''Sara Aakash'' (English: The Whole Sky) is a 1969

Hindi film Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

directed by

Basu Chatterjee Basu Chatterjee ( bn, বাসু চ্যাটার্জ্জী; 10 January 1927 – 4 June 2020) was an Indian film director and screenwriter. Through the 1970s and 1980s, Chatterjee became associated with what came to be known as mi ...

, based on first part of novel ''Sara Akash'' (The whole Cosmos, 1951) by

Rajendra Yadav Rajendra Yadav (28 August 1929 – 28 October 2013) was a Hindi fiction writer, and a pioneer of the 'Nayi Kahani' movement of Hindi literature. He edited the literary magazine ''HANS'', which was founded by Munshi Premchand in 1930 but ceased ...

. This was Yadav's

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

, originally published as ''Pret Bolte Hain'' (Ghosts Speak), renamed in 1960, the title in turn was taken from a poem by

Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Ramdhari Singh (23 September 1908 – 24 April 1974), known by his pen name Dinkar, was an Indian Hindi and Maithili language poet, essayist, freedom fighter, patriot and academic. He emerged as a poet of rebellion as a consequence of his ...

. The film starred Rakesh Pandey, Madhu Chakravarty, Nandita Thakur,

A. K. Hangal Avtar Kishan Hangal (1 February 1914 – 26 August 2012) was an Indian freedom fighter from 1929 to 1947 and also stage actor from 1936 to 1965 and later became a character actor in Hindi language films from 1966 to 2005. His most notable role ...

and

Dina Pathak Dina Pathak (née Gandhi; 4 March 1922 – 11 October 2002) was an Indian actress and director of Gujarati theatre and also a film actor. She was an activist and President of the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW). A doyenne of Hindi a ...

in lead roles. Set in a traditional middle class

joint family An extended family is a family that extends beyond the nuclear family of parents and their children to include aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins or other relatives, all living nearby or in the same household. Particular forms include the stem a ...

Agra Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is ...

, the film deals with internal conflicts of a newly wed couple, both of whom find themselves unprepared for domestic life. The film marked the debut of Basu Chatterjee as director, and was also the first film of cinematographer K. K. Mahajan, who won the

National Film Award for Best Cinematography The National Film Award for Best Cinematography is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of several awards p ...

for his black-and-white camera work in the film. Along with ''

Uski Roti ''Uski Roti'' (English titles: ''Other's bread'', ''His/her bread'', ''A Day's Bread'') is a 1969 Hindi film directed by Mani Kaul. It was Kaul's first feature film, based on a short story of the same name by Mohan Rakesh, who also wrote the dial ...

'' and ''

Bhuvan Shome ''Bhuvan Shome'' is a 1969 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by Mrinal Sen based on the story of Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay. The cast includes Utpal Dutt (Mr. Bhuvan Shome) and Suhasini Mulay (Gauri, a village belle). Sen based his film o ...

'' other notable films of the year, it is regarded as one of the films which started the Indian New Wave.

Plot

Agra-based collegian, Samar Thakur (Rakesh Pandey), lives in a joint family consisting of his father (A. K. Hangal), mother (Dina Pathak), brother Amar (film director Mani Kaul, in his only major acting role) and his wife; as well as a married sister, Munni, estranged from her husband. His parents force him to marry Prabha (Madhu Chakravarty), a matriculate, much to his chagrin as this interferes with his future plans. The marriage does take place, and he soon finds that he is not only incompatible with her, she was well versed in household chores. Leading to arguments, abuse and neglect, which may result in the end of this marriage.

Cast

* Rakesh Pandey - Samar Thakur *Madhu Chakravarty as Prabha S. Thakur, Wife of Samar Thakur * *

- Mr. Thakur aka 'Babuji' *

- Mrs. Thakur aka 'Amma' *

Mani Kaul Mani Kaul (25 December 1944 – 6 July 2011) was an Indian director of Hindi films and a reputed figure in Indian parallel cinema. He graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) where he was a student of Ritwik Ghatak and ...

- Amar Thakur, eldest son of Mr. Thakur *Tarla Mehta - 'Bhabhi', Wife of Amar Thakur *Nandita Thakur as Munni, Daughter of Mr. Thakur *Shaily Shailendra - Pandit *

Jalal Agha Jalal Agha (11 July 1945 – 5 March 1995) was an Indian actor and director in Bollywood films. He was the son of the popular comedian actor Agha. Jalal studied acting at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune. Career He made his d ...

as Diwakar, Samar's close friend *Aarti Bole as Kiran, Wife of Diwakar

Crew

*''Director'' -

*''Story'' -

*''Screenplay'' -

*''Producer'' -

*''Music Director'' -

Salil Choudhury Salil Chowdhury (19 November 1925 – 5 September 1995) was an Indian music director, songwriter, lyricist, writer and poet who predominantly composed for Bengali, Hindi and Malayalam films. He composed music for films in 13 languages. This incl ...

*''Cinematographer'' - K. K. Mahajan *''Production Company'' - Cineye Films

Production

The film was shot on location in Agra, and in Rajendra Yadav's old family house in Raja Ki Mandi area,

. In his foreword to the second edition of the novel, Yadav relates how it was a thrilling experience to go around the house with the director and cinematographer. Mahajan said to Chatterjee that the house was a "ready-made set", better than anything that could be built in Bombay. Yadav offered to make it available for the shooting.

Awards

* K. K. Mahajan received the

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

. *

received the 1972

Filmfare Best Screenplay Award The Filmfare Best Screenplay Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards for Hindi films. Superlatives ;Most Awards *Salim–Javed – 3 *Basu Chatterjee – 3 *Rajkumar Hirani – 3 *Mani Ratnam – 2 *V ...

Critical reception

Sara Akash was one of the films featured in Avijit Ghosh's book, 40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed

References

External links

{{Basu Chatterjee 1960s Hindi-language films Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography National Film Award 1969 films Films shot in Uttar Pradesh Films about dysfunctional families Films based on Indian novels Films directed by Basu Chatterjee Films scored by Salil Chowdhury Films set in Uttar Pradesh 1969 directorial debut films