Is there a DVD of the film Daera?

I have never seen a DVD available for this movie but I was lucky enough to see it at the NFT in London during the London Film Festival in 1995. It was an amazing movie in terms of symbolism and photography. The sprawling sets and use of everyday objects to convey the feeling of the films leads was breathtaking.

There was very little dialogue in the film - also there were not really that many songs.

The version that I saw came direct from the National Film Archives in India. The folks that I went to see this with were all asleep through most of it - so I know it is not to everyone's taste. The story is very simple and the film flows at a leisurely pace – definitely not to everyone’s taste.

Kamal Amrohi played the role of a doctor, Meena Kumari a young girl married to an old man who is suffering from Tuberculosis. Nasir Khan plays a neighbour who falls in love with Meena Kumari and their romance is played out through their eyes. I do remember there were some sequences that did not work at all … a scene where Nasir writes to Meena Kumari and the letter, blown by a gust of wind, follows her around the rooftop of her rented house. This scene should have signified her guilt at falling for another man - but also how she was not in control of her feelings. What should have been a dramatic scene ended up going over the top and became amusing.

But having said that the film showcased Meena Kumari’s acting abilities to the max. Even though she had very few lines her eyes spoke volumes. I would be interested to see it again - but not on a bad quality DVD.

For those who are interested, here's a repaired version of the film. Sorry for picking an old topic, but this caught my eye.

Thanks man!


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Hi Ragz, you did a wonderful job of posting this movie and I watched it . I have really enjoyed itand the songs were superb. Pity Mubarak Begum passed away. I will watch it it again in a few months. It does have subtitles which enabled me to follow and understand what really happened.

I hardly watch a movie more than two times but I have watched it at least 8 times and will watch again. I have the link on my face book page so it is easy to watch because there are several links on Utube but not with Subtitles except one. Maybe UltraIndia will restore and have it streaming on Amazon Prime