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Tapasya was applauded by both press and public. It was awarded the ‘Golden Lotus' – the National Award for the Best Feature Film with Mass Appeal, Wholesome Entertainment and Aesthetic Values. Rakhee won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress in this film. |
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Tapasya is a hymn to the fortitude, the strength and resilience of Indian womanhood and the wisdom of India's ancient culture and traditions.
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Indu was the eldest daughter of Prof. Chandranath and was studying in the Post-graduate class. Like any eligible girl, she dreamt of completing her study and marrying the doctor she loved. But the death of her mother and the illness of her father changed Indu's life. She had to not only look after her younger brother and two sisters but to look after her ailing father as well. And though the father himself was keen that she should marry her doctor-lover, a match even the doctor's widowed mother approved, his sudden death came in the way of their union.
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After her father's death, Indu had to shoulder the responsibility of the entire family. The doctor offered her a solution. He was more than ready to take the responsibility of the entire family. But after thinking over deeply she decided otherwise. She thought it was her own duty and responsibility to look after the brother and sisters; she could not share it with anyone else and more so with her husband and his people. So she decided to give up her studies, start a kindergarten school in her own house, and stop thinking of her own future till her brother and sisters could face life on their own.
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This was an arduous task. It meant that she had to give up dreams of her own happiness. She even pleaded to the doctor not to wait for her and marry some one else. But the doctor understood her and not only did he sympathise with her but really admired her. His love for her was so genuine that he was prepared to wait till eternity for her. His mother could not compel him to marry another girl. With such an ardent lover and companion who stood by her side, Indu fulfilled her mission.
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Though as youngsters, her brother and sisters adored her, when they became grown-ups they too underwent a change! When her brother got a job and married his boss's daughter, all her problems should have been over and she should have become free to marry the doctor. But the brother let her down badly as he left their house to become a `ghar-jamai' and her "Tapasya" continued!
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| Did she ever get respite from her responsibility ? Did the doctor have further patience to wait? These questions find emotionally elevating answers in the climax of this stirring story of a woman's selfless dedication and man's patience and endurance. |
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| There is something like poetic justice for so self-sacrificing a girl like Indu and she does get sunshine in her life when the mother of her lover takes her home. |
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| Reviews : |
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The film looks remarkably different from the standard hotchpotch normally available on the Indian Screen....director Anil Ganguly succeeds in imparting to the film a certain grace...the film derives much of its strength from the performance of Raakhee..she invests the character with an unexpected degree of credibility - THE TIMES OF INDIA |
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Tapasya is one of those extremely clean pictures. It's the story of a self-effacing woman who sacrifices everything to bring up her two younger sisters and a brother in a forlorn world...The picture is so clean that it oozes an anti-septic air all around - FREE PRESS BULLETIN |
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Tapasya , which must not be missed by those who wish to see how convincingly an actress lives her role on the screen, poses a problem which has great relevance in our son-dominated society. Should the daughter of the home assume the responsibility, which traditionally falls on the shoulders of the son of the family, after the sudden death of the bread winner and finish the unfinished duty of the parents by sublimating her youth? This picture seeks to answer this question - MOTHER INDIA |
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