Filmbar screening of Mani Kaul's "Duvidha" (1973) at the Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 5:00 pm

Filmbar screening of Mani Kaul's "Duvidha" (1973) at the Research and Publication Centre (RPC) on Saturday, November 1, 2025 at 5:00 pm. Kindly note changed time.

Mani Kaul's "Duvidha" (1973) is set in rural Rajasthan. It is based on a story by Vijayadan Detha, which relates a popular folktale from Rajasthan about a merchant's son. A young bride is left alone when her merchant husband Krishanlal departs on a long business trip soon after their wedding. In his absence, a ghost, enchanted by her beauty, assumes the form of the absent husband and begins living with her. The bride, caught between longing and societal expectation, accepts the ghost as her companion, and their silent, surreal coexistence unfolds with dreamlike detachment. As the lines between the real and the supernatural blur, the film poses a haunting moral and emotional dilemma (“duvidha” meaning “dilemma”) about love, agency, and the constraints of tradition.

Address: Research and Publication Centre (RPC), 2nd Floor, 65 Main Gulberg, Lahore (next to Standard Chartered Bank, above Indesign showroom. Lift is operational.

The screening will be followed by an informal discussion. Tea will be served.

Rashed Rahman

Editor, Pakistan Monthly Review (PMR) (link: pakistanmonthlyreview.com)

Director, Research and Publication Centre (RPC) (on Facebook)

Cell: 0302 8482737