DramaRomance

Heat and Dust

Anne is investigating the life of her grand-aunt Olivia, whose destiny has always been shrouded with scandal. As Anne delves into the history of her grand-aunt, she is led to reconsider her own life.

Release Date : 1983-01-01

Language :HindiEnglishUrdu

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : Merchant Ivory Productions

Production Country : United Kingdom

Alternative Titles :

Cast

Character Name : Anne

Original Name : Julie Christie

Gender : Female

Character Name : Olivia Rivers

Original Name : Greta Scacchi

Gender : Female

Character Name : The Nawab

Original Name : Shashi Kapoor

Gender : Male

Character Name : Harry Hamilton-Paul

Original Name : Nickolas Grace

Gender : Male

Character Name : Douglas Rivers

Original Name : Christopher Cazenove

Gender : Male

Character Name : Inder Lal, Anne's landlord

Original Name : Zakir Hussain

Gender : Male

Character Name : Crawford

Original Name : Julian Glover

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Crawford

Original Name : Susan Fleetwood

Gender : Female

Character Name : Dr Saunders

Original Name : Patrick Godfrey

Gender : Male

Character Name : Mrs. Saunders

Original Name : Jennifer Kendal

Gender : Female

Character Name : Chid

Original Name : Charles McCaughan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Begum Mussarat Jahan

Original Name : Madhur Jaffrey

Gender : Female

Character Name : Major Minnies

Original Name : Barry Foster

Gender : Male

Character Name : Ritu

Original Name : Ratna Pathak Shah

Gender : Female

Character Name : Inder Lal's Mother

Original Name : Tarla Mehta

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dacoit Chief

Original Name : Sajid Khan

Gender : Male

Character Name : Lady Mackleworth

Original Name : Amanda Walker

Gender : Female

Character Name : Maji

Original Name : Praveen Paul

Gender : Male

Character Name : Dr Gopal

Original Name : Jayant Kripalani

Gender : Male

Character Name : Chief Princess

Original Name : Sudha Chopra

Gender : Male

Character Name : Party Guest

Original Name : Daniel Chatto

Gender : Male

Character Name : Indish Guy (uncredited)

Original Name : Ismail Merchant

Gender : Male

Reviews

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-04-01

It's not really too surprising that it was only Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's adaptation of her own novel that garnered any attention on the awards circuit from this film. Otherwise, it's a rather sterile story of mischief amongst the Raj that rather left me cold. The plot centres around the investigations of "Anne" (Julie Christie) into the goings-on in the 1920s that involved her lively great-aunt "Olive" (Greta Scacchi). Now this lady had only recently arrived to be with her new husband "Douglas" (Christopher Cazenove) and is swiftly immersed in the upper-class colonial lifestyle that sees her hobnobbing with the British establishment and with the local Nawab (Shashi Kapoor) who plays the game, subtly, for all it's worth. Meantime, we are aware of the precariousness of all of this as bandits maraud the countryside and anti-British sentiment is never far away. As "Anne" learns more about her relative, she begins to ask herself a few questions about her own life - and those imponderables lead her to begin to reevaluate who she is. It's a great looking film to watch, but somehow nobody ever manages to inject any passion or soul into their characters. Even the sex scenes come across strangely unemotional - in any sense. Christie worked far better for me in an earthier, more visceral, role and with the possible expception of Susan Fleetwood's "Mrs. Crawford", most of the cast were just too comfortable with there allocated persona. They came across as if they really could be the fatuous, entitled, cheating individuals - and I found that a little bit dull. There's plenty of dust, but heat? See what you think....