''Party'' is a 1984

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

-language film directed by Govind Nihalani. The film boasted an ensemble cast of leading art cinema actors of

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 ...

, including

Vijaya Mehta Vijaya Mehta (born 4 November 1934), is a noted Indian Marathi film and theatre director and also an actor in many films from the Parallel Cinema. She is a founder member of Mumbai-based theatre group, Rangayan with playwright Vijay Tendulka ...

Manohar Singh Manohar Singh (12 April 1938 – 14 November 2002) was an Indian theatre actor-director and character actor in Hindi films. He is best known for his performances in films such as ''Party'' (1984) and ''Daddy'' (1989). Starting his acting career ...

, Om Puri,

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 A ...

, and

Rohini Hattangadi Rohini Hattangadi (''née'' Oak; born 11 April 1955) is an Indian actress, known for her work in Hindi, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, and Gujarati films, and Marathi soap operas and theatre. She has won two Filmfare Awards, one National Film ...

. It based on the play ''Party'' (1976) by

Mahesh Elkunchwar Mahesh Elkunchwar (born 9 October 1939) is an Indian playwright and screenplay writer in Marathi language with more than 20 plays to his name, in addition to his theoretical writings, critical works, and his active work in India's ''Parallel Cin ...

. The movie was produced by

National Film Development Corporation of India The National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) based in Mumbai is the central agency established in 1975, to encourage high quality Indian cinema. It functions in areas of film financing, production and distribution and under Ministr ...

(NFDC). ''Party'' was the official Indian entry to the 32nd

International Film Festival of India The International Film Festival of India (IFFI), founded in 1952, is one of the most significant film festivals in Asia. Held annually, currently in the state of Goa, on the western coast of the country, the festival aims at providing a common pla ...

, New Delhi, and also took part in the Tokyo Film Festival 1985 and Asia Pacific Film Festival 1985.Party 1984 at NFDC
/ref>

Overview

Shot in real-time, lasting most of an evening, except for a few initial scenes to set the context — which show the people invited to the party, just before the party, getting ready, looking forward to going or cribbing about having to go — and a harrowing finale. The film is a deeply intelligent satire aimed at the urban elite — especially those poseurs with artistic inclinations, namely establishment-artists and their patrons. It depicts their apathy towards the society at large while they get away, by the way of small talk and prosaic conversations at parties. The power of the movie derives from Elkunchwar's play — which had a very successful run in Marathi theatres in Pune and Bombay, before Govind Nihalani turned it, with the author's active participation, into a screenplay. Nihalani had just made ''Ardh-Satya'' — which had been a surprise break-away hit for alternative cinema (or

as it is called in India) and it was easier for him to get generous financing from the government public sector company NFDC (later declared bankrupt and closed soon after the assassination of art movie aficionado Prime Minister

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

). There is some speculation that it was not being offered a role in this movie, and two others, which so disillusioned art house diva

Smita Patil Smita Patil (17 October 1955 – 13 December 1986) was an Indian actress who worked in films, television series and theatres. She appeared in over 80 Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam and Kannada films in a career that spanned just o ...

that she switched to doing mainstream Bollywood movies.

Plot and technique

The entire action is confined to an evening party hosted by Damyanti Rane (

), a rich middle-age widow and well-known patron of the arts in the city. All the cognoscenti of the urban milieu make a beeline to the event. The party is hosted in the honour of Diwakar Barve (

), a celebrated playwright, who has just been awarded the prestigious National Literary Award. There are gradual revelations in conversations between attendees of the party — by turns catty, outraged, resigned and cynical — that he got the award because he is Damyanti's lover, who wields political clout, or a toady of the establishment. Gradually, all the conversation gears towards the real winner, the hero-in-absentia: Amrit, an immensely talented and promising writer-poet who left the politics of the party circuit and literary societies to go live and work with the tribal community. Amrit, though not present in person, shows himself again and again in their conversations reminding them and viewers of their banality, deceit, and their utter callousness towards the inequities in society at large, which brings them at cross-purposes to the true aim of all art and artistic endeavours: the ennoblement of humanity. In a harrowing finale, which cuts to the heartland of the country, Amrit is shown to be murdered by the police as a "left-wing terrorist" approximately at the same time as the party was going on.

