Part of Ghatak’s ‘Partition’ trilogy, this rarely-seen film is a strong melodrama about suffering, loss and psychological turmoil as a man, his younger sister and an adopted orphan navigate the harsh socio-economic realities in postwar India.
Now canonized by The Criterion Collection, Ghatak’s beloved tragedy about the poor fishing villages on the banks of the river Titas is meandering to a fault, but is imaginative and poetic.
A mix of fiction and reality, and memory and imagination as Shyam Benegal weaves a complex drama full of literary qualities, but somehow isn’t compelling enough to get into.
Lengthy but still an entertaining piece centering on a bordello and its ragtag of vibrant characters as Shyam Benegal balances humour and serious women issues with skill.
An ethnographic documentary on the Warli tribe in India, who are isolated from the modern world, as Amit Dutta captures their daily lives, rituals and myths with a keen observational eye.
As a character study on a young Indian classical music vocalist trying to persevere in his quest to be a master of the craft, Tamhane’s sophomore feature is occasionally overwrought and ironically one-note.
A milestone of popular Indian cinema, this enduring classic is a lavish epic about the taboo romance between a prince and a court dancer, and how love might triumph over power.
Contemporary Indian avant-garde cinema at its artistic peak, Amit Dutta’s unclassifiable portrait of a famous 18th-century Indian painter is an astonishing poetic and sensorial experience.
A simple lie about having a look-alike twin brother turns into an elaborate if risky plan of deception in this hilarious comedy about an employee trying to trick his conservative boss to keep his new high-paying job.
A film that will anger the hell out of you as Shyam Benegal tackles gender and class oppression in a depressingly kyriarchal Indian town with brazen confidence.
