Art cinema's unasked questions

Ms Majumdar is clearly partial to Ritwik Ghatak's work. The book is peppered with pictures and anecdotes from his work - particularly Meghe Dhaka Taara

Art Cinema and India’s Forgotten Futures – Film and History in the Post Colony

Author: Rochona Majumdar

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Price: Rs 699

Most of us who grew up watching films on Doordarshan in the eighties had no discretion or choice. As a kid I remember there were films that traumatised, like Billy Wilder’s Fedora or Datta Dharmadhikari’s Thamb Lakshmi Kunku Lavte. Ones that made you feel good, like Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Chupke Chupke or Shyam Benegal’s Manthan . Then, there was an entire category that I simply didn’t understand — like Mrinal Sen’s Khandhar. In that pre-internet, pre-satellite TV era there were