Thursday, March 16, 2006

Cast: Urmila Matondkar, Ashmit Patel, Raj Babbar, Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah, Arif Zakaria
Music:Himesh Reshamiya
Producer:Subhash Ghai
Director:Pankaj Parashar

'Banaras' is about relationships - relationship of humans with God and about the relationship of great men like Buddha, Kabir, Tulsi and Shankaracharya with Banaras. With this as the core subject, the film delves into the relationship of a loving young daughter, with her parents. Shwetambari (Urmila Matondkar), the bright young daughter of rich Brahmin parents (Dimple Kapadia and Raj Babbar) studies Physics at the local university in Banaras. Soham (Ashmit Patel) a low caste mystic and protege of Babaji (Naseeruddin Shah) teaches music at the University.

When the two fall in love, hell breaks loose in Banaras. The orthodox and conservatives surface to the fore, threatening to take away everything form the young lovers. When her powerful parents try to ignore the social strictures for happiness of their daughter, the dark forces and destiny take complete control.

A shattered Shwetambari makes a choice. She decides to abandon the very city she loves the most. In despair and hopelessness she turns inwards to look for answers. 17 years later, Shwetambari, now a world teacher in philosophy and religion, is confronted with a final choice - a choice whether to return to Banaras to meet her dying father or to continue to deny all attachments.

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