17th BIFFes 2026
Jan 29th - 06th Feb 2026
"Woman: Shared Sensibilities, A Collective Voice for Equality"
RUDAALI
N/A
In a desert village in Rajasthan, Shanichari is a woman cursed by a lifetime of misfortune who is unable to shed a single tear. When she is mentored by a veteran "Rudaali", a professional mourner hired to weep at funerals of the elite, she eventually confronts her suppressed grief and finds her voice through a tragic personal revelation.
ರಾಜಸ್ಥಾನದ ಮರುಭೂಮಿಯ ಹಳ್ಳಿಯೊಂದರಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಸಿಸುವ ಶನಿಚರಿ ಎಂಬ ಮಹಿಳೆ, ಜೀವನವಿಡೀ ದುರದೃಷ್ಟವನ್ನೇ ಬೆನ್ನತ್ತಿದವಳು. ಎಷ್ಟೇ ಕಷ್ಟಗಳು ಬಂದರೂ ಅವಳ ಕಣ್ಣಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಹನಿಯೂ ನೀರು ಬರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಅಂತ್ಯಕ್ರಿಯೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಹಣಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಅಳುವ ವೃತ್ತಿಪರ 'ರುದಾಲಿ'ಯೊಬ್ಬಳ ಮಾರ್ಗದರ್ಶನ ಸಿಕ್ಕಾಗ, ಶನಿಚರಿ ತನ್ನ ಮನದಾಳದಲ್ಲಿ ಹತ್ತಿಕ್ಕಿದ್ದ ದುಃಖವನ್ನು ಎದುರಿಸುತ್ತಾಳೆ. ಅಂತಿಮವಾಗಿ ತನ್ನ ಜೀವನದ ಒಂದು ಕಹಿ ಸತ್ಯದ ಅರಿವಾದಾಗ, ಅವಳ ಮೌನ ಕರಗಿ ಆಕ್ರಂದನವಾಗಿ ಹೊರಬರುತ್ತದೆ.
Producer(s) or Production Company:
Ravi Gupta, Ravi Malik
Screenplay:
Gulzar, Kalpana Lazmi, Mahasweta Devi
Director of Photography:
Santosh Sivan, Dharam Gulati
Editor :
Bhanudas Divkar
Music :
Bhupen Hazarika
Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer Kalpana Lajmi (1954–2018) was a pioneer of realistic, women-centric parallel cinema. A protégé of Shyam Benegal, she debuted with the documentary D.G. MOVIE PIONEER before gaining acclaim for her feature EK PAL (1986). She is best known for the National Award-winning RUDAALI (1993) and the critically acclaimed DAMAN (2001), Her work on RUDAALI earned global acclaim, including the FIPRESCI Prize at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Throughout her career, she received multiple National Film Awards and was a significant contributor to the discourse on feminist aesthetics in Indian cinema.