Movie Mahal

An online film journal for Indian Cinema

basu chatterjee

May 25, 2011

SARA AKASH / THE WHOLE SKY (Dir. Basu Chatterjee, 1969, India) – Marital Bliss

How often has it been stated and reiterated that 1969 was a seminal year for film making in India as it signalled the emergence of New Indian Cinema. Whilst Mani Kaul and Mrinal Sen more or less remained resolutely independent in both form and content throughout their later years the same cannot be said for Continue reading

Auteur, basu chatterjee, K.K. Mahajan, Melodrama, Neo realism, New Indian Cinema, Parallel Cinema, Social Realism
January 16, 2011

RAJANIGANDHA / TUBEROSE (Dir. Basu Chatterjee, 1974, India) – Love and Truth

Prior to the first of many 1970s collaborations with under stated comic actor Amol Palekar, Basu Chatterjee’s directorial debut in 1969 Sara Akash was positioned along side Bhuvan Shome (Mrinal Sen) and Uski Roti (Mani Kaul) as part of the New Indian Cinema movement. However, the unexpected commercial success of Chatterjee’s 1974 female melodrama Rajanigandha Continue reading

Amol Palekar, Art Cinema, Auteur, basu chatterjee, Melodrama, Middle Cinema, middle class cinema, New Indian Cinema