UTSAV
Directed by: Girish Karnad
Starring: Rekha, Shankar Nag, Anupam Kher, Shashi Kapoor, Amjad Khan etc.
Year: 1984
Language: Hindi
Review: Vikas Kamat
Story Line:
Utsav is based on a classical tale of love and romance and political drama "Mrichchakatika" by poet Bhasa. It is a story of a passionate love between Vasantasena (played by Rekha), a beautiful and renowned courtesan of Ujjain and Charudutt (played by Shekhar Suman), a poor, married Brahmin. Interesting drama unfolds resulting in confusion and calamities. The brother-in-law of the king Samsthanak (played by Shashi Kapoor) is in pursuit of Vasantasena. On one hand Aryak (played by Kunal Kapoor), a political revolutionary, plots to depose the king on the other hand Vatsyayana (played by Amjad Khan), complies his masterpiece on erotics, the Kamasutra. The plots thicken and come to a climax, when Charudutt is accused of murder and sentenced to die.
Seduction of Charudutt
Rekha and Shekhar Suman from a publicity still of Utsav