NFDC
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PALTADACHO MUNIS / The Man Beyond the Bridge (Dir. Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, 2009, India) – Severing the now
* * * Released in 2009, director Laxmikant Shetgaonkar’s Paltadacho Munis could arguably be situated as part of a post-Parallel Cinema cycle of films, a sort of hangover from the mid to late 90s era, since it is a work that explores caste, gender and religion in a rural milieu with a brilliantly sharp eye Continue reading
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EK DOCTOR KI MAUT / The Death of a Doctor (Dir. Tapan Sinha, 1990, India)
In 2009 Bengali director Tapan Sinha passed away at the age of 84, leaving behind a body of work that remains somewhat unrecognised. One could blame the critical reverence afforded to the holy trinity of Bengali Cinema: Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Mrinal Sen. While Sinha’s work may have been partially accepted as part of Continue reading
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JAYA GANGA (Vijay Singh, 1996, India/France)
Jaya Ganga is a tale articulated as if it was part of a wider mythical narrative while having roots in something metaphysically profound. The film draws on the mysticism of the Ganges, conjuring two female characters, extending from the same soul. In both instances, the two female apparitions could just as easily be fictitious imaginings of Continue reading
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KASBA (Dir. Kumar Shahani, 1990, India) – Chekovian Decadence
A graduate of the FTII, avant-garde director Kumar Shahani’s political outlook may have largely been shaped by the Naxalite movement but his aesthetic sensibilities were forged in France whilst assisting Robert Bresson on Une Femme Douce (A Gentle Woman, 1969). Additionally, Shahani was also taught by Bengali iconoclast Ritwik Ghatak in his brief spell at Continue reading
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Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda / Seventh Horse of the Sun (Dir. Shyam Benegal, 1992, India) – The Unreliable Narrator
The first of Benegal’s films to receive state funding (NFDC), Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda’s resonance comes from a sophisticated use of narrative subjectivity. Comparable to Kurosawa’s Rashomon in its gradual and shifting points of view, this is a moving examination of the storytelling process and one of the rare occasions that Benegal has explored cinema Continue reading
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