Rembrandt, Crowdfunding, Film Heritage & Manthan by Sharad Raj
Abha Dhulia, Shama Zaidi, Shyam Benegal, Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Naseeruddin Shah, Preeti Sagar & Prahlad Kakkar at Eros Cinema...
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a division of barking dog films
Digital Cahier
May 267 min read
"Phas Gaya Sisyphus & the auteur from Mangalore by Ramchandra PN
Saumesh Bangera Saumesh Bangera’s cinema is a perfect manifestation of the phenomenon of democratisation of filmmaking since it got...
401 views1 comment
Digital Cahier
May 255 min read
The era of long playing records & Hindi film music: Khalid Mohamed remembers his all time favorites!
Technology rules. Consequently, die-hard collectors of Bollywood music soundtracks are in a fix. That thrill of rushing to the closest...
100 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
May 46 min read
Rewind to the maverick producer, Suresh Jindal, who was proudest of his collaboration on Shatranj Ke Khiladi, by Khalid Mohamed
Suresh Jindal ‘Hirsute’ is the description Sai Paranjpye and I had coined for him. With his abundant salt-and-pepper hair always brushed,...
95 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Apr 288 min read
Towards the non-bourgeoise tales from screen and stage:Amar Singh Chamkila and Lavani ke Rang by Sharad Raj
The two are completely different, the songs of Amar Singh Chamkila of Punjab and Lavani of Maharashtra. While Chamkila was a pop singer...
59 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Apr 136 min read
Khalid Mohamed rewinds to the undervalued lyricist of the people, the late Anand Bakshi
Anand Bakshi At the outset, a quick run-through the facts: Bakshi Anand Prakash Vaid was born in Rawalpindi now in Punjab, to a Brahmin...
111 views2 comments
Digital Cahier
Apr 65 min read
Khalid Mohamed revisits the takes on the chequered life and no-holds-barred power of J. Jayalalithaa, late Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
J.Jayalalithaa Never too late perhaps. I’d been avoiding the series with the longest barge-pole. On a fallow day, lately, I started on it...
133 views1 comment
Digital Cahier
Mar 237 min read
Khalid Mohamed flashbacks to actor-director-producer-writer-lyricist Manoj Kumar, the original Mr Bharat
Manoj Kumar as Bhagat Singh in Shaheed (1965) Either you were apprehensive about the lavish productions which he wrote, edited and...
90 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Mar 166 min read
Khalid Mohamed rewinds to the days of laughter with the King of Comedy, Mehmood
The last image I have stored of Mehmood is that of an ailing, helpless septuagenarian, in a baggy white kurta and brown cashmere shawl,...
193 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Mar 95 min read
Khalid Mohamed focuses on the lamentably ignored directors Satyen Bose, Asit Sen and Dulal Guha.
It’s an eternal mystery. So many stalwart directors who contributed immeasurably in the last millennium to Mumbai-produced cinema have...
158 views1 comment
Digital Cahier
Mar 26 min read
Khalid Mohamed revisits ChetanAnand’s poetic ode to the Heer Ranjha love story (1970)
Raaj Kumar & Priya Rajvansh in Heer Ranjha (1970) While tracking down Hindi cinema's golden oldies - through whichever source accessible...
172 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Feb 2413 min read
Khalid Mohamed recapitulates a conversation with Mani Ratnam about his early oeuvre, topped by Roja.
On seeing a bunch of Mani Ratnam’s early films, variously in Tamil and Telugu -- Mouna Ragam (1986), Nayakan(1987), Geethanjali (1989)...
257 views1 comment
Digital Cahier
Feb 177 min read
What is wrong with our Bollywood bhasha today?..asks Khalid Mohamed
Sridevi & Rajeev Ravindranathan in English Vinglish(2012) Ostensibly, Mumbai-produced cinema makes films in Hindustani, a blend of Hindi...
256 views1 comment
Digital Cahier
Feb 127 min read
His was such a glorious journey, Khalid Mohamed’s flashback to Sangeet Samrat Naushad Ali.
Naushad Tall, lithe, spotlessly dressed – black sherwanis suited him the most. Naushad Ali was so at home conjuring tunes on a piano that...
120 views1 comment
Digital Cahier
Feb 513 min read
Khalid Mohamed cuts back to a conversation with Yash Chopra, the monarch of romancing the movies.
Yash Chopra Imagine, Yash Chopra, his wife Pam, trusty cinematographer Manmohan Sigh and I in a helicopter, hovering over a fairy...
164 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Jan 297 min read
Khalid Mohamed rewinds to his magnificent obsession, the glittering fantasy Hatim Tai
Undeniably, we romanticize the movies we were weaned on during our childhood, exaggerating the precious memories tattooed on our hearts...
163 views2 comments
Digital Cahier
Jan 225 min read
Khalid Mohamed recalls the golden era when Vyjayanthimala was queen of all she surveyed.
Grandma Fayazi, my educator in movie matters, had a thing about Vyjayanthimala. So one January afternoon, she’d bundled me up in a...
185 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Dec 11, 20236 min read
Animal,The Archies,social media & dumbing down of our times by Sharad Raj
Social media despite the clampdowns is a relatively democratic space where one can express oneself about anything, right from what one...
76 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Dec 11, 20236 min read
Khalid Mohamed narrates the heart-wrenching story of Bhagwan Dada, the dance sensation of Albela
Bhagwan Dada The fast-crumbling chawl in an emaciated by-lane was a brisk 10-minute walk away from Dadar station. I had been asked by...
828 views3 comments
Digital Cahier
Dec 3, 20237 min read
Khalid Mohamed re-evaluates B.R.Ishara’s game-changer 'Chetna'.
Chetna(1970) For sure, he had an USP. Sex, lies and the exploitation of women at different levels of the social strata were his preferred...
668 views2 comments
Digital Cahier
Dec 3, 20234 min read
Amrit Gangar’s The Close-up Katha: Ritwik Ravivar 30
Image: Screenshot by AG from the film ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’ (The Cloud-capped Star, 1960), Direction: Ritwik Ghatak, Sound: Mrinal Guha...
59 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Nov 27, 20237 min read
Khalid Mohamed unspools the curious case of the Ganguly Brothers!
The three Ganguly Brothers – of the iconic Chalti ka Naam Gaadi (1958) – were a part of me, many of us I should think, but we never...
313 views2 comments
Digital Cahier
Nov 26, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar’s The Close-up Katha: Ritwik Ravivar 29
Image: Screenshot by AG from the film ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’ (The Cloud-capped Star, 1960), Direction: Ritwik Ghatak, Sound: Mrinal Guha...
38 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Nov 16, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar’s The Close-up Katha: Ritwik Ravivar 28
Image: Screenshots from the film + collage by AG. You might have wondered to see the credit titles and sketches from Ritwik Ghatak’s film...
31 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Nov 11, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar’s The Close-up Katha: Ritwik Ravivar 27
Image: A close-up of Neeta’s mother (Geeta Dey) from Ritwik Ghatak’s film ‘Meghe Dhaka Tara’, screenshot by AG In a profound tribute to...
34 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Nov 1, 20234 min read
On the eve of Ghatak's 98th birth anniversary, a chapter on Kumar Shahani's Kasba by O.P. Srivastava
Mita Vashisht in Kumar Shahani's Kasba(1991) Kasba (The Town) is a 1991 Hindi film directed by Kumar Shahani. It is based on a short...
23 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Nov 1, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar’s The Close-up Katha: Ritwik Ravivar 26
Supriya Devi in Ritwik Ghatak's Meghe Dhaka Tara(1960) While talking about his 1928 silent film ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’ (1928), Carl...
29 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Oct 27, 20234 min read
Tapan Sinha's Ek Doctor ki Maut is in focus this week from O.P. Srivastava's book.
Pankaj Kapoor in Tapan Sinha's Ek Doctor Ki Maut(1990). Tapan Sinha’s Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1990) shows how scientific research and...
14 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Oct 27, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar's The Close-up katha: Ritwik Ravivar 25
Image: extreme close-up of Ustad Bahadur Khan in a sarod recital scene from ‘Subarnarekha’ (1965) Béla Balázs, the writer of the book...
32 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Oct 20, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar's The Close-up katha: Ritwik Ravivar 24
Filmmaker Amos Gitai called a close-up an ‘exclamation mark’ in cinematography. “But you don’t want exclamation marks all over the...
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Digital Cahier
Oct 20, 20235 min read
O.P. Srivastav brings Raghubir Yadav & Arundhati Roy's celebrated debut Massey Sahib to us this week
Arundhati Roy & Raghubir Yadav in Pradi Krishen's Massey Sahib(1980). In 1980, Pradip Krishen won the first prize in a script-writing...
17 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Oct 13, 20233 min read
O.P. Srivastava's tryst with temporality in Mani Kaul's masterpiece Siddheshwari
Mita Vashisht in Siddheshwari(1989). Mani Kaul’s Siddheshwari (1989) eschews the linear narrative and the quest for static truth. Instead...
26 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Oct 13, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar's The Close-up katha: Ritwik Ravivar 23
In today’s world when the monster of ‘market’ has taken over cinematography with the overriding behemoth of the so-called ‘content’, the...
18 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Oct 6, 20235 min read
Thoughts on Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron by O.P. Srivastava
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (Just Let It Go, Friends) is a 1983 black comedy directed by Kundan Shah and produced by the NFDC. It is a satire on...
21 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Oct 6, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar's The Close-up katha: Ritwik Ravivar-22
Image: Jahar Ray in ‘Ranger Golam' ‘Ranger Golam’ (The Knave of the Trump, 1968) was yet another incomplete feature film left behind by...
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Digital Cahier
Sep 30, 20234 min read
O.P. Srivastava looks at Mrinal Sen’s Mrigayaa this time.
Mamta Shanker & Mithun Chakraborty in Mrinal Sen’s (1976). Do you know a Hindi actor who received a National Award for his debut film?...
19 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Sep 26, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar's The Close-up katha: Ritwik Ravivar 21
Image: Sudharani Sharma in ‘Rendezvous’, screenshot by AG. The twenty-first edition of my Ritwik Robibarer Close-up Katha celebrates...
30 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Sep 23, 20234 min read
It is Kumar Shahani's Khayal Gatha that O.P. Srivastava narrates today.
Khayal Gatha (The Saga of Khayal) is a 1989 Indian experimental film written and directed by Kumar Shahani. The film traces the history...
48 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Sep 23, 20232 min read
Amrit Gangar's The Close-up katha: Ritwik Ravivar-20
Image: Indrani Mukhopadhyay in Ritwik Ghatak’s partially restored film ‘Bagalar Banga Darshan’ (1964), a still, courtesy: Ritwik Memorial...
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Digital Cahier
Sep 15, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar's The Close-up katha: Ritwik Ravivar-19
Image: A close-up of one of Chittaprosad’s pen and ink sketches in Ritwik Ghatak’s short film ‘Durbargati Padma’ (1971). Chittaprosad was...
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Digital Cahier
Sep 15, 20234 min read
Ek Ruka Hua Faisla aka 12 Angry Men is O.P. Srivastav's focus this week
Ek Ruka Hua Faisla (A Pending Decision) is a 1986 Hindi language courtroom drama directed by Basu Chatterji. It is a remake of the Golden...
35 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Sep 4, 20233 min read
Niharika in search of her 'space' ’: An Odyssey by Amrit Gangar
Image: Deepa has returned with her new-born baby Megha and her careerist husband, to Kolkata. It is ‘window’ that becomes the ‘pakad’ for...
81 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Sep 3, 20234 min read
Om Dar-B-Dar: moving pieces of broken glass in a kaleidoscope by O.P. Srivastava
Gopi Desai & Lalit Tewari in Kamal Swaroop's Om Dar-B-Dar(1988). During the lockdown period, I made a documentary titled What’s Your...
61 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Sep 3, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar's The Close-up katha: Ritwik Ravivar-18
Image: A screenshot from the film by AG. The film ‘Ramkinkar Baij: A Personality Study’, 1975. The film shows Baij in different locations...
31 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Aug 28, 20235 min read
O.P. Srivastava celebrates Mrinal Sen's Hindi debut Bhuvan Shome(1969) that kickstarted the New Wave
Mrinal Sen’s ninth film, his first Hindi film, Bhuvan Shome opens with shots of railway tracks speeding by, against the metallic sound of...
9 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Aug 28, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar's The Close-up katha: Ritwik Ravivar-17
Image: Last close-up from Ritwik Ghaak’s film ‘Titash Ekti Nadir Naam’ (1973), screenshot by AG. [Titash is also often spelt as Titas –...
43 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Aug 23, 20235 min read
Ankur: the sapling of parallel Hindi Cinema by O.P. Srivastava
Shyam Benegal's Ankur (1974) Ankur (The Seedlings) was Shyam Benegal’s first feature film, released in 1974. It was also the debut film...
23 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Aug 23, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar's The Close-up katha: Ritwik Ravivar-16
Image: Nargis as Mother Bangla / Bengal in Ritwik Ghatak’s short film ‘Durbar Gati Padma’, 1971, screenshot by AG. One of the greatest...
59 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Aug 16, 20234 min read
O.P. Srivastava travels back in time to reflect on Ardh Satya, a blockbuster bak in the 80s.
OmPuri in Govind Nihalani's Ardh Satya(1983) Ardh Satya (Half Truth) is a 1983 Hindi film directed by Govind Nihalani, his second after...
15 views0 comments
Digital Cahier
Aug 16, 20233 min read
Amrit Gangar's The Close-up katha: Ritwik Ravivar-15
Image: A screenshot by AG from 'Scientists of Tomorrow', Dir. Ritwik Ghatak. Look straight into the eyes of this young boy, the scientist...
52 views1 comment
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