Shoma A Chatterji
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Review Hindi
Sujata review: Bimal Roy's celluloid poem on a social evil
Sujata, released on 3 April 60 years ago, was more humane than many other films dealing with caste discrimination and prejudice.
Article Bengali
PC Barua's Devdas (1935): A film that revolutionized Indian cinema
Devdas was the first film to represent the social ramifications of a man of so-called high birth moving away from his feudal roots in rural Bengal to the colonial city of Calcutta in the pre-War years.
Article Bengali
55 years of Jotugriha: This delicate tale of marital breakdown feels contemporary even today
The subject of marital discord has rarely been treated with more finesse in Indian films than in Jotugriha where neither the husband nor the wife is a negative character in any sense.
Article Hindi
Resistance spells out people-centric ideology of films at 6th Kolkata People's Film Festival
The 6th edition of KPFF screened 41 films over four days, featuring a wide range of compelling stories from India and the Asian subcontinent.
Article Bengali
Tathagata Ghosh’s short film Doitto a moving metaphor for disappearing values
Ghosh says that he is trying to create his own distinctive style as he keeps discovering more and more of himself both as a director and as a writer.
Article Hindi
Yours Truly director Sanjoy Nag: Soni Razdan is an extremely talented, grossly underused actress
Filmmaker Sanjoy Nag explains why he cast Soni Razdan in Yours Truly, why he made the film in Hindi and not Bengali, and why he believes Indian cinema has missed out on some brilliant parables by ignoring the lives of the middle-aged.
Article Bengali
Buddhadeb Dasgupta, poet, filmmaker, thinker, dreamer: 75th birthday special
The works of Buddhadeb Dasgupta, self-taught filmmaker who has won so many awards that they do not excite him any more, open up several windows for the viewer.
Article Hindi
30 years of Mahesh Bhatt's Daddy: When the roles of father and daughter were reversed, subtly
Daddy, despite some melodrama, was a well-made film with a tight script and sterling performances by Pooja Bhatt on debut, Anupam Kher as the prodigal father, and Soni Razdan as her mother.
Article Bengali
Supriya Debi's remarkable turn as Ritwik Ghatak's Nita in Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960) – Death anniversary special
The actress said it was not very difficult for her to identify with the tragedy of the film, having herself come to Calcutta from Burma with her family as refugees during the War.
Article Bengali
Pinaki Mukherji's Chowringhee (1968) was a faithful and absorbing adaptation of Shankar's novel
Chowringhee was perhaps the biggest multi-starrer among Bengali films in the 1960s and was mostly shot at the Grand Hotel.
Article Bengali Hindi
Tribute: Mrinal Sen, the great filmmaker who never lost touch with reality or his three 'mistresses'
Mrinal Sen, the great filmmaker whose mortal remains were consigned to flames on New Year's Day, was a jolly man full of anecdotes and a never-ending quest for learning.
Article Hindi
60 years of Kaagaz Ke Phool: The most outstanding self-reflexive film of Indian cinema
Kaagaz Ke Phool, which was released on 2 January 1959, has strong autobiographical elements and is almost like a celluloid elegy.
Article Hindi
Revisiting Bandini: Bimal Roy's most complete film with Hindi cinema's first independent woman
Bandini was the first Hindi film to depict the story of a woman imprisoned for a murder that she committed and confessed to without pleading for forgiveness or harbouring any sense of guilt.
Article Hindi
Khemchand Prakash: The man who made Mahal (1949) immortal
Khemchand Prakash's innovations in music and his contribution to the pool of some of the best voices in music for Hindi cinema have to be seen to be believed.
Article Bengali
Dealing with plagiarism, short film Written By? is winning a bunch of awards
The film has just two characters — a now out-of-work-but-once-famous screenwriter and director Kamalesh Roy and his ambitious and optimistic intern Natasha Sen.
Article Bengali
KIFF 2018: Celebrating Bengali cinema with an eclectic selection from Alibaba to Unishe April
While some may justifiably argue that Bengali cinema is not yet 100 years old, the choice of films to showcase for the occasion is an interesting one.
Article Bengali
Antony Firingee and his poignant question that haunts us even today
Antony Firingee (1967) will be the opening film at this year's Kolkata International Film Festival which celebrates 100 years of Bengali cinema.
Article
Ingmar Bergman centenary: Kolkata film festival lines up an elaborate tribute
Bergman as filmmaker has evolved into a concept and it is only just that the country that produces the largest number of films should also get to see the best from around the globe.
Review Bengali
Uttar Falguni review: Suchitra Sen does justice playing mother and daughter in milestone film
Part of the 100 Years of Bengali Cinema celebration at the Kolkata festival, Uttar Falguni is a powerful woman-centric film even when it places the central character as a victim of patriarchy.
Review Hindi
Madhumati review: The many-hued masterpiece of Bimal Roy
Madhumati was unlike anything Bimal Roy had made, or would go on to make. Yet, the film, released on this day 60 years ago, was also the biggest hit of his illustrious career.