Movie Mahal

Omar has published widely including journals, books, edited volumes and online sites.

BOOKS / MONOGRAPHS

Uski Roti

(BFI Film Classics) Dir. Mani Kaul, 1969

(Bloomsbury; Expected 2027)

• First full length monograph on the film
• First Indian Parallel Cinema title in the BFI Film Classics library 

The Revolution of Indian Parallel Cinema in the Global South: From Feminism to Iconoclasm

(Bloomsbury; Feb 2025)

• Full length book publication on the historiography of Indian Parallel Cinema.
• https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/revolution-of-indian-parallel-cinema-in-the-global-south-19681995-9798765101025/

Reviews:

‘Never to Meet: Indian Parallel Cinema‘ (Arun K.K), Mubi Notebook, July 2025 https://mubi.com/en/notebook/posts/never-to-meet-indian-parallel-cinema

‘What happens to radical cinema in reactionary times?‘ (Arjun Sengupta), Frontline India, July 2025

https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/indian-parallel-cinema-decline-parallel-cinema-post-liberalisation-decline-of-parallel-cinema/article69841305.ece

RoboCop

(Auteur/Columbia University Press, 2018)

• The first full-length monograph on the classic 1987 Hollywood science fiction film. Commissioned as part of Constellations, a new series of monographs on science fiction cinema.

Studying Indian Cinema

(Auteur/Columbia University Press, 2015)

• Foundational text and major publication on the history of Indian cinema aimed at the general reader. The book explores fourteen key films across a number of decades, applying a conceptual film & media studies framework while situating the films in wider historical and ideological contexts.

FILM CURATION

The Films of Smita Patil: Fire & Spice

Leeds International Film Festival (2 Nov – 16 Nov 2024)

https://www.leedsfilm.com/theme/smita-patil-spice-and-fire-7v82

• Mirch Masala, Chidambaram, In Search of Famine, Manthan, Debshishu
• Included Intro to the Films of Smita Patil
• Introductions to Mirch Masala, Chidambaram and In Search of Famine 
• In Search of Famine (2k) Restoration and World Premiere 

Debshishu and Smita Patil: Leeds International Film Festival’s spotlight success

Rewriting the Rules: Pioneering Indian Cinema after 1970

The Barbican Centre, London, UK (3 October – 12 December 2024)

https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2024/series/rewriting-the-rules-pioneering-indian-cinema-after-1970

• Interview, Deewaar, 27 Down, Thampu, Duvidha, India Cabaret, Maid Servant, Report to Mother, Raam Ke Naam, Badnam Basti
• Introductions to Interview, Deewaar, Amma Ariyan
• Three month long season; first in the UK on Indian Parallel Cinema since the 1980s

https://www.barbican.org.uk/our-story/press-room/rewriting-the-rules-pioneering-indian-cinema-after-1970

https://hyphenonline.com/2024/10/16/indian-parallel-cinema-barbican-season-rewriting-the-rules-leeds-international-film-festival-smita-patil/

https://asianculturevulture.com/portfolios/rewriting-the-rules-indian-parallel-cinema-season-at-barbican-offers-insights-into-dissent-and-equality-battle/

Rebellious Poets and Radical Spirits: Indian Parallel Cinema

Il Cinema Ritrovato, Bologna, Italy (20 – 27 July 2021)

Co-curated with Cecilia Cenciarelli and Shivendra Dungarpur.

• Bhuvan Shome / Uski Roti / Khayal Ghatha / Ghatashraddha / Bhumika / Kummatty / Amma Ariyan / Elippathayam.

Rebellious Poets and Radical Spirits: Indian Parallel Cinema

Not Just Bollywood (2017 – 2024)

HOME, Manchester

Co-curated with Rachel Hayward, HOME’s Head of Film.

• A celebration of South Asian film expressly contemporary Indian independent cinema. Founded in 2017 and on-going themed seasons each Autumn with regular screenings throughout the year. 
• Screened over fifty films including Q&A’s, panel discussion and introductions. 

