Leeludi Dharti

1968 138’ col Gujarati d Vallabh Choksi pc K.V. Films st Chunilal Madia sc Manu Desai dial Jitubhai P. Mehta lyr Avinash Vyas c A.G. Dhanik m Purushottam Upadhyay, Gaurang Vyas lp Daisy Irani, Mahesh Desai, Kala Shah, Champsibhai Nagda, Upendra Kumar, Kishore Bhatt, Mahendra Zaveri, Shashikant Bhat, Veena Prabhu, Vanlata Mehta, Shirin, Sudha Zaveri, Arvind Kamdar, Suvarna Kapadia

The first Gujarati colour feature mixes fertility rituals with rural melodrama in an adaptation of Chunilal Madia’s short story. One of the three sons of farmer Hada Patel falls in love with the accursed Santu Rangili, accused of having caused a drought. The accusation is confirmed when her child is stillborn. She and her marriage are rehabilitated when an other woman abandons her own child in favour of Santu. Eventually, when another of the farmer’s sons returns, having become a holy man, the family settles down ‘to make the earth greener’.

Film