Ankur : Multiple Narratives of Protest

Benegal’s first feature film Ankur (1974) deals with feudal tyranny in the hidebound rural world of a fictional village in Andhra Pradesh, India. The chief preoccupation of the film is to put emphasis on the need to protest against oppression and to register protest on various levels, vocal and silent, explicit and symbolic This chapter looks at the diverse forms of protest that Benegal weaves into his narrative about southern India’s victimized subalterns.It also attempts to discuss the ways in which the story, revolving around a landlord’s city-bred son (Surya), a lower-caste ‘dalit’ woman (Lakshmi), and her deaf-mute husband (Kishtaya), becomes a poignant reminder of how the ‘haves’ economically and sexually exploit the ‘have-nots’. Special emphasis has been laid on the character of the female protagonist, the world-weary Lakshmi, who revolts against the landlord’s family and registers her protest against feudal patriarchy. Lakshmi, the chapter will argue, voices the collective emotions of the village dwellers who have thus far silently suffered injustice. The ending of Ankur makes an immensely powerful statement concerning the awakened consciousness of the India’s rustic subalterns.