Category: Book reviews

Taking Stock of Seven Decades of Fostering Film Culture: Musings on V. K. Cherian’s book “Celluloid to Digital — India’s Film Society Movement” India’s film society movement mirrors the nation’s own journey, as captured in V. K. Cherian’s comprehensive 2016 book, “India’s Film Society Movement: The Journey and its Impact.” A revised edition by Atlantic Publishers & […]

Chicks don’t do chick flicks. They do whatever flick interests them, whatever subjects. – Betty Thomas, actress, director & producer.   Chick flick is not a term used to praise a movie. Nobody says ‘it’s a great chick flick.’ It’s a way of being derisive. – Carolyn Ann ‘Callie’ Khouri screenwriter, producer, & director.   […]

Despite mimesis as a narrative necessity and primary constructive principle of cinema being virtually absent in the lexicon of Indian filmmakers, their films work for the intended audiences, finds MK Raghavendra in his latest visitation of Indian films in the seminal book, ‘Philosophical Issues in Indian Cinema: Appropriate Terms & Concepts’.   The cinema of […]

That reviewer Parthajit Baruah is well read, as professors of English (and cinema) should be, is clear from the number of references to literature as well as quotes from books that he uses in ‘Face to Face – The Cinema of Adoor Gopalakrishnan’ to illustrate his points. That he is completely cued in to the […]

Of all the genres of mass culture, cinema is arguably the most popular and universal, yet it is also the most intricate. Cinema is rigorous multi tasking and meticulous teamwork. It is the ultimate example of intermedia art that brings together an assortment of technological expertise and artistic insight. In cinema we see people like […]

Book review – Directors’ Diaries: The Road to Their First Film The principle attraction of an interview lives in the questions thrown by the interviewer. Questions are framed to dig out unknown facts from the inner core of the interviewee. Additionally, they mirror the study, preparation, insight, mental makeup and so much more of the […]