view
कालिया मर्दन [Kaliya Mardan / The Childhood of Krishna] (Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, 1919)
Apr
1
April Fools' Day
Shri Krishna (Mandakini Phalke, the director's seven-year old daughter), playing his flute with a twinkle in his eye. DP: Dhundiraj Govind Phalke.
Kaliya Mardan is one of the handful films from India's early cinematic output that has survived. Do check your attic
view
আকালের সন্ধানে [Akaler Sandhane / In Search of Famine] (Mrinal Sen, 1982)
Sep
7
A clapperboard in the jungle. DP: K.K. Mahajan.
“Past. Presence. And future.”
view
মহানগর [Mahanagar / The Big City] (Satyajit Ray, 1963)
Sep
6
freebie: National Lipstick Day
Edith (Vicky Redwood) applying colour to Arati's (Madhavi Mukherjee) lips. DP: Subrata Mitra.
Set in 1950s Calcutta, মহানগর is a story of emancipation in a changing society. Arati (Madhavi Mukherjee) is a housewife from a traditionalist family, who – in order to support her relatives' lavish demands – goes out to work as a door-to-door saleswoman. Slowly, she discovers her independence.
“I've got it. Film star! You'd be perfect. Dark glasses, lots of red lipstick, and 100,000 rupees per picture. And if it's a Hindi film, we'll all fly to Bombay.”
– Bani
view
আকালের সন্ধানে [Akaler Sandhane / In Search of Famine] (Mrinal Sen, 1981)
May
29
चाय
The Bollywood stars arrive at the temple. In the foreground one of the actresses, cupping a beaker with her hands. DP: K.K. Mahajan.
view
আকালের সন্ধানে [Akaler Sandhane / In Search of Famine] (Mrinal Sen, 1982)
May
28
World Hunger Day
A woman in sari looks up to the sky, her left hand shielding her eyes. DP: K.K. Mahajan.
A film crew from Calcutta arrives in a small Bengal town to make a film about the 1943 Bengal Famine. Initially, their arrival sparks joy and wonder but while filming, the participants – travelling back and forth between 1943 and 1980, Calcutta and rural Bengal, and reality and re-enactment – come to realise that #famine has many faces.