Political Cinema
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Grihajuddha / Crossroads(1982, Dir. Buddhadev Dasgupta, India)
Bengali director Buddhadev Dasgupta’s Grihajuddha is a stark and unflinching entry in India’s third phase of Parallel Cinema, which I have titled ‘the high point’, and which often thrived on perceptive socio-political critique. Funded by the West Bengal government, this early work from Dasgupta is a tautly scripted political thriller that takes a searing look Continue reading
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CIVIL WAR (Dir. Alex Garland, 2024, US)
* * * In arguably Alex Garland’s finest work to date, Civil War transports audiences to a grimly plausible near future where America has devolved into a nightmarish civil conflict. This dystopian political road movie is notable for its perspective, chronicling the harrowing journey of a band of maverick freelance journalists. Their quest for truth Continue reading
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TRIAL BY FIRE (Dir. Prashant Nair, Randeep Jha, Avani Deshpande, 2023, India) – Fight the Power
* * * * Prashant Nair, Randeep Jha & Avani Deshpande’s Trial by Fire is a vacuum of rage; the rage of two parents who lost their children due to criminal negligence in one of the deadliest fires in India. This is by far the best Netflix Indian TV series to date and is light Continue reading
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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
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THE FURNACE (Dir. Roderick MacKay, 2020, Australia) – Outsiders
* * * This shimmering jewel of a postcolonial Australian Western set in the outback in 1897 is one to savour. Written and directed by newcomer Roderick MacKay, The Furnace unearths a repressed history untold, the story of ‘Ghan’ cameleers – Sikh and Muslim men from Afghanistan, Persia and India who migrated to Australia to Continue reading
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