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Constellation Feature Film Competition, Leeds International Film Festival 2025, Leeds, UK 

• Jury Member; invited to judge Constellation Film Competition 

India-UK Creative Industries & Cultural Heritage Symposium 2025, BFI, London [Queen Mary University of London] (10/25)

• Invited to participate on panel: Challenges to Film Curation & Programming – Funding, Infrastructure & Regulation 

‘Introduction to Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron’ – Bombay Mix 2025 Double Bill with Antonioni’s Blow Up (programmed by Ranjit Ruprai)

• Recorded video intro for screening of JBDY, Close Up Cinema, London, UK (9/25) 

‘Introduction to Badnam Basti‘ – 2025 Cinema Rediscovered Film Festival

• Introduction to two screenings of Badnam Basti (restored), Cinema Rediscovered, Bristol, UK (6/25); invited as guest 

‘New Writings From the UK Asian Film Festival’

• Book launch event on new book ‘The Revolution of Indian Parallel Cinema in the Global South (1968 – 1995)‘. The panel discussion was chaired by Dr Ashvin Devasundaram (Reader in Global Cinemas, Queen Mary University of London), BFI Southbank – Reuben Library (5/25) 

‘Introduction to Shakespeare Wallah’

• As part of a spotlight on the Indian Films of Merchant-Ivory, HOME, Manchester (12/24)

‘Introduction to In Search of Famine’ 

• As part of the Spice & Fire: Smita Patil Retrospective, Leeds International Film Festival, Bradford, Pictureville Cinema (10/24)

‘Introduction to Chidambaram’

• As part of the Spice & Fire: Smita Patil Retrospective, Leeds International Film Festival, Bradford, Pictureville Cinema (10/24)

‘Introduction to the Films of Smita Patil’

• As part of the Spice & Fire: Smita Patil Retrospective, Leeds International Film Festival, Leeds, Hyde Picture House (10/24)

‘Introduction to Amma Ariyan’ 

• As part of Rewriting the Rules season at the Barbican Centre, London, UK (11/24)

‘Introduction to Deewaar’ 

• As part of Rewriting the Rules season at the Barbican Centre, London, UK (10/24)

‘Introduction to Mrinal Sen’s Interview’

• Launch of Rewriting the Rules: Pioneering Indian Cinema after 1970, Barbican Centre, London, UK (10/24)

‘Powell & Pressburger – Surviving Sabu & Empire’ – Discussion with Dr Andrew Moor, HOME, Manchester UK (11/23)

• Discussion about the representations of Empire in Black Narcissus and the imaginings of Sabu on screen.

‘Introduction and discussion – double bill of Wonderwall (1968) & The Cloud Door (1995)’ – Supakino/Mauve Movement – Frankfurt/Germany, UK (9/2023)

• Invited introduction and discussion to accompany screening of Mani Kaul’s The Cloud Door – a key work of Indian Parallel Cinema.

Introduction – ‘Kagaaz Ke Phool/Paper Flowers‘, Widescreen Weekend, Pictureville, Bradford (10/2023)

• Invited to introduce opening night film of the Widescreen Weekend 2023 season

Chair, ‘Adh Chanani Raat/Crescent Night’ Q&A with director Gurvinder Singh, HOME, Manchester (9/2023)

• As part of Not Just Bollywood season which included screening of Punjab Trilogy.

Chair, ‘While We Watched’ Q&A with director Vinay Shukla, HOME, Manchester UK (7/2023)

• Invited to chair Q&A with Cannes award winning filmmaker Vinay Shukla.

Chair, ‘Joyland’ Q&A with director Saim Sadiq, HOME, Manchester, UK (3/2023)

• Invited to chair Q&A with Cannes award winning filmmaker Saim Sadiq.

Chair, ‘Nasir – post screening discussion’, HOME, Manchester (9/2022)

• Discussion about the representation of Muslims in Indian cinema. Including invited speakers: Asim Burney, producer, and host of Khandaan podcast, and Shaf Choudry, cofounder of the Riz Test.

‘Introduction and discussion – double bill of The Trip (1967) & Om Dar-B-Dar (1988)’ – Supakino/Rio Cinema – London, UK (5/2022)

• Invited introduction and discussion to accompany screening of Om Dar-B-Dar – a key work of Indian Parallel Cinema.

