The Economy of Aspiration: Priyankar Patra’s ‘Early Days’
From the ind.igenous desk Often, while doomscrolling through Instagram, I come across reels that make me pause, my brain going numb for a moment. Someone crying after a heartbreak, someone breaking down after the death of a loved one – recording themselves in their most intimate moments, liked by millions. Thousands of comments from strangers, […]
Making ‘In Transit’: In Conversation with Ayesha Sood
From the ind.igenous desk A new documentary series on Amazon Prime, In Transit traces the stories of nine individuals as they talk about exploring their identities and gender. Produced by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti of Tiger Baby, the series is spread across four episodes where the characters open up about discovering themselves, coming out […]
Cities and I
From the ind.igenous desk Sitting inside a restaurant in Humayunpur on a surprise good weather day in Delhi summer this year, and hogging a plate of deliciously spicy pork roast, I felt a sudden pang of intense yearning for roadside Calcutta Chinese. It had been so long since I’d had a fulfilling plate of greasy […]
Talking Cinema, Music, and the Pulse of our Times: Ranjan Palit’s A Knock on the Door
From the ind.igenous desk Academic couple Hari Chowdhury (Adil Hussain) and Ramona Bose (Amrita Chattopadhyay) are in the middle of a quiet, romantic evening celebrating their wedding anniversary with food, wine, and music, when the light suddenly goes off, and a group of masked strangers barges in. They rampage around the house – Ambedkar’s Annihilation […]
Of Grief and Light: Sabar Bonda, the First Marathi Feature Film at Sundance
From the ind.igenous desk Rohan Parashuram Kanawade’s Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears) shall be making history as the first Marathi feature to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival’25. His debut feature, it shall also be South Asia’s only feature film competing at the festival. The film was developed under the Venice Biennale College Cinema ‘23 and […]
The Comfort Amid Art: My Time at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2024
From the ind.igenous desk I am a loner. Most of the nice things I do in life, I do all by myself – attending concerts, exhibitions, watching films, plays, staring at a sunset. I’ve grown to become quite skilled at the art of solitude. I was invited to the 9th edition of the Serendipity Arts […]
A Longing for Home: An Interview with Theja Rio
From the ind.igenous desk In a small, idyllic village in Nagaland, two young boys skip Sunday school to explore on their own. Ade (On a Sunday), a delightful short film in the Tenyidie language shot on 16mm that premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, has lately been making its presence felt at film festivals […]
History as Memory: Dibakar Banerjee’s Tees
From the ind.igenous desk ‘I am being rowed through Paradise in a river of Hell:Exquisite ghost, it is night. The paddle is a heart; it breaks the porcelain waves.It is still night. The paddle is a lotus.I am rowed- as it withers-toward the breeze which is soft asif it had pity on me. If only […]
On Being Misfits: Charachar and the Cinema of Buddhadeb Dasgupta
From the ind.igenous desk A bird catcher who loves birds too dearly to keep them caged. Strong, yet gentle hands quietly open the doors of cages, and the birds flutter out into the vast, blue skies – one by one, sometimes in swift motion, and sometimes nudged softly by the very hands that caught them. […]
Kabhi Door Kabhi Paas: Mrinal Sen’s Short Films
From the ind.igenous desk On following Mrinal Sen’s filmography, one notices a change around the 80s. From sharp socio-political commentaries to self-introspection, there is a gradual shift from looking outward to looking inward. With his earlier films, he earns for himself the title of being a ‘political filmmaker’, while his later films situate themselves within […]
