Trikal (Past, Present and Future) is a 1985

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

n movie written and directed by

Shyam Benegal Shyam Benegal (born 14 December 1934) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and documentary filmmaker. Often regarded as the pioneer of parallel cinema, he is widely considered as one of the greatest filmmakers post 1970s. He has received ...

, set in Goa during the twilight of Portuguese rule, It marked the return of Leela Naidu in her first film appearance since 1969. The film was selected for the Indian Panorama at Filmotsav 1986, and for the Indian Film Retrospective, Lisbon 1986. It was later invited to the London Film Festival 1986.Shyam Benegal Awards
/ref> Set in the Portuguese Goa in 1961 shortly before the colony's liberation by the Indian army and shown in the form of flashbacks, Anna Souza-Suarez (Sushma Prakash) is unwillingly engaged to a young man named Erasmo (Lucky Ali) when her grandfather Ernesto suddenly dies. The engagement is put on hold indefinitely as Anna's grief stricken grandmother, Dona Maria (Leela Naidu), the matriarch of the family attempts to hold seances to contact Ernesto with the help of her maid Milagrinia (Neena Gupta), acting as a medium. However, the seances bring forth the apparitions of various people the family has wronged in the past. Shortly after a visitation by a spirit of an Indian rebel beheaded by Dona Maria's grandfather in a case of mistaken identity. Leon (Dalip Tahil), Anna's lover, a fugitive is hidden in the cellar of the family home. Anna soon discovers the fact she is pregnant by Leon and unsuccessfully tries to hide the fact she had an affair from Erasmo. Ruiz, who had attempted to pursue Anna in the past, begins a secret relationship with Milagrinia who becomes pregnant as well. Anna elopes with Leon to Europe leaving only a letter behind. Milagrinia also gets married to an older man in an attempt to make sure the child isn't born out of wedlock. After twenty four years, Ruiz comes back to the ancestral home which is now in ruins from years of neglect and ponders the reasons that brought him back to the home. The movie ends with Naseeruddin Shah’s monologue which actually questions the action of characters within the movie including his. He wonders what brought him back after so many years. Was it the grand manor? Or Dona Maria? Or Anna? Or was it, in fact, Milagrenia, who in his view was only a servant and a commodity that was reared as fodder for use by others? He then reconciles with himself and his past by questioning how long can a criminal carry the guilt of a past crime? Everything fades under layers of time and all that remains is sweet memory.

Cast

* Leela Naidu as Dona Maria Souza-Soares *

Naseeruddin Shah Naseeruddin Shah (born 20 July 1950) is an Indian actor. He is notable in Indian parallel cinema. He has also starred in international productions. He has won numerous awards in his career, including three National Film Awards, three Filmfare ...

as Ruiz Pereira **Nikhil Bhagat as Young Ruiz Pereira *

Anita Kanwar Anita Kanwar is an Indian film and television actor who is best known for her role as ''Lajjo ji'' in the 1980s Doordarshan mega soap opera ''Buniyaad''. An alumnus of the National School of Drama (1978 batch), Kanwar has also worked in films ...

as Sylvia * Neena Gupta as Milagrenia * Soni Razdan as Aurora, Sylvia's elder daughter * Dalip Tahil as Leon Gonsalves * K. K. Raina as Senor Lucio * Kunal Kapoor as Kapitan Ribeiro/ Governor * Keith Stevenson as Dr. Simon Pereira *

Lucky Ali Maqsood Mahmood Ali (born 19 September 1958), better known as Lucky Ali, is an Indian singer, songwriter and actor. With several popular singles and albums, he emerged as a significant figure of Indipop during the 1990s. Early life and educatio ...

as Erasmo * Salim Ghouse as main priest at Church * Ila Arun as Cook *

Jayant Kripalani Jayant Kripalani is an Indian film, television and stage actor, director and trainer. He is most known for his role in the TV series, like '' Khandaan'', ''Mr. Mrs'' and '' Ji Mantriji'' (2003). He also wrote the screenplay for Shyam Benegal's f ...

as Francis *

Akash Khurana Akash Khurana is an Indian actor, screenwriter, theatre artist and entrepreneur. His first screen appearance was in Shyam Benegal's '' Kalyug''. He has appeared in nearly 60 films, including ''Ardh Satya'', ''Saaransh'', ''Naam'', ''Beta'', ' ...

as Renato * Sabira Merchant as Dona Amelia * Sushma Prakash as Anna, younger daughter of Sylvia * Remo Fernandes as Singer *

Alisha Chinai Alisha Chinai (born 18 March 1965) is an Indian pop singer known for her Indi-pop albums as well as playback singing in Hindi cinema. She began her singing career with the album ''Jadoo'' in 1985, and by the 1990s she had become known as the 'Q ...

as Singer * Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Vijay Singh Rane/Khushtoba Rane * Dhruv Ghanekar as young son of Sylvia * Joy Ghanekar as youngest son of Sylvia

Awards

* 1986: National Film Award for Best Direction:

* 1986: National Film Award for Best Costume Design: Saba Zaidi

References

External links

* {{Shyam Benegal 1985 films 1980s Hindi-language films Films directed by Shyam Benegal Films set in Goa Films whose director won the Best Director National Film Award Films set in 1961 Films shot in Goa Films scored by Vanraj Bhatia Films that won the Best Costume Design National Film Award