Original subtitles

Presented by 'Handicraft Development Commission'

'and National Film Development Corporation.'

And Infarkino Film Production Private Limited presents.

Maati Manas.

Actors. Harzi Prajapati, Mumbai.

Khemrak Kumar, Molela.

Chatur bhuj Kumar, Molela.

Laali, Mulela.

Sony Devi, Savgua.

Pallavi Appan, Pudukottai. Avamugan, Pudukottai.

Om Prakash, Azamgarh. Neelamnidevi, Manipur.

Ismail Siddiqui, Kutch.

Anita Kanwar.

Ashok Sharma.

Robin Das.

Producer. Lalita Krishna.

Associate Producers. Shantanu Bose. B. C. Narayanan Verma.

Assistant Directors. Veena Mohan.

Gurdeep Singh.

Lights. N. C. Thade.

Sound. Farookh Patel.

Editor. Lalita Krishna.

Production. Mohammad Zafar Khan.

Lab. Prasad Film Lab, Madras.

Titles. Vijay Bhalekar.

Editor. Reena Mohan.

Sound recordist. A. M. Padmanabhan.

Background score. Mangesh Desai.

Cameraman. Venu.

Flute. T. R. Mahalingam.

Courtesy. - Gramophone Company India.

Concept. Kamal Swaroop.

Story and Research. Kamal Swaroop. Mani Kaul.

Director. Mani Kaul.

Come. Come. Come on.

'In the Kumbh Fair a cat gave birth to four kittens..'

'..by the names of Laad, Alaad, Prahlad in a mud pot.'

'By the time the other pots were made..'

'..a spider had spun a web on the mouth of the pot.'

'In the darkness I couldn't see on the other side of the trap.'

'It would take nine clays to bake it in the furnace.'

'Once I woke up at night.'

'I couldn't see in the darkness.'

Mud can be molded in any shape.

It all depends on your imagination.

So it's your wish whether to mold wings or pot.

If the potter's creation is inanimate then Brahma's creation is animate.

There is a huge difference between them.

But both have five elements.

Roots.

We don't say it.

But a person can't live without roots.

Without seeds chilies are not spicy.

Mud is the same.

Mud doesn't have any flaw.

Mud has countless flavors.

Mango flavor.

Sour and sweet. All the flavors.

Who absorbs these flavors?

Chilies.

The seeds absorb it.

If a traveler doesn't find any place to stay..

then he will get a potter's home.

It's Mumbai city. That's why it's like that.

Otherwise you will find it in Desawar.

It's our custom.

Since eternity.

When did it begin?

Since eternity.

Since the time the universe was created.

'Before the fish hatched its eggs..'

'..the cat got hungry.'

'The cat came into my dreams and said..'

'I carried it in my womb and gave birth to it.'

'I don't know about man-made fire.'

'If you can keep my offspring, I will narrate you a story.'

'Forts were scattered far and wide.'

'I had a cycle.'

'The creek was at a distance of 22 kms.'

'Who are two skeletons?'

'They were found in the same pot.'

'They were soldiers.'

'At that time they used to dig.'

'Somebody says they were husband and wife.'

'Who knows?'

'One has a scratch on his leg.'

'We even found a small child's tooth.'

'Kn the pot.'.

Amidst the scattered village, it fell on its face.

'There was a jungle in the sky, devoid of trees.'

'And we would ask our future from..'

'..birds and animals made of stars.'

Listen, Shravan.

Like you, the flowers also ask their parents' names.

Nobody knew their father's name.

Mother's caste. Or father's caste.

The cat came into my dreams and said..

After burning jungles..

Singhils were killed by Gimesh.

We are their shadows.

When I was a kid, I saw such toys being made.

But this is the first time that I have seen numbered pieces.

of broken pots enclosed in glass boxes.

I was surprised.

I felt as if their spell will be broken by my mere touch.

Should I Xerox each piece or the entire page?

Mother's caste. Or father's caste.

It was a part of the soil.

Broken pieces.

It remained buried in the soil for thousands of years.

Last monsoon had left scum on it.

We don't even know what language was spoken by..

people of the Sindhu civilization.

Mud vessels, weapons and coins were all the same.

There was no change even in the writing.

In ancient languages instead of trees, animals and fishes..

each bird and animal, cock and hen and plant..

had different names.

Didn't break.

Sindhu changed.

After being destroyed as a city..

It was rebuilt as a village.

Instead of making pots, wells were dug.

'The zig-zag marks on the neck of the pot... '

'... was the Goddess's garland.'

'Centuries have passed by... '

'... I've told you something very ancient.'

'The past is gone.'

'Those that have become our vehicle.'

'These have emerged from our bodies itself.

'A horse became someone's vehicle.'

'A camel became someone else's vehicle.'

'And a donkey for some others.'

'Monkey, parrot.'

'And the crow was someone's vehicle.'

'The world grew very distant.'

'The lion and the squirrel hatched a conspiracy.'

