Pioneering Scottish documentary filmmaker John Grierson’s principles of documentary were that cinema’s potential for observing life could be exploited in a new art form; that the original actor and original scene are better guides than their fiction counterparts for interpreting the modern world; and that materials “thus taken from the raw” can be more real […]
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Ever since the Venice International Film Festival, the oldest in the world, blew the bugle in late 2020, announcing with much bravado that it would be held on time, cineastes all over the world have breathed a ray of hope. Roberto Cicutto, President of La Biennale di Venezia, said on the eve of the festival, […]
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The Great Indian Kitchen “Woman is shut up in a kitchen or in a boudoir, and astonishment is expressed that her horizon is limited. Her wings are clipped, and it is found deplorable that she cannot fly.” -Simone de Beauvoir A mere semblance of defiance suffices for a young bride in India to be slandered […]
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Kaifi Azmi — the Poet of Love, Revolution and Regeneration Aaj ki raat bahut garm hava chalti hai Aaj ki raat na footpath pe niind aa.egi Sab uTho, main bhi uThun tum bhi uTho, tum bhi uTho Koi khiDki isi divar men khul ja.egi (A sultry wind blows tonight, Sleep won’t visit the footpath […]
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Saeed Jaffrey — the Transcultural Beacon “I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy’d Greatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with those That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades Vext the dim sea.” -Alfred Tennyson, ‘Ulysses’ Literally in […]
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Entertainment industry eyes a Phoenix post pandemic The global entertainment juggernaut that was having a great gambol run was arrested in its stupendous stride with the Ides of March bringing in its wake the world’s deadliest virus, quickly christened Covid-19. As ‘Social Distancing’ became the new lingua franca, the entertainment industry, which had witnessed robust business […]
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In the long history of Indian cinema there have been very few film directors who could be called as being possessed of genius minds. Dada Sahib Phalke was in that realm. He founded the film industry in India, stamping his image in all departments of film making. Satyajit Ray was another person. SS Vasan, in […]
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Sharmila Tagore ‘From the east to western Ind, No jewel is like Rosalind. Her worth, being mounted on the wind, Through all the world bears Rosalind. All the pictures fairest lined Are but black to Rosalind, Let no face be kept in mind But the fair Rosalind’ –Shakespeare, As You Like It (Act III, scene […]
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It is nine months now since the curtains were called on a thriving Sandalwood industry that had to shut shop when Corona came calling. The pandemic has had the entire world under its virulent tentacles, spreading dread and death, virtually putting an end to public entertainment in its conventional and traditional sense; theatres and multiplexes […]
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Here once was a colossus cultural phenomenon nonpareil — SPB — a peerless performer par excellence whose magical, mellow voice saw legions of listeners drawn like bees to a honeycomb, as if a Pied Piper has cast a spell upon them to transport them to an Elysian world. Like many of his ilk in his time, […]
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