One Day Before the Rainy Season (1971)

Name: One Day Before the Rainy Season
Director: Mani Kaul
Genre: Drama
Released: 1971-08-08
Rating: 7.6

"A beautifully shot tragic retelling of Mohan Rakesh's Hindi play on Kalidasa's lover Mallika and their relationship."

Year 19711h 54m* 7.6/10Drama

One Day Before the Rainy Season is a 1971 drama directed by Mani Kaul. It features Rekha Sabnis, Arun Khopkar, Om Shivpuri in lead roles. The film carries a runtime of 1h 54m. Audiences have rated it 7.6/10 across 8 votes. In India, it is available to stream legally on NFDC Amazon Channel.

A literary film based on a play in three acts, One Day Before the Rainy Season (Ashad Ka Ek Din) portrays the love of Mallika and Kalidasa, the renowned Sanskrit poet and dramatist. Vilom, a friend to both and interested in Mallika, is a passive onlooker for the first two acts. Kalidasa leaves his verdant mountain valley home for the splendour of far off Ujjain, where he wins fame. The action of the film is rooted in the village to which Kalidasa returns years later and finds Mallika married to Vilom and the mother of his child. Mallika sacrificed her love so that the poet could pursue his muse.