The Cloud Door

The Cloud Door
Title card
Directed byMani Kaul
Screenplay byMani Kaul
Based onAvimaraka
by Bhāsa
Padmavat
by Mohammed Jayasi
Produced byRegina Ziegler
Lalitha Krishna
StarringAnu Aggarwal
Murad Ali
Rohit Raj
CinematographyAnil Mehta
Edited byLalitha Krishna
Music byUstad Zia Fariddudin Dagar
Release date
Running time
29 minutes
CountriesGermany
India
LanguageHindi

The Cloud Door (Hindi: बादल द्वार, German: Die Himmelspforte) is a 1994 short Indo-German drama film, directed by acclaimed Indian director Mani Kaul and featuring Hindu erotic literary themes. The film was produced by the German producer Regina Ziegler. The Cloud Door was featured along with other short films such as Susan Seidelman's The Dutch Master and Ken Russell's The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch, as a part of Ziegler Films' compilation of short erotic films called Erotic Tales.

Mani Kaul drew upon three literary sources for it: the Sanskrit play Avimaraka, written by Bhāsa around 5th-7th century; the Sufi epic love poem Padmavat, written by Mohammed Jayasi in the 13th century; and the erotic Indian tales Śukasaptati.