Caste
-
JORAM (Dir. Devashish Makhija, 2023, India) – Bury the Tribal
* * * * Joram has the acute radical socio-political sensibilities of Parallel Cinema films that were often made as a rejoinder to systemic structures that were unyielding and oppressive. Filmmaker Devashish Makhija’s latest feature Joram blends genre with politics, adopting the concept of the chase expressly the ‘man on the run’ from the law Continue reading
-
MANJHI – THE MOUNTAIN MAN (Dir. Ketan Mehta, 2015, India)
Ketan Mehta is questionably one of the few remaining Parallel Cinema filmmakers still actively making films. One could probably include Shyam Benegal in this tryst. Many of the Parallel Cinema films declared an affinity for ‘Subaltern Voices’ (see Sangeeta Datta’s monograph on Shyam Benegal), which in turn became a recurring unofficial hallmark of institutional NFDC Continue reading
-
CHAURANGA / FOUR COLOURS (Dir. Bikas Ranjan Mishra, 2014, India)
Synopsis: A fourteen year old dalit boy is growing up in an unnamed corner of India. His dream is to go to a town school like his elder brother and his reality is to look after the pig that his family owns. His only escape is to sit atop a Jamun tree and adore his Continue reading
-
AAKROSH (Dir. Priyadarshan, 2010, India) – Caste Politics
A remake of Alan Parker’s Mississippi Burning, Priyadarshan’s transfers the politics of race relations to that of caste in the ruralism of Bihar. Hailing from Kerala, Priyadarshan forged his career making a string of commercially successful comedies in Malayalam with actor Mohanlal. Including his extensive output from the eighties, Priyadarshan has to date directed over Continue reading
-
SUJATA (Dir. Bimal Roy, 1959, India) – Authorial Peaks
The release of Sujata in 1959 marked the end of director Bimal Roy’s most prolific and creative period. Beginning with Do Bigha Zamin in 1953, Roy’s output in the fifties rivalled only that of Guru Dutt, Mehboob Khan and Raj Kapoor. However, the major difference Continue reading
Movie Mahal 