The Journal
Essays & Dispatches
Long reads on the films, filmmakers and movements of meaningful Indian cinema.
Ashadh Ka Ek Din (1971)
Ashadh Ka Ek Din (1971), based on Mohan Rakesh’s play of the same name, is Mani Kaul’s adaptation of the love triangle between Sanskrit poet Kalidasa, Mallika, and Priyangmanjari.
Hello Arsi (2018)
Hello Arsi is a critically acclaimed 2018 Odia film directed by Sambit Mohanty. Set in the backdrop of the mining belt of Rourkela, the film traces the story of a young man and a woman whose paths cross accidentally.
Why Preserve Films
Preservation of national cinema is the primary concern of any film archive. If we ourselves are not going to preserve our films, nobody else will do it for us. Archival reproduction of ‘Why Preserve Films’ by P.K. Nair.
Junoon (1978)
Junoon (Eng: Obsession) is a 1978 Hindi film directed by Shyam Benegal. Based on Ruskin Bond’s novella ‘A Flight of Pigeons’, the film is set around the Revolt of 1857, and a Pathan noble’s obsession for an English girl and the tragedy that war brings with itself.
Ghasiram Kotwal (1976)
Ghasiram Kotwal is a 1976 Marathi Film based on a play of the same name by Vijay Tendulkar. The film was the first venture of YUKT Film Cooperative, an experiment in collective filmmaking and was made by a group of filmmakers – K. Hariharan, Kamal Swaroop, Mani Kaul, and Saeed Akhtar Mirza.
Gaman (1978)
Gaman is a 1978 Hindi film made by Muzaffar Ali and has Farooq Shaikh and Smita Patil in main roles. The film is a take on the lives of migrants in big cities, as seen from the eyes of a young man from Uttar Pradesh who has to leave his wife back home and come to Bombay in search of better life, and ends up as a lonely taxi driver.
Kanneshwara Rama (1977)
Kanneshwara Rama is a 1977 Kannada film directed by M.S. Sathyu. The film is based on the Kannada novel Kannayya Rama written by S.K. Nadig and has Anant Nag, Shabana Azmi and Amol Palekar in prominent roles.