Awards

* 1985

National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress The National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress is an honour presented annually at India's National Film Awards ceremony by the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), an organisation set up by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcast ...

* 1985 Asia-Pacific Film Festival, Best Actress:

Awards
imdb.

Cast

- Diwakar Barve *

- Damayanti Rane *

- Mohini, Diwakar's Lover * Om Puri - Avinash, Journalist *

- Amrit *

Deepa Sahi Deepa Sahi (born 30 November 1962) is an Indian actress and producer from an Army background, who is best known for her role as Maya in the 1993 movie ''Maya Memsaab'', opposite actor Farrukh Sheikh. She made her directorial debut with the mov ...

- Sona Rane *

Amrish Puri Amrish Puri (22 June 1932 – 12 January 2005) was an Indian actor, who was one of the most notable and important figures in Indian cinema and Theatre. He acted in more than 450 films, established himself as one of the most popular actors ...

- Damayanti's Partner *

Shafi Inamdar Shafi Inamdar (23 October 1945 – 13 March 1996) was an Indian actor. He started his film career with the film '' Vijeta'' and continued it in ''Ardh Satya''. He acted in a number of television serials including ''Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi''. His mo ...

*Gulan Kripani - Vrinda *

Ila Arun Ila Arun is an Indian actress, TV personality and Rajasthani folk and folk-pop singer. She has appeared in many prominent Bollywood movies such as ''Lamhe'', ''Jodhaa Akbar'', ''Shaadi Ke Side Effects'' and '' Begum Jaan''. Personal life Arun ...

- Ila *

Soni Razdan Soni Razdan (born 25 October 1956) is a British actress and film director who works in Hindi films. She is married to film director Mahesh Bhatt and is the mother of Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt. Early life Razdan was born in Small Heath Birmi ...

- Malvika (Vicky) *

Mohan Bhandari Mohan Bhandari (31 July 1937 – 24 September 2015) was an Indian actor who featured in several popular TV serials such as '' Saat Phere: Saloni Ka Safar''. He died of brain tumor. His son Dhruv Bhandari is also a TV actor. Acting career Moh ...

- Vicky's husband *

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 ...

K.K. Raina K. K. Raina is an Indian film, television and theatre character actor and award-winning script writer, who is best known for his roles as ''Juror #8'' in the 1986 film ''Ek Ruka Hua Faisla'', a remake of 12 Angry Men, and Byomkesh Bakshi's ass ...

*Kanvaljeet *

Pearl Padamsee Pearl Padamsee (1931 – 24 April 2000) was an Indian theatre personality as a stage actress, director and producer of English language theatre in Mumbai active in 1950s–1990s. She acted a few Hindi and English language films, including '' K ...

- Ruth *Nikhil Kapur *

Savita Prabhune Savita Prabhune is an Indian show opera actress best known for her role of ''Aai'' in Ekta Kapoor's Indian soap opera ''Kkusum'' and as ''Sulochana Karanjkar'' in Ekta Kapoor's Indian soap opera ''Pavitra Rishta''. She had also played the main ...

* Benjamin Gilani - Sahani *

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'', ' ...

Ravi Jhankal Ravi Jhankal is an Indian television, stage and film actor, most known for working in Shyam Benegal's films, including '' Welcome to Sajjanpur'' (2008) and ''Well Done Abba'' (2010) and for the role of P. V. Narasimha Rao in '' Pradhanmantri (TV ...

References

External links

*
A study of the film ''Party''
{{Govind Nihalani 1984 films 1980s Hindi-language films Indian films based on plays Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress National Film Award-winning performance Films directed by Govind Nihalani