''Split Wide Open'' is a 1999 Indian film directed by

Dev Benegal Dev Benegal is an Indian filmmaker and screenwriter, most known for his debut film ''English, August'' (1994), which won the Best Feature Film in English at the 42nd National Film Awards. Early life and education Dev was born in New Delhi to ...

. It is his second feature film after ''

English, August ''English, August: An Indian Story'' is a novel by Indian author Upamanyu Chatterjee written in English, first published in 1988. It was adapted into a film of the same name in 1994. The novel portrays the struggle of a civil servant who is po ...

'' (1994). The film primarily deals with the

Water conflicts Water conflict is a term describing a conflict between countries, states, or groups over the rights to access water resources. The United Nations recognizes that water disputes result from opposing interests of water users, public or private. A ...

in the slums of

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

, and

paedophilia Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty ...

, and also looks at the subversive

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

in modern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and how the notions of morality are challenged when sex and poverty collide. The film came under harsh criticism when released in

and has been one of the most controversial Indian films.

Cast and characters

Rahul Bose Rahul Bose (born 27 July 1967) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, and social activist. Bose has appeared in Bengali films such as ''Mr. and Mrs. Iyer'', '' Kalpurush'', ''Anuranan'', ''Antaheen'', ''Laptop'' and ''The Japanese Wife''. ...

as KP (Kut-Price) *

Laila Rouass Laila Rouass (née Abdesselam) is a British actress. She is best known for her portrayals of Amber Gates in ''Footballers' Wives'' (2004–2006) and Sahira Shah in ''Holby City'' (2011–2012, 2021). She has also starred in ''Primeval'' and '' ...

as Nandita * Abhimanyu Sharma as Shiv * Farida Haider Mulla as Didi *

Kiran Nagarkar Kiran Nagarkar (2 April 1942 – 5 September 2019) was an Indian novelist, playwright and screenwriter. A noted drama and film critic, he was one of the most significant writers of post-colonial India. Sanga, p. 177 Amongst his notable works a ...

as Brother Bono * Rajika Puri as Auntie *

Ayesha Dharkar Ayesha Dharker (born 16 March 1978) is a British actress, known for her appearance as Queen Jamillia, the Queen of Naboo, in '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones,'' and for her stage performances. Her other film roles include s ...

as Leela *

Virendra Saxena Virendra Saxena (born 23 November 1951) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi theatre, film, and television. He is an alumnus of the National School of Drama. Saxena is known for his character roles as well as his unique voice. He has acted in ...

as Altaf *

Aadya Bedi Aadya Bedi is an Indian theater artist and Bollywood actress. She has appeared in several Bollywood movies, played a role in the American police procedural television drama series ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' and has appeared in New York Int ...

Awards and recognition

* The official selection at the 1999

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

. * Awarded a Special Jury Award to the film and the Best Actor award (

) at the 2000

Singapore International Film Festival The Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) (Chinese: 新加坡国际电影节) is the longest-running film festival in Singapore. Founded in 1987, the festival has a focus on showcasing international films and providing a global platform for ...

. * Won the Grand Prix at the 2000 Belgium International Film Festival. * Nominated for the Grand Prix at the 2000

Bratislava International Film Festival The Bratislava International Film Festival (also known as Bratislava IFF) is an international film festival established in 1999 and held annually in Bratislava, Slovakia. Apart from the international competition programme, it also regularly feature ...

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack of the film consists of 12 total songs with 8 soundtrack songs and 5

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

tracks composed by

Nitin Sawhney Nitin Sawhney , D.Mus (; born 1964) is a British musician, producer and composer. A recipient of the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement award in 2017, among multiple international awards throughout his career. Sawhney's work combines Asian ...

.http://www.tropicfilm.com/ Split Wide Open audio-video goodies page The film also credits

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi music, Sufi devotional music. ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

, Krome Assassins, Touch and Go, Purvi Parikh, the

Dagar Brothers The Dagar Brothers are one of two generations of singers of the Indian classical music vocal genre dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated ...

and

Kishori Amonkar Kishori Amonkar (10 April 1932 – 3 April 2017) was a leading Indian classical vocalist, belonging to the Jaipur ''gharana'', or a community of musicians sharing a distinctive musical style. She was a performer of the classical genre '' ...

for their music used in the production of the film.

Notes

Poster Art & Design and Title Images by Artist

Jaideep Mehrotra Jaideep Mehrotra (born 1954) is an Indian contemporary artist based in Mumbai, India. He started his artistic career with a solo exhibition at the young age of 13 in 1967. Despite having no formal training in art, Mehrotra managed a parallel care ...

External links

Film Overview

* * {{Amg movie, 181860, Split Wide Open

1999 films English-language Indian films Films about organised crime in India Films about poverty in India Films shot in Mumbai Films set in Mumbai Works about police brutality