Siddhartha

Director: Conrad Rooks
Starring: Shashi Kapoor, Simi Garawel, Romesh Sharma
Year: 1972

The story of a young Indian, Siddhartha who embarks upon a journey to find the meaning of existence. Based on the novel by Hermann Hesse. Siddhartha, played by Shashi Kapoor), is born in the rich family, begins a serahc for the meaning of life that takes him through periods of harsh asceticism, sensual pleasures, material wealth, then self-revulsion and eventually to the oneness and harmony with himself that he had been seeking. Siddhartha learns that the secret of life cannot be passed on from one person to another, but must be achieved through inner experience.

Comments: Shot on location in Northern India, the film features work by noted cinematographer Sven Nykvist. Simi Garewal's appearance in the film as the courtesan Kamala caused controversy in India, in particular because she appeared nude in one scene; the Indian Censor Board, at that time, did not even permit on-screen kissing in Indian films. The locations used for the film were the holy city of Rishikesh and the private estates and palaces of the Maharajah of Bharatpur.

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