The first narrative feature directed by Ismail Merchant is a lament for the decline of a linguistic tradition, and perhaps of language in general. In this slow-moving, reflective, and compassionate film, the waning of Urdu--a Persian-influenced dialect of Hindi that was once India's most
important literary language--is figured in the story of a scholar's struggle to preserve the legacy of a dying poet.
Deven (Om Puri) teaches Hindi at a college in Mirpur, a town in north central India. Encountering his friend Murad (Tinnu Anand), he agrees to interview the greatest living Urdu poet, Nur Shahjehanabad, for the literary journal Murad edits. Deven finds Nur in th...
Released:
1994
Rated:
PG
Length:
123 mins