Banaras Movie Review: Watch out for Urmila!

Banaras is a tale of mystic romance where Urmila Matondkar plays the only daughter of an aristocratic set of Brahmin parents, Raj Babbar and Dimple Kapadia who live in Banaras. A student of science in Banaras Hindu University, Ashmit Patel belongs to a low caste, and plays a lecturer in music. Being a prot?g? of Baba (Naseeruddin Shah), he is also a mystic.

Urmila is Ashmit?s student, and soon love blossoms between the two. The parents are outraged at their romance, but eventually agree for their marriage. Ashmit is killed under mysterious circumstances, and dejected; Urmila leaves Banaras and turns a teacher in religion and philosophy.

The narrative and the dialogues at certain places are long and require a deeper understanding, otherwise the movie flows smoothly. The cinematography with saffron hues and apt locations create a mystic ambience, which is definitely one of the highlights of the movie.

Performance-wise, Urmila Matondkar does a great job, and Naseeruddin Shah too leaves his mark in a brief role. As the director, Pankuj Parashar shows his technical skill, but is let down by a poor script.