Chair, ‘A Night of Knowing Nothing Q&A with director Payal Kapadia’, HOME, Manchester, UK (4/2022)

• Invited to chair Q&A with Cannes award winning filmmaker Payal Kapadia.

‘An Introduction to Amma Ariyan/Report to Mother’ – Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (2021)

• Invited talk for screening of John Abraham’s Amma Ariyan, 1986, India

‘One Hour Introduction: The Films of Irrfan Khan’, Not Just Bollywood, HOME, Manchester, UK (10/2021)

• Invited one-hour audio-visual introduction on the films of transnational actor Irrfan Khan.

Chair, ‘No Fathers in Kashmir – Q&A with director Ashvin Kumar’, MiniCini, Manchester (2/2020)

• Invited to chair post screening discussion with filmmaker Ashvin Kumar.

Chair, ‘Masaan – Post Screening Discussion on Caste in Indian Cinema’, HOME, Manchester (9/2018)

• Discussion with Naman Ramachandran, writer of Brahman Naman; Meena Dhanda, Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Politics, University of Wolverhampton, and Vishal Chauhan, PhD Student, School of Media and Cultural Studies, Birmingham City University.

Talk, ‘One Hour Intro: Hindies/New Indian Independent Cinema’, HOME, Manchester, UK (9/2017)

• Invited to deliver one hour illustrated talk on the history and evolution of Indian independent cinema

Chair, ‘Ankhon Dekhi – Q&A with director Rajat Kapoor’, HOME, Manchester, UK (9/2017)

• Post screening discussion with director award winning independent filmmaker Rajat Kapoor

Panel Discussion/Event Organizer, ‘India’s Independent Cinema – Past, Present and Future’, HOME, Manchester, UK (9/2017)

• Awarded funding from AHRC (NWCDTP).

Chair, ‘Little Zizou Q&A with Sooni Taraporevala’, HOME, Manchester, UK (7/2017)

• Invited to chair Q&A with award winning screenwriter Sooni Taraporevala (The Namesake, Salaam Bombay), organized in partnership with the Whitworth, The University of Manchester.

Chair, ‘The Name of a River Q&A with Anup Singh’, HOME, Manchester, UK, (6/2017)

• Invited to chair Q&A with award winning director Anup Singh, as part of a season of films & events on Partition.

Talk, ‘One Hour Intro: Partition on Film’, HOME, Manchester, UK, (6/2017) https://homemcr.org/event/one-hour-intro-partition-film/

• Invited to deliver one hour illustrated talk on the imaginings of Partition in South Asian cinema.

BOOK CHAPTERS (EDITED VOLUMES)

‘From the Street to the Dancefloor: Political Imaginings of the Pop Star in Popular Indian Cinema’ in Pop Stars on Film: Popular Culture in a Global Market, edited by Kirsty Fairclough & Jason Wood, Bloomsbury (2023).

‘The Politics of Partition, Secularism and the Muslim Woman in Shyam Benegal’s Mammo’ (1994) in ReFocus: The Films of Shyam Benegal, edited by Sneha Chaudhuri, Edinburgh University Press (2023).

‘The Revisionism of Indian Parallel Cinema: Communalism, The Street & Socio-economic experiences of the Muslim community in Saeed Mirza’s Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro (1989)‘ in Muslims in Indian Cinema, edited by Sarfaraj Nawab, AuthorsPress India (2022).

‘The Indian Western: Revisiting Sholay and the Dacoit Film as Transnational Exegesis’ in Unbridling the Western Film Auteur, edited by Emma Hamilton & Alistair Rolls, Switzerland: Peter Lang (2018).

Essays on ‘Mrinal Sen, Raj Kapoor, Satyajit Ray, Mehboob Khan, Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Shyam Benegal’ in Directory of World Cinema: India, edited by Adam Bingham, Bristol: Intellect (2015).

