The narrative of the surreal fantasy is embedded within a framing story of a writer telling a story to a film producer, who eventually declines to make the movie.
The writer tells of Udayan (Shankar) and Kamini (Kanta) and the young man’s dream of establishing an art centre, Kalakendra (a fictional equivalent of Shankar’s India Cultural Centre at Almora) in the Himalayas.
This film has recently been restored by World Cinema Foundation, helmed by Martin Scorsese.
The director of this movie, Uday Anand taught dance to Guru Dutt.
This was India's first ballet film.
For many years, the unusual film was seen as exemplifying a successful fusion of Indian modernism and the cinema. Shankar, who had danced with Pavlova, was lauded by James Joyce in a letter to his daughter: ‘He moves on the stage like a semi-divine being. Believe me, there are still some beautiful things left in this poor old world.’
This is the only film Uday Shankar ever directed, as well as the only one he ever appeared in.
Kalpana 1948
01 Jan 1948 ● Hindi ● 2 hrs 40 mins
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