A film crew comes to a village to make a movie about a famine which killed five million people in 1943. Tensions arise on set, as the actors live a double life and the villages watch their work with wonder and amusement, but as the film progresses, the recreated past begins to confront the present.

For arguably one of his best films, Mrinal Sen masterfully turns the film-within-a-film trope on its head to comment on the film industry’s apathy and blind privilege. Featuring an outstanding performance by Smita Patil, this nuanced critique of exploitative art practices remains extremely relevant.