Flipkart Essentials : Shyam Benegal Vol. 2

1857, India is in turmoil. Units of East India Company are in revolt, leading to a popular uprising against British Rule.

One scorching Sunday morning in may, a church is attacked and some Englishmen are massacred. Only Mariam Labadoor, the widow of one of the Englishmen, her daughter Ruth, and her mother Mrs. James are the survivors. Javed Khan, a brother in law of Sarfraz Khan, the sepoy who led the massacre, sees Ruth and is obessed with her.

He will not be at peace until he possesses her. Instead of joining the fight for freedom, Javed Khan stays at home, bent upon marrying Ruth, by force, Mariam strikes a deal with Javed, he can marry Ruth only if the Indians succeed in breaking the British siege of Delhi. He only joins the fighting when his cousin is killed. But it is too late. When he returns he asks to see Ruth one last time. Mariam refuses, but Ruth rushes out. When Javed leaves, it becomes apparent that she too loves him. Javed died in battle. Fifty five years later, Ruth passed away in London, unwed.

Kalyug

Ramchand and Bhishamchand were two pioneering brothers in business. Bhishamchand, a life-long bachelor brought up the two sons of Ramchand on his demise. He also gave the family business a film foundation. Khubchand (Vinod Doshi) the older son of Ramchand begets two sons, Dhanraj (Victor Banerjee) and Sandeepraj (Akash Khurana). Puranchand, Khubchand's younger brother had died a few years ago. His there sons are Dharamraj (Raj Babbar), Balraj (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) and Bharatraj (Anant Nag). The film is tale of intrigue, plots and the inevitable war between the two families. Another player in the game is Karan (Shashi Kapoor) an orphan brought up by Bhishamchand. A series of events take place that bring the long hidden feud between the two families to light and despite Bhishamchand's efforts to mediate between the two, the situation gets out of hand and events take a tragic turn. Dhanraj's men accidentally kill the young son of Balraj and to take revenge Bharatraj murders Karan. Quite a few skeletons from the family cupboard are brought out in the open that only adds to the tensions and hatred, finally culminating in the destruction of the two families making us ponder on the brittleness of our moral fabric.

Kondura

Kondura is the story of a young brahmin Parasuram torn between the horns of a dilemma- his free will and the belief in the predestined nature of existence, Parasuram's elder brother who supports the family is incensed by Parasuram's inability to do anything useful. Parasuram runs away from home to make his fortune in the city.

Nishant

Vishwam (Naseeruddin Shah) is the youngest son of the powerful, and influential village Zamindar (Amrish Puri). The Zamindar will not hesitate to do anything for the welfare and protection of his family, which also includes bending the law to his own advantage. Vishwam is married to Rukmani (Smita Patil), and unlike his brothers, does not indulge in alcohol or women, nor does he have any bad habits. Then the village gets a new schoolmaster (Girish Karnad), who has a wife, Sushilla (Shabana Azmi). When Vishwam sees for the first time, he is unable to take his off of her, and unable to get her out of his mind. Sushilla does not reciprocate his attentions. Then one night, while the schoolmaster is returning home, he sees a vehicle pull up outside his house, and two men grab Sushilla and take her forcibly. Several people are present no one dares to raise a hand nor even a voice to stop this abduction. What will the schoolmaster do to get his wife back, knowling fully well that the Police patel (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) is one of the Zamindar's men.