1979)
  • Satah Se Uthata Admi (1980)
  • Dhrupad
    Dhrupad
    Dhrupad is a vocal genre in Hindustani classical music, said to be the oldest still in use in that musical tradition. Its name is derived from the words "dhruva" and "pada"...

     (1982)
  • Mati Manas (1984)
  • Siddheshwari (1989)
  • Nazar
    Nazar
    Nazar may refer to:* Nazar , or evil eye stone, is an amulet of stone or glass which is believed to protect against evil eye, widely used in Turkey* Nazar , a masculine given name....

     (1989)
  • Idiot
    Idiot (1992 film)
    Idiot is a Hindi film based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel, The Idiot. It was directed by Mani Kaul and starred Shahrukh Khan and Ayub Khan-Din. The film debuted at the New York Film Festival on 8 October 1992, although it was originally made for television...

     (1992)
  • The Cloud Door
    The Cloud Door
    The Cloud Door is a 1994 short Indo-German dramatic film, directed by acclaimed Indian director Mani Kaul and featuring Hindu and Muslim erotic literary themes. The film was produced by the German producer Regina Ziegler. The Cloud Door was featured along with other short films such as Susan...

     (1995)
  • Naukar Ki Kameez (The Servant's Shirt) (1999)
  • Bojh (Burden)(2000)
  • Ik Ben Geen Ander (I Am No Other) Nederland 2002
  • A Monkey's Raincoat Nederland (2005)
  • 'Signature Film' for Osian Cinefan Festival of Asian Cinema (2006)

External links

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