On death anniversary, gifted director Awtar Kaul remembered in rare photos
Avijit Ghosh
Avijit Ghosh is a associate editor with The Times of India. He is addicted to films, music, cricket and football—and not necessarily in that order. He is the author of Bandi LESS
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Awtar Krishna Kaul, whose 51st death anniversary falls today, is one of the could-have-been greats of Indian cinema. He produced, directed and wrote the screenplay of the iconic feature film, 27 Down (1974).
Made on a tight budget of Rs 2 lakh by the young US-returned filmmaker, the movie won the national award for best film and best cinematography. The film also received the Ecumenial Award in the Locarno Film festival and the Dulcat prize at the Mannheim International Film festival.
Rakhee, Rekha Sabnis and Om Shivpuri were some other actors in the film which was based on Ramesh Bakshi’s Hindi novel, Athara Sooraj Ke Paudhe.
Kaul was born in Srinagar. He came to Mumbai after spending 14 years in New York where he drove a taxi and graduated from a film school. He also worked with the famous director James Ivory in the film, Bombay Talkies.
His death came under very unusual circumstances. Kaul died tragically trying to save a girl from drowning in the White House Area in Walkeshwar, Bombay. He was just 34.
Two photographs are from the film’s shooting. The other is of Kaul with his wife, Anne (Sulzer) Kaul.
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Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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