Cast
What it is about
In a shared residential block in Bombay, known as a chawl, lives Rajaram Joshi, a good-natured, hardworking middle-class clerk who is secretly in love with his neighbour Sandhya. His shyness keeps him from declaring himself, while colleagues and neighbours take advantage of his kindness. The arrival of Vasudev, known as Bashu, a smooth-talking and easygoing friend, upsets the balance of the whole building.
How it was made
The film loosely follows the classic folktale of the hare and the tortoise and gives it a modern, urban setting, based on the Marathi play Sasa Aani Kasav by S.G. Sathye. Director Sai Paranjpye builds a observational portrait of everyday life in the chawl, with Naseeruddin Shah, Farooque Shaikh and Deepti Naval in the leading roles. The music is by Raj Kamal. Shooting took place on location at the Salunke Chawl in Pune. Kishore Kumar sang one of the songs without charging a fee, wanting to support an art house project.
Reception and legacy
Katha won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. Its gentle view of urban middle-class life places it within the character-driven Hindi comedy of the early 1980s. The story travelled beyond India as well: a Malayalam adaptation, Mukunthetta Sumitra Vilikkunnu, followed in 1988 based on the same stage play.
Stills
Trivia
A singer who waived his fee
Kishore Kumar recorded the song Maine tumse kuch nahin manga without a fee, because he wanted to take part in an art house project.
A name with a backstory
Farooque Shaikh's character is called Bashu Bhatt after producer and filmmaker Basu Bhattacharya, with whom director Sai Paranjpye had a dispute over the delayed release of Sparsh.
Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.