Made when he was 25, Mani Kaul's first feature film Uski Roti (1969) is seen as one of the earliest formal experiments in Indian cinema. An adaptation of a short story by Mohan Rakesh, the film is based on a simple premise. Sucha Singh, a bus driver travels through the dusty Punjabi countryside, while his wife waits everyday at the bus-stop to give him lunch. The narrative begins with Bano reaching late and unable to give Sucha his daily bread. The film juxtaposes the textures of the village with the characters, creating a backdrop to what constantly shapes their motivations and actions. The slow-paced narrative of Uski Roti allows Kaul to keep part of the story untold, making us linger on the images, while KK Mahajan's vividly captures the texture of the village and its inhabitants. Mani Kaul's impressive debut utilizes numerous Ghatak-influenced wide angle shots, a hyperreal sound mix and a highly idiosyncratic grammar that established his sheer genius as an auteur and won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film.