Sparsh (film)

Sparsh
Directed by	Sai Paranjpye
Written by	Sai Paranjpye
Produced by	Basu Bhattacharya
Starring	Naseeruddin Shah Shabana Azmi Sudha Chopra Om Puri
Cinematography	Virendra Saini
Edited by	Om Prakash Makkar
Music by	Kanu Roy
Release date	30 January 1980 (1980-01-30)
Running time	145 minutes
Language	Hindi/Urdu

Sparsh (transl. Touch) is a 1980 Indian Hindi feature film directed by Sai Paranjpye. It stars Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi playing the characters of a visually impaired principal and a sighted teacher in a school for the blind, where they fall in love though soon their complexes tag along and they struggle to get past them to reconnect with the "touch" of love. The film remains most memorable for the subtle acting of its leads, plus the handling of the issue of relationships with the visually disabled, revealing the emotional and perception divide between the worlds of the "blind" and the "sighted", epitomized by the characters.^[1][2] The film's release was delayed by almost 4 years. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi.^[3]

The film won numerous awards including National Film Award – Best Actor for Shah, while Paranjpye won for Best Screenplay. At the Filmfare Awards, it won the top two honours: that of Best Movie and Filmfare Award|Best Director, plus a Best Dialogue Award for Paranjpye. Further, Azmi was nominated for Best Actress, which she eventually won for the film Bhavna.