Mani Kaul was an Indian Director of Hindi films. He graduation from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) where he was a student of Ritwik Ghatak and later became a teacher.

His first film “Uski Roti (Other’s bread, His/her bread, A Day’s Bread” (1969) has been described as “one of the key films of the New Indian Cinema or the Indian New Wave”. Film based on a short story of the same name by Mohan Rakesh, who wrote the dialogue for the film. The film depicts the life of a truck driver Sucha Singh and his wife Balo. Balo has to get Sucha Singh’s food ready every day, walk a long distance through the fields and wait for him on the highway as he drives past the village. He leads an independent life, playing cards with his friends and spending time with his mistress, and comes home once a week. However he expects his wife to play the traditional role. One day Balo gets late, trying to save her sister from the advances of a lecherous village. Sucha Singh is angry, and drives away without his food. She decides to wait for him until nightfall. The camera, wielded NY K. K. Mahajan, dewlls on faces, hands and exteriors – mud walls, a windswept highway. Kaul also did not use any established film actors. There is little dialogue in the film. K. K. Mahajan received the National Film Award for Best Cinematography. Mani Kaul received the 1970 Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie.

In 1971, Ashadh Ka Ek Din (One Day in Ashadh) directed by Mani Kaul. Film won Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie for the year.

Duvidha is a 1973 ghost movie directed by Mani Kaul, based on a Rajasthani story of the same name by Vijaydan Detha. The story of a merchant’s son, who returns with his new bride. When he departs The on a business trip, a ghost falls love with the wife. It was widely shown across Europe. The film was critically acclaimed and won the director The National Film Award for Best Direction and Critics Award for Best film at the 1974 Filmfare Award.

Ghashiram Kotwal is a 1976 Indian Marathi language film, which is an adaption of Vijay Tendulkar’s play of the same name. Satah Se Uthata Admi (Arising from the Surface) is a 1989 film directed by Mani Kaul. The screenplay of this film is based on two poems, two essays and six short stories. The title of film is taken from one of his short story used in the film. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.

Mati Manas (The Mind of Clay) is a 1984 Indian Documentary film directed by Mani Kaul. The film examines the art of pottery in India. Mani Kaul having received an assignment from the Festival of India to produce a about the pottery tradition in India.

He was awarded the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1974. Kaul was one of the co-founders of the Yykt Film Co-oprative (Union of Kinematograph Technicians) in 1976. He also taught music in the Netherlands, and was Creative Director of the film house at Osian’s Connoisseurs of Art, Mumbai. In 1971, he was a member of the Jury at the 21th Berlin International Film Festival. He was visiting lecture at Harvard University for the 2000 – 2001 school year.

Photo courtesy Google. Excerpts taken from Google.