Uski roti

Mani Kaul’s groundbreaking debut set new standards for Indian cinema. His attention to gestures and repetition lend this film exceptional power. In Kaul’s words: “a projection of the woman’s fantasies”.

Uski roti tells the story of Balo, a woman from a village in northern India, whose whole life is bound by tradition. Her husband, Suchcha Sing, is a bus driver who passes a few miles from the village every day. Only on Tuesdays does he visit her. Every other day is spent drinking and playing cards with colleagues. Balo walks two miles every day to a desolate bus stop to hand her husband his lunch. One day she is late because her 14-year-old sister was assaulted by one of the village boys. Suchcha Sing is furious about his wife’s behaviour and refuses the meal.