In 1978, Shashi Kapoor, the younger and equally popular brother of legendary Raj Kapoor created the production company Film-Valas. He produced eight films starting with Junoon (by Shyam Benegal), made that same year, through to Ajooba (1991), which he directed himself. Girish Karnad often sourced the films he directed from ancient texts and, here, Utsav is inspired by the Sanskrit play, The Little Clay Cart, set in the latter quarter of the 5th century. Today, the film is in bold contrast with the orthodoxy with which Bollywood negotiates its relation- ship to Indian culture. The freedom of tone (sexual and social) comes from a bygone age. Rekha plays here one of her finest roles and Sashi Kapoor (Samsthanak in the film) lost a lot of money in the venture! JB
World Premiere of the restored print
