"A powerful and gripping film by theater director Vijaya Mehta, making her first feature film, Rao Saheb explores the tragic predicament of women in traditional Indian society. Set in the early part of the century, in rural Maharashtra, it captures the reformist passion of a young barrister (Anupam Kher) who returns from England and hopes to break through the shackles of conservative social norms that keep generations of women enslaved to a hopeless existence. Predictably, he fails. He fails even in his personal life. Trapped as he is in his decadent mansion, slowly falling to pieces, his dreams remain dreams. The widow he loves, he dare not marry; a victim of his own uncertainties, he slowly but inexorably follows in the footsteps of his unbalanced father....You watch the man slowly going to pieces, even as the widow returns to the shadow of her past (and) the customs she had once fought for his sake." (Filmfare, India) Director Mehta puts in a memorable performance as Rao Saheb's vivacious aunt.