Mithun Chakraborty plays a powerful and domineering priest who rules his temple and the surrounding village with an iron fist, all supposedly for the sake of religion. He becomes enamored with a prostitute (Sushmita Sen) from a local brothel and begins spending more and more time with her. But when the village postman (Anuj Sawhney) takes a liking to her as well, the priest is forced to deal with him and a growing village rebellion.
Acting
Sushmita Sen's volcanic restraint; Mithun's sleazy menace
Direction
Kalpana Lajmi's unflinching gaze at institutional rot
Director
Kalpana Lajmi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kalpana Lajmi specialized in stories of marginalized women; this was her final film before her 2018 death, completing a trilogy of rural female suffering after Rudaali and Darmiyaan.
The film bombed commercially but Sushmita Sen later called Basanti her most demanding role — she researched in Kolkata's red-light districts and insisted on minimal makeup throughout.
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