Pandemic pummels cinema into existential vortex Don’t open the pod bay doors, Hal. We need social distancing. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Nothing can be alarmingly apocryphal than the above lines from the nearly four decade old film. ‘Social Distancing’ has become the new lingua franca of human transaction in this pandemic times […]
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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 […]
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The encyclopaedia of art is conspicuous by the absence of even a passing mention to several notable women artists. ‘Far too often, women’s achievements have been ignored, underreported, or simply erased from the historical record… While this erasure is frustrating and harmful, creating a false myth that women’s history lacks great creative and intellectual achievement, […]
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The basement of the Grand Café, Paris, in 1895, served as the pioneer film screening hall; ten short films were exhibited by the Lumière brothers. Long, long before that historic moment, the tea rooms and cafés of Europe attracted artists and thinkers, who would gather to read out their ideas, and engage in long, often […]
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I know that you are no more. But I am, alive for you Believe me. When the seventh seal is opened I will use my camera as my gun and I am sure the echo of the sound will reverberate in your bones, and feed back to me for my inspiration. – John Abraham about […]
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Gantumoote, fallaciousness of the (fe)male gaze Films are the primary source of entertainment for Indians and the cultural constructs created by them strongly influence the thinking of men, women, and most importantly, the new generation.” -Cinema & Society: Shaping our Worldview: Beyond the Lens Investigation on the Impact of Gender Representation in Indian Films: Geena […]
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August 1 this year saw journalist Ravish Kumar being awarded the 2019 Ramon Magsaysay Award—the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize—for “harnessing journalism to give voice to the voiceless.” That is the ideal with which I had joined journalism, this very month of 1978. More than 40 monsoons have gone by since I had crossed […]
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