(25 December 1944 – 6 July 2011)
Early life and education
Born as Rabindranath Kaul in Jodhpur, Rajasthan into a Kashmiri Pandit Kaul family, he first joined Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune as an acting student and later shifted to the direction course, graduating in 1966.[2]He was the nephew of actor-director Mahesh Kaul. Initially studying acting at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, he changed over to directing. He is a 1966 graduate of the FTII.[2]
Professional life
His first film Uski Roti (1969) has been described as "one of the key films of the New Indian Cinema or the Indian New Wave".[2] It marked a drastic departure from earlier Indian cinema techique, form and narrative. It was one of the early formal experimental films in Indian cinema.Asad ka Ek Din (1971), his next film, was based on a play by Mohan Rakesh.
Duvidha (1973), his third, was his first in colour. It grew out of a short story by Vijayan Detha and tells the story of a merchant's son, who returns with his new bride to have to depart on family business. A ghost falls in love with the bride... It was widely shown across Europe.
Mani Kaul was one of the co-founders of the Yukt Film Co-operative (Union of Kinematograph Technicians) in 1976, leading to avantgarde films. Critics[2] suggest that in "Mani Kaul's cinematic conception, fiction and documentary films have no clear demarcated dividing line." He also taught music in the Netherlands, and was Creative Director of the film house at Osian's Connoisseurs of Art, Mumbai.
Career
In 1971, he was a member of the jury at the 21st Berlin International Film Festival.[3]He was a visiting lecturer at Harvard University for the 2000–2001 school year.[4] Currently he was the Creative Director of the Film House at Osian's Connoisseurs of Art, Mumbai.
Personal life and death
He was a nephew of the noted Hindi film director Mahesh Kaul, who made films like Raj Kapoor starrer Sapnon Ka Saudagar (1968). Mani Kaul died on 6 July 2011 at his home in Gurgaon, near Delhi. He had been ailing for sometime.[5][6]According to a tribute[6] from Prabha Mahajan on the Indian documentary film discussion network Docuwallahs2[1], Mani Kaul's significant body of work included both feature films and documentaries. In an interview Mani stated: "The dividing line from my films and documentaries is thin. Some of my films like "Siddheshwari" are like poetic documentaries." Mani Kaul's fellow alumni from FTII intend to put together a collective tribute to Mani Kaul and his work, and interested persons were invited to send in their thoughts on Mani as a film maker, teacher/ mentor, colleague, and as a person.
Indian film critic Khalid Mohamed commented,[7] " As a film director, he discussed the status of women (Uski Roti, Duvidha), crafted visually seductive documentaries (Arrival, Before My Eyes, A Desert of a Thousand Lines) and went through a spell of interpreting Fyodor Dostoevsky’s masterworks. The Russian writer’s short story A Gentle Creature inspired Nazar, shot in low, chiaroscuro lighting."
Awards
National Film Awards
- 1974: Best Direction: Duvidha
- 1989: Best Documentary Film: Siddheshwari[8]
Filmfare Awards
Mani Kaul won Filmfare Critics Award for Best Movie four times.- 1971: Uski Roti (1970)
- 1972: Ashad Ka Ek Din (1971)
- 1974: Duvidha (1973)
- 1993: Idiot (1992)
Filmography
- Uski Roti (1969)
- Ashadh Ka Ek Din (1971)
- Duvidha (1973)
- Ghashiram Kotwal (1979)
- Satah Se Uthata Admi (1980)[9]
- Dhrupad (1982)
- Mati Manas (1984)
- Siddheshwari (1989)
- Nazar (1989)
- Idiot (1992)
- The Cloud Door (1995)
- Naukar Ki Kameez (The Servant's Shirt) (1999)[10]
- Bojh (Burden)(2000)
- Ik Ben Geen Ander (I Am No Other) Nederland 2002
- A Monkey's Raincoat Nederland (2005)
- 'Signature Film' for Osian Cinefan Festival of Asian Cinema (2006)
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