“Making a movie on sexual exploitation was not my goal. During the special screening of her film “Aabhas” at Sarathi Studios in the city on the Hyderabad Film Club’s golden jubilee celebrations, national award-winning filmmaker Bijaya Jena stated, “With Aabhas, I tried to explore the philosophical and psychological aspects of crime and guilt complex.”

Earlier this week, “The Creator Presents the Film.”

This time, Jena was the honored guest, and she was open to the many questions and viewpoints that the distinguished audience had to offer following the screening. picture reviewers, curators, and auteurs such as Nicholas Meyer and Volker Scholdorff have given her picture high praise.

It was shown at the 1997 Cairo International Film Festival, the 1997 Penang Film Festival in Malaysia, and the 1997 Festival International du Film de la Rochelle in France. Abhaas was shown on BBC Channel 4 in 2013 as a part of the commemoration of “100 Years of Indian Cinema.” In October 2014, the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation also aired it.

The plot, which takes place in the feudal setting of Khurda, Odisha, in 1955, centers on a landowner named Ray (late actor Murali from Kerala), his widowed cousin KOKILA (played by Bijaya Jena), and his younger brother Chandra (Akshay Anand). One evening, in a moment of weakness, benefactor Ray forces himself on Kokila and impregnates her; she dies when her abortion fails. Chandra is implicated in a police inquiry. Ray’s remorse haunts him.

In all its poignancy, the film explores issues of morality, guilt, and conscience in the context of right and wrong. During the Q&A session, Jena disclosed how the book “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky had a significant impact on her before to started Abhaas.

Even after twenty-seven years, the thought-provoking video still evokes strong feelings in the audience. The film’s lyrical soliloquies, concepts, and artistic skill with its feminist issue enmeshed in an oppressive stillness are reminiscent of Ray and Amrohi’s early works.

Abhaas has a cerebral effect.

The film is powerful in its seductive appeal and subtly tragic. It has a relaxed feel to it and has natural performances by Akshay, Bijaya, and Murali. The way actor Murali plays the lord of the home, who is tormented by an obsessive feeling of guilt until he gives in, is one of the film’s strong points. It is understandable why Malayalam film is admired for the flawless performances and legacy of its performers. Abhaas successfully cuts across age and time.

Despite being set in the middle of the 1950s, it accurately captures the culture and atmosphere of Odisha.

The landowners’ mansion, the fountain, the fields, and the desolate roads all clearly take you back in time. The film’s emotional canvas is quite subtle. Melodrama and flimsy outbursts, which were the most popular tricks used by filmmakers in the 1990s, are absent. Jena is the first filmmaker from Odisha to win a national prize, demonstrating her skill as a director while blatantly avoiding such elements.