''Chakra'' is a 1981 Hindi movie directed by Rabindra Dharmaraj. The film stars Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah and

Kulbhushan Kharbanda Kulbhushan Kharbanda (born 21 October 1944) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi and Punjabi films. He is best known for his role as the antagonist Shakaal in '' Shaan'' (1980), Starting off with the Delhi-based theatre group 'Yatrik' in the 1 ...

Plot

Amma ( Smita Patil) and her son Benwa (

Ranjit Chowdhry Ranjit Chowdhry (19 September 1955 – 15 April 2020) was an Indian character actor, known for his roles in television, movies, and theatre. He appeared in two episodes of ''The Office'', as Vikram, a telemarketer who worked with Michael, and w ...

) become Bombay's slum-dwellers after running away from their village after her husband kills a moneylender who tried to rape her. The husband is then shot trying to steal some tin to build a hut. In Bombay, Amma has a lover who provides for her and her son. Since the lover is a truck driver who travels most of the time, Amma takes on another lover – a vain pimp and petty crook, Lukka ( Naseeruddin Shah), who becomes Benwa's idol. Lukka is on parole and ordered to be present before the police every day. Benwa marries the young Amli (

Alka Kubal Alka Kubal (born 23 September 1963) is a Marathi film actress from Mumbai, India. She has worked in many Marathi movies and some Hindi Bollywood movies as well. Her film '' Maherchi Sadi'' made her a household name in Maharashtra. She has wor ...

). Amma meanwhile becomes pregnant, though it is never clear whose child it is. Amma, of course, lets Anna (

) know that it is his because she knows that of her two lovers, he alone is capable and responsible enough to take care of her and her child. Lukka reappears, ravaged by syphilis and drugs; he is now a changed man and is disenchanted with the criminal life. But he still lives a life of crime and it is implied that there is no other choice for him. He even tries to dissuade Benwa from a life of crime without much success. Lukka is assaulted by the police at his illicit liquor den. The climax has Lukka assaulting a chemist who refuses to give him medicines unless he pays for it. Lukka grabs some medicines and makes a run for it, is chased by the police and hides in Amma's hut. The cops find him and arrest both him and Benwa, beating them brutally in the process. Amma has a miscarriage in the scuffle. In the end, bulldozers arrives to flatten the entire slum. A sort of exodus is shown in the final moments of the movie – and Benwa and Amli move on to a new slum, and a new shanty hut to continue the Chakra.

Cast

* Smita Patil as Amma *

Dilip Dhawan Dilip Dhawan (1955 – 15 February 2000) was an Indian film and television actor. He started his career as a child in '' Sangharsh'' (1968), featuring Dilip Kumar, Dhawan acted in over 50 films. Career He acted as the hero in the movie ''Arvin ...

as Anna's husband * Kaluram Dhobale as Child *

Arun Bakshi Arun Bakshi is an Indian film and television actor and also a singer. He has acted as a character actor in over 100 Hindi films, and as a playback singer has also sung 298 songs. He has also worked in Punjabi and Bhojpuri cinema. He also playe ...

as Police inspector * Naseeruddin Shah as Looka *

as Anna * Rohini Hattangadi as Laxmi *

as BenwaChakra
/ref> *

Salim Ghouse Salim Ahmad Ghouse (10 January 1952 – 28 April 2022) was an Indian film, television and theatre actor, theatre director, and martial artist. He has acted in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and English films. Early life Salim Ghouse was born ...

as Raghu *

Anjali Paigankar Anjali Paigankar is a Hindi and Marathi film actress. A graduate of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, Anjali appeared in ''Murder at Monkey Hill'', Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s diploma film as a final year student there in 1976. ...

as Chenna * Savita Bajaj as mentally challenged Chamnya's mother * Suresh Bhagwat as Sweeper *

Yunus Parvez Yunus Parvez (1931/1932 – 11 February 2007) was an Indian actor who played supporting roles in over 200 films from the late 1960s to the 2000s. He is best known for his roles in films like '' Garm Hava'' (1974), '' Deewaar'' (1975), '' Trishu ...

as Minister * Suhas Bhalekar as drunkard in slums *

as Amli * Sudhir Pandey as Bhandari * Uttam Sirur as Chamnya * Sharayu Bhopatkar as Bhagi *

Satish Kaushik Satish Chandra Kaushik (born 13 April 1956) is an Indian actor, director, producer, comedian and screenwriter. Early life Satish was born on 13 April 1956 in Mahendragarh, Haryana. He graduated from Kirori Mal College, Delhi in 1972. He is a ...

as bootpolish guy * Madan Jain as Amli's brother * Sumant Mastakar as Amli's father *

Ratan Gaurang Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests of ...

as watchman

Awards & nominations

References

External links

* {{Golden Leopard 1981 films 1980s Hindi-language films Films featuring a Best Actress National Award-winning performance Golden Leopard winners Films set in Mumbai