ARTICLES & ESSAYS 

‘Revolution, Resistance & Renewal’ – Essay for Manthan (Limited Edition) Booklet (Second Run) (11/2025) [Home Video Blu-ray] https://www.secondrundvd.com/release_manthan.html 

‘Between Bansuri & Shivraj: The Bisexual Spirit of Badnam Basti‘ – Programme Notes for Screening of Badnam Basti (1971) as part of Queer 70s film season at The Barbican, London (6/2025) https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/badnam-basti-neighbourhood-of-ill-repute-intro

‘Family, Motherhood and Grief in Ishanou‘ – Essay for Ishanou (Limited Edition) Booklet (Second Run) (5/2025) [Home Video Blu-ray] https://www.secondrundvd.com/release_ishanou.html 

’10 great modern Indian Independent films’, BFI, commissioned to coincide with the release of Payal Kapadia’s All We Can Image is Light (11/2024) https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-modern-indian-independent-films

‘Indian Parallel Cinema: 5 essential filmmakers from a seismic Indian cinema revolution’, BFI (10/2024)  https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/indian-parallel-cinema-essential-directors

‘Shah Rukh Khan: 10 essential films‘, BFI, commissioned to coincide with the release of Dunki (12/2023) https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/shah-rukh-khan-10-essential-films

‘Ten Great Indian Arthouse Films of the 1970s’, BFI, commissioned to coincide with the release of Aravindan’s Thampu/Circus Tent (7/2023) https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-indian-arthouse-films-1970s

‘Ten Great Indian LGBTQIA+ films’, BFI, commissioned to coincide with BFI Flare season (3/2023) https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-indian-lgbtqia-films

‘Tumbbad: The Indian Horror Film Comes of Age’, HOME, commissioned to coincide with BFI season ‘In Dreams are Monsters’ (11/2022) https://homemcr.org/article/tumbbad-review-dr-omar-ahmed/

‘Ten Great Films Set in Kolkata’, BFI, a celebration of films set in the city of Calcutta (8/2022) https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/10-great-films-set-kolkata

‘In the Shadow of Apu: in praise of Satyajit Ray’s Calcutta Trilogy’, BFI, written to coincide with the BFI retrospective on Ray (7/2022) https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/shadow-apu-praise-satyajit-rays-calcutta-trilogy

‘An Introduction to Amma Ariyan/Report to Mother‘ (invited talk that preceded screening of John Abraham’s Amma Ariyan, 1986) – Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (2021) https://bfmaf.org/essay/an-intro-to-amma-ariyan-report-to-mother/

‘Gray Lady Down’ – Essay for Gray Lady Down (Limited Edition) Booklet (Indicator) (11/2021) https://www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/products/gray-lady-down-le

‘A Bullet is Waiting‘ – Essay for Columbia Noir 4# Boxset (Limited Edition) Booklet (Indicator) (9/2021) https://www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/collections/frontpage/products/columbia-noir-4-le

‘Disrupting the Western: Home and Imperialism in Geronimo’ – Essay for Geronimo (Limited Edition) Booklet (Indicator) (1/2021) https://www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/collections/limited-editions/products/geronimo-an- american-legend-le

‘Why aren’t we talking about Indian Parallel Cinema?‘, The World of Apu, Issue 8, http://theworldofapu.com/why-arent-we-talking-about-indian-parallel-cinema/ (1/2019)

‘Mrinal Sen and the Chronicles of Dissent’, The Hindu on Sunday (Magazine) –
https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/mrinal-sen-and-the-chronicles-of-dissent/article25910664.ece (1/2019)

‘Caste and Alternative Indian Cinema’, HOME Digital Channel (UK) –
https://homemcr.org/article/not-just-bollywood-caste-alternative-indian-cinema/ (9/2018)

‘Mehboob’s Roti: A Key Work of 1940s Pre-independence Indian Cinema’, Projectorhead (India) – http://projectorhead.in/reclaiming-mehboob-roti/ (6/2016)

‘Reclaiming Indian Parallel Cinema’, Silhouette Magazine (India) – A Publication on Cinema and Allied Art Forms – https://learningandcreativity.com/silhouette/indian-parallel-cinema/ (6/2016)

