Coming from Shyam Benegal and his crew, not a surprise about the powerful impact of 'Junoon' (Obsession) adapted from the novel 'A Flight Pegions' by Ruskin Bond (HTML is not supported but look-up wikipedia). Through thorough research of the conditions prevailing during the rebellion of 1857, the geography, the characters (from Javed Khan to Lalaji), supported by equally-matching cinematography (Govind Nihalani), Sound (Hitendra Ghosh), Shyam Benegal, in the backdrop of the tumultuous times, does justice to the novel as only he can. In the process, Nafisa Ali (Ruth) and Deepti Naval (Rashid's wife) make remarkable debuts. As Firdous, Shabana portrays a torn and troubled wife of Javed Khan, obsessed by 'other woman' brilliantly. Par-excellence was the last and silent shot of Shabana when exudes joy at seeing her husband Javed Khan, only to turn into pain quickly turning to grief, when Javed Khan, instead goes in search of the 'other woman'. This single, silent performance by Shabana speaks for her talent. Of course, there are others (too many to list here), which audiences can enjoy.
Don't miss the brilliant photography (Govind Nihalani) and music (Vanraj Bhatia), who much later produced a gem 'Droh Kaal' 1994 (search title in IMDb), while Sound Recordist Hitendra Ghosh became a part of Govind Nihalani's team in the production of another gem 'Aakrosh' 1980 (search title in IMDb but disregard Aakrosh of 2010). Needless to add, Naseerudin Shah, as Sarfraz presents another of his countless brilliant performances.
Finally, 'Junoon' is available on DVD (with sub-titles). Check 'Shemaroo' web-site.
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