Avishkaar

Avishkaar
Directed byBasu Bhattacharya
Written byGyandev Agnihotri
Basu Bhattacharya
Produced byBasu Bhattacharya
StarringRajesh Khanna
Sharmila Tagore
CinematographyNando Bhattacharya
Edited byS. Chakravarty
Music byKanu Roy
Distributed byAarohi Film Maker
Shermaroo Video Pvt. Ltd.
Release date
  • 14 June 1974 (1974-06-14)
Running time
108 mins
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi

Avishkaar (English: Discovery) is a 1974 Indian Hindi-language film. Produced and directed by Basu Bhattacharya, the film stars Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore. The film was the part of Basu Battacharya's introspective trilogy on marital discord in an urban setting, which included Anubhav (1971) and Griha Pravesh (1979). Khanna had waived 70% of his remuneration to star in this project. The film was a success at box office.

It has been critically acclaimed, with Khanna receriving the Filmfare Award for Best Actor. The Bollywood guide Collections gave it five out of five stars. The Hindu reviewed "Here you can see Khanna inhabiting a disillusioned husband with all the details. There is nothing trademark 'Kaka' here as you only see Amar with all his frailties come alive on the screen. It must have being challenging for the raging star to pick a role where he was not the hero in the conventional sense." Scroll.in states, "Tagore’s eyes, at first glazed with wonder and trust, widen with bewilderment and then anger as she grapples with frustrations fathoms deep. In a seminal scene in which she asks for Amar to explain what it is that he really wants of her, she is simply outstanding. Meanwhile Khanna is the show stealer here. Through a fog of cigarette smoke, Amar's fixed gaze communicates the dullness of fatigue after the shattering of his inner world. When he speaks, his voice is low, and in two confrontational flashbacks with his hostile father-in-law, Khanna's performance peaks. The superstar's superb performance in Basu Bhattacharya's domestic drama proves his unexplored talent at stasis."

Avishkaar is also featured in Avijit Ghosh's book, 40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed.