Parallel Cinema
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NASEEM / MORNING BREEZE (Dir. Saeed Akhtar Mirza, 1995, India)
Saeed Akhtar Mirza retired from filmmaking in 1995 with Naseem. It was an unexpected departure for a filmmaker who had been a key player in the parallel cinema movement. Was it creative exhaustion or disillusionment with the corrosive wider social and political dimensions that led to Mirza’s departure? Mirza says he felt like he had Continue reading
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SATTAWIS DOWN / 27 DOWN (Awtar Krishna Paul, 1973, India) – Trains
Financed by the NFDC, Awtar Krishna Paul’s debut film 27 Down signalled much promise but his career was tragically cut short when he died while trying to save someone from drowning. 27 Down is a restoration by the NFDC and has been released on DVD under its new Cinemas of India label. Beautifully shot in Continue reading
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MANTHAN / THE CHURNING (Dir. Shyam Benegal, 1976, India) – The White Revolution
Manthan was the third part in a trilogy of films dealing with rural oppression and it is a film which framed Benegal as a fiercely political voice in Indian cinema. Not only does the film have one of the finest ensemble casts you are likely to come across in parallel cinema but also brings together Continue reading
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MATRU KI BIJLEE KA MANDOLA (Dir. Vishal Bhardwaj, 2013, India) – Drunken Imaginings
Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola (MKBKM), labelled a ‘Bollywood political satire’, is a googly of a film traversing classical Hindi cinema (particularly agrarian pastoral films like Do Bigha Zamin) and the spirit of parallel cinema (a feudal revolt forms part of the narrative) with a postmodern satirical sensibility that squarely has neo-colonial capitalism as a Continue reading
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BIOSCOPE (Dir. K. M. Madhusudhanan, 2008, India) – Phantasmagoria
The Bioscope, an early film projector, created by Charles Urban in 1897, is the magical invention that forms the basis for Keralan director K. M. Madhusudhanan’s visually imposing feature. Bioscope explores the suspicions aroused when local man Diwakaran introduces moving pictures to a village. The film portrays the early power of moving images, detailing the Continue reading
Movie Mahal 