A Talent Gone Too Soon: In Memory of Awtar Kaul

Whenever Hindi parallel cinema is discussed, the names of Mani Kaul and Kumar Shahani inevitably come to the fore. Their critically acclaimed films such as Uski Roti and Maya Darpan were based on outstanding literary works. Yet, 27 Down (1973), a National Award-winning film based on the Hindi novel Atharah Suraj ke Paudhe, is often left out of the discussion. 27 Down was directed by Awtar Kaul (1939-74). On the very day the National Award was announced, Awtar died by drowning in Bombay (now Mumbai). It remains the only completed feature film he ever directed. The film was also honoured at the prestigious Locarno and Mannheim international film festivals.

Awtar’s Heartwrenching Life Journey

In the recently published book Awtar Kaul: The (In)Complete Story, Vinod Kaul, former executive director of Rajya Sabha TV and Awtar’s nephew, writes about the director's life, family, travels and the making of the film. The book also includes recollections from the film’s cinematographer, sound recordist and some film critics. Vinod Kaul writes in the book at one point: “It is bittersweet to think about this film [27 Down] as the starting leg of so many others and the end of Awtar’s. What all could he have given us!”

Like Mani Kaul and Kumar Shahani, Awtar (born in Srinagar, Kashmir), had received formal training in filmmaking. In the 1960s, he was a film student at the City University of New York. In 1969, Mani Kaul made Uski Roti, based on a story by Hindi writer and pioneer of the nayi kahani movement, Mohan Rakesh. The same year also saw the release of Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan Shome and Basu Chatterjee’s Sara Akash. These low-budget films did not depend on conventional ideas of the “star”. The filmmakers turned to literary works for their narratives. Their sophisticated use of imagery and sound placed them in a distinctive space apart from mainstream commercial cinema, thus heralding the “new wave” or “parallel cinema” in Hindi.

After Bhuvan Shome and Sara Akash, Mani Kaul, Kumar Shahani and Awtar received loans from the Film Finance Corporation to make films. 27 Down was made on a modest budget of two lakh rupees. Raakhee was a successful actress in commercial cinema at the time, yet, she agreed to star in the film without demanding any remuneration and also sans makeup.

Vinod Kaul recounts an incident from the shoot in the book. Raakhee felt that a shot was not working visually and she told Awtar that a tree was obstructing the frame, disturbing the composition. He calmly but firmly replied, “The trees are more important to me.”  Raakhee did not particularly like his response, but she understood that cinema is a director’s medium.

Commenting on how he sees Awtar’s filmmaking as distinct from that of Mani Kaul’s and Kumar Shahani’s, veteran theatre actor and director M.K. Raina shares an anecdote about Awtar and Mani Kaul: “Awtar would say, you make cine-ma, I make cine-baap. You operate the camera, I turn the camera faster.”

Through the metaphor and symbolism of the railway, Awtar sensitively and skillfully captured in black-and-white images the dreams, dilemmas and the alienation of a generation coming of age in independent India; the tensions in relationships between men and women; social pressures, and the conflict between personal desire and social responsibility. It still resonates with the youth of India, particularly those living away from the centres of power and opportunity.

27 Down’s central characters are Sanjay (M.K. Raina), a railway ticket conductor and Shalini (Raakhee), a typist working for Life Insurance Corporation. Shalini is responsible for supporting her two younger siblings and grandfather. She works in Mumbai, far away from her Pune home. Her grandfather does not want Shalini to enter into a relationship with someone who might distance her from the family.

Sanjay, the protagonist, seems to have no place he can truly call home. Like a railway carriage, he appears condemned to remain perpetually in transit. His personality is overshadowed by his imposing father, played by Om Shivpuri.

In the film’s opening scene, Sanjay is asleep on a train. The sound of the moving train is heard, followed by a voice-over: “Is that the same bridge again?... There are so many bridges along the way. It feels as though from the beginning until now, I have been crossing countless bridges. There are people who travel from one place to another. As for me, I seem to have set out from somewhere only to keep moving somewhere.”

27 Down was M.K. Raina’s first film. He plays a character incapable of making decisions, constantly suffocated and caught between opposing forces. Shalini, meanwhile, is markedly different from the female characters generally seen in Hindi cinema of that period. Burdened by family responsibilities, she is a working woman who makes independent decisions about her relationships and takes the initiative herself. Raakhee portrays the character with remarkable conviction.

After the film’s release, in September 1974, Atharah Suraj ke Paudhe was republished under the title 27 Down. Dedicated to Awtar, the new edition carried a foreword by Ramesh Bakshi. He wrote that the novel was the story of a Sanjay belonging to a new generation, who continually fought an 18-day Mahabharat within himself—between his wife, his lover, his father, his job, his ambitions, his indecisiveness and the relentless chaos of life.

27 Down is a classic. It contains certain images of trains and railway platforms that remain etched in the viewer’s memory forever. Much of the film was shot on moving trains using a handheld camera. Notably, freshly graduated from FTII, this was cinematographer A.K. Bir’s first film. He received the National Award for his work on it. The film’s use of sound, too, deserves special attention. Hariprasad Chaurasia and Bhubaneshwar Mishra composed the music while Bansi Chandragupta, who had worked closely with Satyajit Ray, designed the production.

In 2024, the film’s restored version was screened at the International Film Festival of India in Goa. Mani Kaul was a great admirer of the film. Raina says it was Mani Kaul who suggested his name to Awtar for the film. Mani Kaul would go to watch rehearsals at the National School of Drama (NSD) where he was a student. Later, Awtar and Bakshi went to NSD to meet him and discuss the book and the scenario. Raina fondly remembers Awtar and the days of making the film, describing them as a time of “complete madness” when everyone was equally involved in the creative process.

(Arvind Das is a professor at School of Media and Communication Studies at D.Y. Patil International University, Pune)