''Swati'' is a 1986

Bollywood 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 ...

romantic drama film directed by Kranthi Kumar. The film belongs to the art house cinematic genre, known in India as

parallel cinema Parallel cinema, or New Indian Cinema, is a film movement in Indian cinema that originated in the state of West Bengal in the 1950s as an alternative to the mainstream commercial Indian cinema. Inspired by Italian Neorealism, Parallel Cinema ...

. The film stars

Meenakshi Sheshadri Meenakshi Seshadri (; born 16 November 1963) is a former Indian actress, model and dancer who worked primarily in Hindi films, with a few films in Telugu and Tamil. She made her debut with the film '' Painter Babu'' (1983) produced by Manoj ...

in the title role alongside an ensemble star cast consisting of Shashi Kapoor,

Sharmila Tagore Sharmila Tagore (also known as Begum Ayesha Sultana; born 8 December 1944) is a retired Indian actress, primarily known for her work in Hindi and Bengali cinema, Tagore is the recipient of two National Film Awards, a Filmfare Award, and the F ...

Madhuri Dixit Madhuri Dixit Nene (née Dixit; born 15 May 1967) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi films. A leading actress of Indian cinema, she has appeared in over 70 films. Noted by critics for her beauty, dancing skills, and characters ...

Raja Bundela Raj Rajeshwar Pratap Singh Judev also known as Raja Bundela is an Indian actor, producer, politician and civil activist.Presently He is the Vice President of Bundelkhand Vikas Board,Uttar Pradesh. In films, he is notable for appearances in Swa ...

Vinod Mehra Vinod Mehra (13 February 1945 – 30 October 1990) was an Indian actor in Indian films. He started out as a child actor in the late 1950s before starting his film career as an adult in 1971. He acted in over 100 films from the 1970s through to h ...

, Akbar Khan and

Sarika Sarika Thakur is an Indian actress and costume designer. In 2005, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for the English-language film '' Parzania''. She was also awarded the National Film Award for Best Costume Design for her work ...

. Upon its release, the film gained immense critical acclaim. Meenakshi Sheshadri's performance was highly appreciated and is considered amongst her best performances. The film was a remake of the director's own Telugu film of the same name.

Plot

Sharda (*Sharmila Tagore) is in love with a young man named Satya Prakash. Sharda becomes pregnant and Satya Prakash wants to marry her as soon as possible. He goes out to get the marriage date fixed with Panditji. But a few goons come and attack him and in the process he kills one goon. At the same time, a few goons attack Sharda and tell her that Satya Prakash has sold her and they try to gang-rape her. But somehow, she manages to run away. She gets heartbroken when her boyfriend doesn't return and believes what the goons have told her. She decides to keep the child, names her Swati, re-locates to a small town in Southern India and finds employment as a nurse with Dr. Rajendra. Years later, Swati (Meenakshi Sheshadri) has grown up to be an assertive young woman, who is not only outspoken but quite capable of physically defending herself, but her attitude alienates her and Sharda from the community in general. She befriends Ram Mohan, an activist, who is often in trouble with the police. With no one to look after her mother after she gets married, Swati asks Rajendra, now a widower, to marry Sharda, to which he agrees. The marriage takes place, and both move in to live a wealthy lifestyle with Rajendra and his daughter, Anandi (Madhuri Dixit). Rajendra and Sharda decide to find a suitable groom for Swati, but before that could happen, Anandi finds out that she is pregnant with her boyfriend's child. So Swati and Sharda hide this and Swati's existence from Anandi's in-laws. So Swati moves out, while Anandi's marriage takes place with Prasad Chiranjivi Gupta. But Sharda's troubles with Swati are far from over; as Sharda's long-lost boyfriend, Satya Prakash will soon return into her life, turning Sharda and Swati's lives upside down.

Cast

... Swati * Shashi Kapoor ... Dr. Rajendra Prasad *

... Sharda * Akbar Khan ... Ram Mohan "Comrade" *

... Anandi *

... Satya Prakash *

... Dancer / Singer *Madhu Kapoor ... Mrs. Laxmi Joshi *

... Kamdev Prasad Chironjilal Rokadia 'Kapil Dev' * Arjun ... Manohar Joshi (As Feroz Khan) *

Shubha Khote Shubha Balsavar (''née'' Khote) is an Indian film and television actress who has worked in several Hindi-language and few Marathi-language films. She is also a former women's national champion in swimming and cycling. Early life and educatio ...

... Mrs. Saroj Bhatnagar *

Dinesh Hingoo Dinesh Hingoo (born 13 April 1940) is an Indian actor who plays comic & supporting roles in Hindi films. He had appeared in over 300 films, from ''Taqdeer (1967)'' to ''Be Careful (2011)'', and is known for his laughter and impersonations inclu ...

... Satyanarayan Chaubey *Mahendra Sharma (as Mahendar Sharma) *Shribhagwan (as Shri Bhagwan) *Mahesh Raj (as Maheshraj) *Swati Anand (actress)

Soundtrack

Lyrics: Anand Bakshi

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Swati (Film) 1986 films 1980s Hindi-language films 1986 romantic drama films Films scored by Laxmikant–Pyarelal Hindi remakes of Telugu films Films directed by Kranthi Kumar Indian romantic drama films