neo-realism. Her venture into this particular genre started off with Umrao Jaan, and was followed by other such films as Shyam Benegal 's award-winning drama, Kalyug (1981), Govind Nihalani 's Vijeta (1982), Girish Karnad 's Utsav (1984) and Gulzar 's Ijaazat (1987), among others. Apart from parallel cinema, Rekha took on