Badnam Basti (Neighbourhood of Ill Repute)

Badnam Basti (Neighbourhood of Ill Repute)

classified 15 S

part of Restored & Rediscovered

Film

Please note: This was screened in July 2025

Director
Prem Kapoor
Cast
Nitin Sethi, Amar Kakkad, Nandita Thakur
Details
83 mins, Subtitled, 1971, India
Primary language
Hindi

This daring and progressive account of a complex love triangle broke all manner of taboos to emerge as India’s first queer film and an icon of Parallel Cinema.

Prem Kapoor’s film skilfully navigates the turbulent conditions under which it was made, subtly incorporating bisexuality in such a way that it bypassed India’s strict cultural censorship. It's the story of the interlocking relationship between truck driver and ex-bandit Sarnam (Nitin Sethi), Bansari (Nandiat Thakur), a beautiful woman Sarnam saved from being raped, and Shivraj (Amar Kakkad), who works in a temple and is later hired by Sarnam.

Adapted from Kamleshwar Prasad Saxena’s 1957 novel, the movie's transgressive approach was a direct reaction to wider political turmoil. It remains an emblem of Parallel Cinema, focusing on then-unconventional representations and relationships with a keen eye. The film was thought lost for many years but was accidentally rediscovered in 2019 in the archive of Berlin’s Arsenal Institute for Film and Video Art. It’s now presented by Arsenal in an unvarnished digital transfer ahead of a full digital restoration, which is being supervised by Kapoor’s son Hariom.


× Close

Help us make our website work better for you

Allow analytics cookies Deny analytics cookies

We use Google Analytics to gather information on how our website is used. This helps us to make changes to our website that improve the usefulness and overall experience for our visitors.