Idiot is a 1992 Hindi drama film based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1869 novel The Idiot. It was directed by Mani Kaul and starred Shah Rukh Khan and Ayub Khan-Din. The film debuted at the New York Film Festival in October 1992. In this version of the tale, placed in contemporary Mumbai, Prince Miskin (Khan-Din) is a man whose epilepsy is mistaken for idiocy.

Cast

Production and release

The film was first released as a four-part television mini-series on state-run Doordarshan channel in 1991, and despite it outing at debuted at the New York Film Festival in October 1992, it was never commercially released. In 1993, it was not part of the 24th International Film Festival of India but was shown privately to some festival delegates. It was screened at the Mumbai Film Festival in October 2016 with the title "Ahamaq".

Reception

According to the New York Times, "it turns a literary masterpiece into a numbing soap opera as incoherent as it is technically crude."

Awards