'Before the leaves fell down... '

'... the squirrel had already jumped off the branch.'

'The lion turned into a moon.'

'Hands were made out of the veins of the leaves.'

'And their fathers appeared in their dreams.'

'Both the potters sleeping on the other side of the shadow sat up.'

'We've only heard and felt it till today.'

'Why are you hiding your face... '

'... in spite of being the righteous one.'

'When I was little and I could see... '

'... I saw you were riding a horse wearing a red turban.'

'We had tears in our eyes.'

'We don't know what was behind those shadows.'

Do you get dreams?

I see ghosts too. I see God in my dreams too. - Really?

God has given me a lot of wealth. At night.

Then?

I saw in my dream that God was sitting here.

I made tea.

And sister and Bajra told me to ask everything that I wanted from Him.

He gave me whatever I asked.

And He took me up there.

What did you ask?

All that I wanted. House. Money.

All that I wanted.

You asked for money and? - House.

What else? - House. House and money.

You asked for lots of money?

And He gave you everything? - Yes.

Then? - Then he took me up.

In the sky. - Then He flew away.

He went up by climbing the stairs?

He went up climbing by the stairs in your dream?

How was He?

He was here. Here.

How did he look?

He was...

He was good looking?

I couldn't see anything when he was up there.

I just got a glimpse.

And then I woke up.

'I had to dig up so much of mud.'

'Only then could the animal stand up on its feet.'

'And carried things.'

'Mud from different places.'

'We filled our pockets with mud before leaving the house.'

Heera told the Goddess.

'Who'll knead the mud? '

'And who'll mould it? '

Goddess said, "Bhairon will knead the mud."

"And Heera will mould it."

'On this, Goddess told the potter... '

'... to get the ass ready and to leave for the mine.'

'The moment he dug up the mud... '

'... he struck milk first and then blood.'

'Men fought among themselves to death for mud.'

'The mud of Morela was sacred for them.'

'The white bullock tilling Gangli's fields became skinny.'

'His bones were visible.'

'The bridle would rub against his bones.'

'Kankali's second son Kaala didn't bow down to Gangli.'

'He stood firm like a man.'

Snake, you're my friend.

My lyre is with Gangli.

You too will be under his control.

Bhairon, listen.

The one who can tackle the prince is the greatest.

Not even these smart women have this power.

The King will definitely mediate when it comes to the prince.

'Kankali's second son, Kaala, didn't bow down to Gangli.'

'He stood firm like a man.'

'But he didn't have his father's consent... '

'... so that made him somewhat feeble.'

'One blow from Gangli and he was destroyed.'

'When I tried really hard to recollect... '

'... I recollected Bhairon.'

'And then Gangli standing near the yield.'

'She would either start laughing or crying from within.'

'Dhaga ruined the prince.'

'Kaala vented out the frustration within him.'

Is that butterball clearer than me?

'Kaala had put shackles on Gangli.'

'Bhairon was still reeling from that blow by the prince.'

Gangli said on the way, "I want to feel the prince in you."

Kaala was exposed.

Who are you talking about?

The one who has no child of his own.

Kankali was dark.

So you were named Kaala (black).

We are brother and sister for sure.

But why are you coming in between the father and the daughter?

'A brave man across the river was afflicted.'

'One of his friends was Rishabh.'

'As in Kaala and Gora.'

'Where Gora was Gangli's bullock during the clay.'

'But was human at night.'

So don't do the operation...

Yes.

Take it that he won't get the work clone.

Reduce it if you want. What does it matter to us?

Yes, that's it...

'While crossing the dry jungles of Morela... '

'... that barren land gave birth to various types of cactus species.'

'There was no trace of any vegetation or any living creature.'

'This barren land would lap up any drop of rain.'

'I read a book when I was little.'

'A rider was zipping across the cactus forest on a horse.'

'He had set out to get snake's milk or sandalwood flower.'

'All the major Gods graced Durga with weapons.'

'If one Durga was needed for a one century... '

'and if Rishabh was killed with sharp stones... '

'... then seven mothers turned into seven animals.'

'Head of the wildest of the animals.'

A crime had taken place in this village once...

and because of that the police had come.

The police enquired if there were any old antiques here.

Patil brought a stone from here and gave it to him.

On the basis of that, we recognized...

that the material was at least 3000 years old.

People didn't come here for work in the beginning.

But when we began the work, we used...

to find bones and other material.

We used to keep them in the tent.

And people noticed that.

Then they started working with us.

In the beginning we found a four legged casket...

there was a man buried inside it.

And the shape of that casket was like a woman's body.

You must know that when a person dies there is an understanding...

that he goes deep beneath the soil.

Shankaracharya says...

you die again, you are born again...

and again you have to dwell in your mother's womb.

And we found Mother Goddess in a box...

and along with her a headless Goddess with that.

We know that when Karthikeya was born...

at that time one of the Goddess brought him up...

she was called, 'Vishrashi' and She was headless.

