Kanku (1969)

Reformist Gujarati tale introducing New Indian Cinema to the language. Kanku (Mehta) is a village maiden widowed while she is still pregnant. The rather static and verbose film tells of her relationship with a local grocer, Malakchand (Bhatt). Refusing to remarry, she devotes her life to her son and arranges his marriage with the grocer’s help. Afterwards, she and the grocer make love, which would normally have led to their ostracism, but Kanku struggles to retain her honour.