Duvidha (1973) In Two Minds

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Duvidha (1973) In Two Minds

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Kaul's film funded by the Film Finance Corporation and an independent multi-arts co-operation led by noted painter Akbar Padamsee. Derived from a Rajasthani folk tale, it tells of a merchant's son (Menon) who returns home with his new wife (Padamsee) only to be sent away on family business. A ghost witnesses the brides' arrival and falls in love with her. He takes on the absent husband's form an lives with her. She has his child, which becomes a problem when the real husband returns home. A shepherd traps the ghost in a bag. The film focusses on the wife's life and dispenses with almost any dialogue developing the characters through parallel, historically uneven or even contradictory narratives. The classical styles of the Kangra and Basouli miniature paintings inform the colour schemes, the framing and the editing as well as the somewhat melancholic atmosphere of the film. This is contrasted by the full blooded folk music score. Kaul skilfully demonstrates how classical and folk music forms apparently contradict each other in the way they present each other's fantasy worlds, an opposition with many ramifications in the realm of everyday behaviour. It is one of Kaul's best known films and is widely shown in Europe. It was also sharply attacked by Satyajit Ray who preferred what he took to be the 'realism' of Benegal and Sathyu.

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Duvidha (1973) In Two Minds

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