Bhavni Bhavai
| Bhavni Bhavai | |
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| Directed by | Ketan Mehta |
| Produced by | Sanchar Film Cooperative Society Ltd. |
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| Music by | Gaurang Vyas |
| Edited by | Ramesh Asher |
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Release date
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Running time
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135 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Gujarati |
| Budget | ₹3.5 lakh (equivalent to ₹57 lakh or US$84,000 in 2016) |
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| Soundtrack album by Gaurang Vyas | |
| Released | 1980 |
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack |
| Length | 15:03 |
Bhavni Bhavai (Gujarati: ભવની ભવાઈ; The Tale of the Life) is a 1980 Gujarati film directed by Ketan Mehta, starring Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Smita Patil, Mohan Gokhale, Benjamin Gilani. It tells the story of untouchability through folklore and Bhavai.
Bhavni Bhavai was Ketan Mehta's debut film and received a critical acclaim. Mehta won the prestigious Nargis Dutt Award for Best Feature Film on National Integration, while Meera Lakhia won National Film Award for Best Production Design at the 28th National Film Awards. The film was selected for a festival at the Museum of Modern Art and received UNESCO Club Human Rights award at the Three Continents Festival.
The story begins with a group of Harijans migrating to a city and pausing for a night. An elderly (Om Puri) starts narrating the story of King Chakrasen.
King Chakrasen (Naseeruddin Shah) badly wants an heir, but neither of his two queens conceives a child.
One day Chakrasen smells a foul odor at his darbar. Upon investigating he is told the place is not cleaned because bhangis are on holiday for a wedding. Angrily, he summons them immediately and orders their flagellation as punishment. Meanwhile, his spy brings the information that his people are conspiring against the king. On the advice of his prime minister (Benjamin Gilani), he decides to declare a war against the neighbouring state, as a distraction. Unknown to the king, his prime minister is having an affair with his younger queen (Suhasini Mulay). Before the king can declare a war, the neighbouring king decides to attack for the similar reasons. Chakrasen's army wins the war but suffers major brutality. At the same time, the king receives the news that his elder queen is expecting a child. Hearing this news, the jealous young queen and prime minister conspires with the royal astrologer and tells the king that if the king sees the face of the newborn, he will die immediately. Fearing for his life, the king orders killing of the newborn. The soldiers, ordered to kill the child, have a change of heart. They put him in a wooden box and let go of him in the river. One of the bhangis, Malo Bhagat (Om Puri), finds the box and decides to raise 'Jeevo' with his wife, Dhuli (Dina Pathak), as his own. While in the kingdom, the royal astrologer suggests that if the king wants a child, he must build a stepwell and the king agrees to it.
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