Released at the peak of the Parallel Cinema movement in India, Girish Kasaravalli’s groundbreaking debut feature is scathing critique of religious hypocrisy.
The film tells of a friendship between two outsiders, a young Brahmin boy at a religious school, bullied by his peers, and the headmaster’s widowed daughter who conceals a secret pregnancy for fear of being ostracised.
Kasaravalli’s forthright and uncompromising film takes aim at a vicious patriarchal system. Its daring subject matter and neorealist approach established him as a major talent in the Indian film industry.
• The Ritual (Ghatashraddha, 1977) presented from the new 4K restoration by Film Heritage Foundation, Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project and George Lucas' Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.
• New filmed interview with director Girish Kasaravalli.
• Booklet with new writing by Dr Omar Ahmed, director Girish Kasaravalli on the film, plus Film Heritage Foundation’s Shivendra Singh Dungarpur on the restoration.
• New English subtitle translation.
• Region free Blu-ray (A/B/C
14 September