The Journal
Essays & Dispatches
Long reads on the films, filmmakers and movements of meaningful Indian cinema.
Paroma (1985)
Paroma (1985) is Aparna Sen’s Bengali film about a conventional middle-class housewife whose affair with a younger photographer awakens her sense of self but brings social and personal turmoil, probing questions of female identity and desire within patriarchal society.
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983)
Kundan Shah’s Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is a 1983 Hindi film, a comical satire on the corruption which is rampant in India, and holds a cult status in Hindi Cinema
Pyaasa (1957)
Guru Dutt’s Pyaasa (1957) signifies the beginning of the shattering of the dream which the makers of this country once had. One of the best films ever made.
Gulaal (2009)
Gulaal is a 2009 Hindi film directed by Anurag Kashyap. Set in present day Rajasthan, this film explores the dark sides of power, royalty, student politics, quest for legitimacy and social hypocrisy through a fictitious secessionist movement which aims to create a separate Rajputana.
Antarjali Jatra (1987)
Antarjali Jatra is a 1987 Bengali film directed by Gautam Ghose. Based on a novel named Mahayatra, by Kamal Kumar Majumdar, this film depicts the social ills like untouchability, polygamy and child marriage in the 19th century Bengal.
Anhe Ghore Da Daan (2011)
Anhe Ghode Da Daan is a 2011 Punjabi film directed by Gurvinder Singh. Based on a Punjabi novel by the same name written by Gurdial Singh, this internationally acclaimed film depicts the plight of the farmers and small time farm labourers in Punjab.
Bagh Bahadur (1989)
Bagh Bahadur is a 1989 film by Buddhadeb Dasgupta that explores the alienation of traditional art forms which are being edged out by the so called modernity.