Such is the story of Renuka.

There is one more fresh memory.

In the Kumhar Ghati of Mathura, the potter's wife...

veiled her face and read out the blessings...

for all the children of the valley.

All the names were of Lord Krishna's mother...

whose names she couldn't remember, she complained.

She covered the head of 'Tulsi' (Basil plant) with a red drape.

While sitting on the buffalo's horns the sparrow said...

'Ishtar' was the mother of mothers.

She had learned to make the masks of sparrows from us.

Then the sea dried up one clay.

Many of us went astray.

Who can make such sparrows now?

She carves it with her hands.

She does pottery work.

She is active. She brings the clay.

She does all the work.

She doesn't just sit on the cartwheel and makes vessels.

She sows the seeds in the farm.

She sprays the manure too.

She digs.

She doesn't just touch the plough and drive it.

Hariti's daughter who had hidden under Buddha's bowl of alms...

endured the darkness silently.

Unhappy Hariti who was wandering and searching for her...

was Kuber's wife, but she was actually a demon.

She became a mother when she was estranged from her daughter.

Three riddles.

Numerous buffaloes flying in the sky.

It rained heavily.

Silence was spread all around.

Green grass grew at every buffalo's house again.

The cow used to miss the buffalo while relishing the green grass.

The sparrow who had perched on the buffalo's horn...

she started chirping again when she remembered it.

I was a mad woman in previous birth.

I was so mad that in spite of being a woman...

I was desperate for petty things.

This map is made by my glance.

The roots dig deep in the ground and suck its content.

The leaves fall from the tree and get converted into fishes.

Far, far away.

If ever the entire earth has to be liberated then...

it should turn upside down like the potter's wheel.

Water stands still clue to the magic of air.

Let more pasture form at the bottom of the pot.

Let the water be so cold that it tastes sweet.

Let the pot be broken only on the anniversary of the sea.

The three of us change place often.

We chose the path which is very short.

We were not worried about the clays.

We hear the sounds of the sky at night.

It was the holiday season at the place...

belonging to the potters of Angal.

The excuse was that, Sarpani Mansa, daughter of Shiv...

was sleeping under the shadow of chanting.

The nectar from flowers was there on the snake.

Mansa would dress up well every year.

All the condemnations on the earth are of Shiva.

And the fights between them are of their own.

The woodcutter's target was set on the neck...

when Goddess Renuka hid in the dense trees.

She entered the other world with the help of tree roots.

When there was darkness inside, I realized that...

I had forgotten my head at the root of the trees.

Parsu must be sleeping there.

Parsu woke up in the morning.

He caught the hair on mother's head wearing footwear.

The windows of the houses were opened.

I cannot carry the weight of my mother.

Many said, watch the house without a woman.

His footmarks on the dust were in the reverse order.

His father was born from fire.

Parsu touched it and shook every body.

He attached the heads onto the necks and watched.

The laugh of Brahmani didn't return.

Brahmani has joined with Shudrani.

Brahmani stood up and then sat down.

Mother...

the celestial performer was a donkey in our house.

You were so busy in work that you didn't notice it.

The mud didn't recognize your hands.

With your dreams, we found this wheel.

Now you mix it with your legs and prepare mud.

The wanderers have prepared the furnace and played the music...

with loud sounds.

The snakes came out of the lower world...

and spewed venom.

Due to it, all the vessels of the furnace were cooked.

But it lost all the poison.

After cleaning the backyard with cow dung...

the brightness increases.

Darkness hides in the jungle all clay.

We children play with the goats all clay.

We watched the white colored aero-plane moving...

in the blue sky.

O, Goddess.

Don't select the vermillion for me.

I get scared at the sight of vermillion.

A snake with the color of vermillion has bitten me.

It is of mud.

It is put on the wheel.

And then burnt in fire.

Later on both are joined together.

After that it is fixed.

After that the tailors took it.

They put cover on it with cloth.

And then they gave it for playing.

It is played like this. The sound is like this.

Ask your mother who your father is.

The person whom you are going to return the lyre to.

Ask that old man your father's name.

Ask your mother for his name.

Ask me your mother's name.

Your grandpa and father are one.

Your mother and sister are one.

Ask me your sister's name.

Ask Parvati.

Ask Brahma. The Lord is a bull.

And we seven sisters are the birds.

We have made Lord Krishna.

The milk-maids.

Even the...

So he took away the wall?

Yes, he did.

How did he take it away?

Dug it up and mounted it on the car... - And took it away.

It must have taken a long time to dig it out. - No.

No, it had become light.

They worked so hard on it.

Everyone got together and dug it out and took it away.

Everything. We have made almost everything we could.

All the animals.

Which one do you like best?

I like the goat.

You make a good goat. - I like cows.

Even the buffaloes.

The birds too.

The moon was playing hide and seek behind the hillocks.

After our bus's departure it was left behind.

I was the only one awake watching those two.

I couldn't fall asleep while being seated.