Antardwand

Plot

An aspiring IAS man is abducted by a local strongman with the intention of forcing him to marry his daughter.

Cast

Production

Sushil Rajpal, who graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), always wanted to make movies on social issues and highlighting people’s agony. Because of his interest in photography, Rajpal specialised in cinematography. He even forayed into the Hindi cinema industry by shooting Pradeep Sarkar's Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. During one of his interviews, he revealed his inspiration for his debut movie:

The movie is based on real life story of one of my close friends who was abducted at Barhariya in Begusarai district of Bihar and was later forced to marry a girl against his wishes.

Groom kidnapping is a practice reported in the Indian state of Bihar. In this practice, eligible bachelors are abducted by a bride's family and forcefully married so that they can avoid paying high dowry to the groom's family. The practice started becoming noticeable towards the late 20th century because the brides' families found it difficult to meet these demands. Organized gangs came forward to carry out these abductions as a solution to their problem.

For this film, he wanted to shoot real-life situations and cast actors who could speak with a local accent. The director's intention was to highlight the result of such forced marriage and the emotional damage that both the girl and the boy suffer from. Most parts of the movie have been shot in Bihar, the region where cases of groom kidnapping have been reported. Rajpal's roots from this region was of good help during the film's production.

The film does not have established actors, because Rajpal wanted people who looked real and could deliver dialogues with a rural appeal. Actor Raj Singh Chaudhary, who earlier featured in Anurag Kashyap's Gulaal, plays the male lead. Until he read the script, Chaudhary thought that he had seen it all. It was only after reading it, he realised that incidents like these happen after all. Swati Sen, an FTII graduate, debuted as an actor by portraying the female protagonist in this film. Vinay Pathak and Akhilendra Mishra were chosen to play the supporting roles. Besides actors Sen and Mishra, nearly 85% of the cast hailed from Bihar.

Critical reception

The film won the National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues at the 2009 National Awards. It was because of this award, PVR Pictures decided to distribute the film commercially. In a show of support, directors Anurag Kashyap, Imtiaz Ali and Rajkumar Hirani promoted the film's commercial release. Ali saw this film even before it won the National Award. He not only enjoyed watching the film, but also felt happy that it highlighted the issue of groom kidnapping. On the other hand, director Hirani praised Rajpal's directorial debut by saying that the film looked realistic.

In her review, Nikhat Kazmi of The Times of India spoke high about the novelty of the plot and added that director Rajpal has told the story with "authenticity and a touch of high drama that keeps you glued to your seats." While summarising, Kazmi appreciated the performances of the entire cast and said that the film deserved to win the National Award. Taran Adarsh applauded the first-time director for handling a number of sequences with great elan. He not only speaks high about the realism of the plot, but also about the filming locations. Adarsh also held high regards for the performances of the entire cast. On similar lines, the film earned generally good reviews.

Antardwand is one of the films featured in Avijit Ghosh's book, 40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed. "Few, if any, Hindi movies have been able to project north Bihar as authentically as this movie by director Sushil Rajpal, who hails from eastern Uttar Pradesh...There is no flashiness in Antardwand; just a quiet conviction and unswerving commitment to the narrative. It is more regional and authentic than most Bhojpuri films," writes Ghosh.