Film Notes on Indian Parallel Cinema – Commissioned by Zee Television to write a series of film notes and articles to accompany a major season of Parallel Cinema films that were broadcast on Zee Classics throughout 2016. http://www.zeeclassic.com/gossip/indian-parallel-cinema-retrospective (6/2016)

‘The Hindie Cinema’, The Pioneer (India), Sunday Edition http://www.dailypioneer.com/sunday-edition/agenda/cover-story/the-hindie-cinema.html (2/2014)

JOURNAL ARTICLES

“Chariot of Fire”: Genre slippages, iconographic agitation and ideological subversion in SRK’s Raees, Studies in South Asian Film & Media (Special edition on Media in the Age of Modi), April 2019, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 43 – 58, Intellect

‘Theorizing Rupture in the Foundational Years of Indian Parallel Cinema’, South Asian Popular Culture, 23 March 2018, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 1 – 19, Taylor & Francis

‘Once Upon a Time in India: Lagaan’, Splice: Studying Contemporary Cinema, Vol. 6 Issue 2, Winter 2012, pg. 34 – 49, Auteur

BOOK REVIEWS

‘Routledge Handbook of Indian Cinemas’, South Asian Popular Culture, 2014 Vol. 12 No. 1, 49-51, Taylor & Francis

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

World Cinema International Conference, Cinema of India (Online edition) (6/2021)

• Paper on ‘The Wider Cine-geography of Parallel Cinema: Internationalism, Avant-garde and Third Cinema’, University Complutense of Madrid, Spain.

Transnational Radical Film Cultures: An International Conference on Film, Aesthetics and Politics (Radical Film Network) (6/2019)

• Paper on ‘Cinematic Expressions of Transnational Solidarity in Parallel Cinema: Statue Smashing and Naxalite Revolutionary Iconoclasm’ as part of a workshop on ‘Mrinal Sen’s Film Practices: The Radical Long-1960s and Beyond’, University of Nottingham.

The British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies 2019 – Intersecting Identities: Race, Sex, Nation, (4/2019)

• Paper on ‘Is Gabbar Singh a Marxist? Re-thinking the Social and Political Banditry of Gabbar Singh’ as part of a panel on ‘Intersectionality Reading the Bollywood Film Sholay (1975)’, University of Birmingham.

Second Ireland India Institute Conference on South Asia 2018, Dublin (4/2018)

• Paper on ‘Indian Parallel Cinema in the Late 1960s: Syntax, Revolution and the Transfiguration of Rupture in Mrinal Sen’s Bhuvan Shome (1969)’, Dublin City University.

‘Indian Parallel Cinema’, Guest Lecture (11/2017)

• Invited by Pritpal Sembi (Global Cinema Course) to deliver lecture to undergraduate students, The University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK.

South Asian Popular Culture Conference 2017, Birmingham (6/2017)

• Paper on ‘Theorising Rupture in the Foundational Years of Indian Parallel Cinema (1968 – 1976)’, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK.

Pilot Light TV Festival, ‘In Praise of Homicide: Life on the Street’, Salford, UK (5/2016)

• Invited as Panelist to discuss the legacy of the series, The University of Salford, Media City Campus, Manchester, UK.

The American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) Conference, Harvard, USA (3/2016)

• Revisiting Politics in Indian Film, Paper on ‘Re-claiming Mehboob’s Roti (Bread, 1942) as a key political work of 1940’s pre-independence Hindi cinema’, The University of Harvard, Boston, USA.

Indian Modernisms film series at The Tagore Centre for Global Thought, London, UK (11/2015)

• Invited by Tanya Singh (Curator) to introduce Mrinal Sen’s film Akaler Sandhane / In Search of Famine, King’s India Institute, King’s College London, UK.

The Salford International Media Festival, Cultures & Industries of Creativity in Contemporary Media Landscapes, Salford, UK (11/2015)

• Paper on ‘The ways in which specialist film distribution determines and shapes perceptions of cinephilia: the marginalisation of alternate Indian cinema in UK home media’, The University of Salford, Media City, Manchester, UK.

The Cultures of New India, Brighton, UK (1/2015)

• ‘Diachronic representations of Subaltern identity in new ‘Hindie’ cinema’, The University of Brighton, Brighton, UK.