The Journal
Essays & Dispatches
Long reads on the films, filmmakers and movements of meaningful Indian cinema.
Sparsh (1980)
Sparsh (1980) is Sai Paranjape’s tender Hindi drama about a fiercely independent blind principal (Naseeruddin Shah) of a school for the blind and a withdrawn widow (Shabana Azmi) who volunteers at the school, exploring how physical disability, pride, and insecurity become emotional barriers to love and human connection.
Padatik (1973)
Padatik (1973) is a Bengali film directed by Mrinal Sen, his third in the Calcutta trilogy. The film tracks the Naxalite movement of the 70s, following a young revolutionary (Dhritiman Chatterjee) who escapes police custody and takes shelter in a luxury apartment owned by a young woman (Simi Garewal). With time, he starts questioning his own ideology.
Ahaa Re (2019)
Ahaa Re (2019) is an Indian Bengali film directed by Ranjan Ghosh. Based on Bengal’s famous love for food, it is the story of a Dhaka Chef who falls in love with first the cooking, and then the person of a home caterer.
Sudani From Nigeria (2018)
Sudani From Nigeria is a 2018 Malayalam film directed by Zakariya Mohammed. The film tells the story of a local football club in Kerala where the manager Majeed recruits three footballers from Nigeria for his team.
Rajlokhi O Srikanto (2019)
Rajlokhi O Srikanto (2019) is a Bengali feature film directed by Pradipta Bhattacharyya is a cinematic adaptation of the Saratchandra Chattopadhyay’s four-part novel narrating the life of a drifter named Srikanto.
Bancharamer Bagan (1980)
Bancharamer Bagan is a 1980 Bengali film directed by Tapan Sinha. Adapted from a play ‘Sajano Bagan’, this Chaplinesque dark comedy tells the story of an old peasant who stands up to a tyrannical landlord to defend his land.
Bishkanyar Deshot (2019)
Bishkanyar Deshot (2019) is a Pangchenpa film by Manju Borah. Based on a literary work by Yeshe Dorjee Thongchi, it tells the story of the Monpa tribe of Arunachal Pradesh, about the legend of the Poisonous Women and an individual’s effort to break the myth.