Amanat (1997)

The story is about a staunchly traditional Indian man, Lahori Ram, who holds a strong set of values and beliefs. His life revolves around his seven daughters: Santosh, Dinky, Bala, Guddi, Bunty, Munni, and Totey, each with her own peculiarities and problems. Lahori Ram, who is originally from Pakistan, moves to India after the partition between the countries. The world has progressed - or grown corrupt, depending on how you look at it - but his values and traditions have not changed with the advent of modern times. Having lost his wife early in life, he has been both father and mother to his girls. He has lavished all his love and affection on them and kept them in the constraints of a stern middle-class morality. The bond between the sisters is extremely close. Not having a mother in their formative years has forged among them a strong comradeship. Their shared moments of happiness and grief, their love and admiration for their father, and the desire never to hurt him are their common ground. It is only when they get married and go into different families, with varied backgrounds and cultural environments, some rich, some poor, that real conflicts start. For each, it is a struggle between fealty to the family of the husband and the love they have for their sisters. Lahori Ram is supportive like a rock and compassionate as a parent can be without hurting one for the sake of the other. But it is a tricky tightrope which he treads with skill. Like the tributaries of a mighty river, the life of each girl breaks free from the confines of family and flows to a distant place, while still being a part of the older stream. Lahori Ram, too, follows the happiness and heartaches of his daughters with fond indulgence and parental concern. They are his "amanat" (legacy), reared with love and bestowed one by one like a legacy on someone else. Each parent goes through these profound experiences, sooner or later, when daughters come of age, and depart as brides, leaving behind only sweet memories.