Series of programs broadcast on RAI TV in Italy showing footage shot by Roberto Rossellini in India. The series was also broadcast on ORTF TV in France under the title ‘J’AI FAIT UN BEAU VOYAGE PAR ROBERTO ROSSELLINI’. The footage shown in the individual episodes seems to have been the same in the Italian and French series.
Rossellini stayed in India for almost 9 months, refusing to look at famous monuments and rather preferring to take a non-exotic view of India, by looking at lives of common persons.Read More »
Parash Pathar was Satyajit Ray’s immediate follow-up to his celebrated Aparajito. The film bears the heavy (but never oppressive) influence of Ray’s idol, French filmmaker Jean Renoir. Tulsi Chakravetry plays Parresh Dutt, an elderly clerk who comes into possession of a stone that can turn the humblest mineral into gold. Attaining vast wealth overnight, Dutt finds that he is still persona non grata in High Society. Taking revenge on his “betters,” he uses his wonderful stone to destroy the economy. Realizing the damage that he’s done, the clerk sacrifices himself to set things right again. When first shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 1958, Parash Pathar was greeted with amused indifference; critics and viewers alike preferred the profundity of Ray’s “Apu” trilogy to this modest little fable. Music by Ravi Shankar.Read More »
I have always felt to compare John Abraham with Bunuel. As Bunuel is unknown to the main stream movie goers, John is a totally ignored figure in Indian cinema. He had the strong command over his medium as Bunuel had. The themes of his movies can more or less be compared to that of Bunuel’s. John was a social critic and his movies had a great lot of humor.Read More »
From nfdcindia.com: Gurvinder Singh’s first Punjabi feature film Anhey Ghorhey Da Daan based on Punjabi novelist and Jnanpeeth Award winner Professor Gurdial Singh’s novel tries to bring to screen the effect that years of subordination can bring to struggling masses in the face of events spinning beyond their control. Devoid of the power to change course of their own destiny and the invisible violence of power equations. AGDD reflects the simmering discontent etched on their faces.
The film was nominated as the Top Ten Best Films of the World in 2011 by the US Journal Film Comment!.Read More »
Ramprasad is a recent college graduate who finds a job with a finicky man, Bhavani Shankar, who believes that a man without a mustache is a man without a character. Bhavani Shankar is also against any of his employees indulging in recreation of any kind. When Ramprasad is caught by his boss at a soccer match, he has to invent a twin brother, the clean-shaven Laxman Prasad, to save his job. When Bhavani’s daughter falls in love with the clean-shaven Laxman Prasad, and insists on marrying him, and Bhavani insists she should marry Ramprasad, things take a whacky turn. A fake mother and a hilarious chase are other enjoyable features involved in this comedy.Read More »
IMDB says:
The films takes an expressionist look at the gulf between the rich and poor in the society. The film centers on a wealthy and capacious landlord, Sarkar (Rafi Peer) who lives in a palatial estate high up on a mountain while the poor toil and starve in the valley below. The villagers of ‘Neecha Nagar’ harbor hate for Sarkar and their hatred is fueled even more by the fact that Sarkar plans to direct all the sewage into the village in order to make way for his housing project. The villagers protest this move with their head, Balraj (Rafiq Anwar) leading a movement against Sarkar’s plan. Sarkar’s daughter Maya (Uma Anand) joins the movement against her father and falls in love with Balraj. With the sewage flowing through the village, epidemic starts to spread and the lives of the villagers comes under threat. Can poor people of ‘Neecha Nagar’ survive the greed and wickedness of the rich? Can Sarkar and his malicious ways be put to an end?Read More »
Synopsis One of Satyajit Ray’s greatest early films, full of sensuality and ironic undertones, Devi is sufficiently critical of Hindu superstition that it was banned from foreign distribution until Nehru interceded. The plot concerns a wealthy and devout landowner in the 19th century who believes his daughter-in-law (Sharmila Tagore) is the reincarnation of the goddess Kali and convinces her that he’s right. With Soumitra Chatterji and Chhabi Biswas. Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago ReaderRead More »
Quote: Seeta is ill treated by her cruel aunt Kaushalya. Fed up with her atrocities, one day Seeta leaves the house and runs into Raka. Meanwhile, her look-alike, Geeta, is apprehended by the police and brought to Kaushalya. Geeta, unlike Seeta, is unafraid and soon assumes control of the house. But as fate could have it, Geeta’s cover is blown and she is arrested for impersonation. Seeta, in the meantime, is unable to meet life’s harsh demands, including dancing in the street, as was Geeta and Raka’s profession. As Geeta is got rid off, Kaushalya locates Seeta and brings her back to her life of mute slavery, abuse, and confinement.Read More »
Sethji is a widowed, a businessman and lives a comfortable life with his only daughter, Hansa, his son-in-law, Rahul, and a grandson, Munna. He has Rahul as his right-hand man, and a nephew named Dinesh who also assists in running the business. Petty rivalries and jealousies have grown in the family, and Sethji and Rahul feel that Dinesh is now trying to undermine the business. They would like to get rid of him, without attracting any attention to themselves. They do terminate Dinesh, but this affects Sethji’s health, and he dies. Shortly thereafter, Hansa also dies, leaving Rahul to look after the business on his own. But there are many questions unanswered, like why was no one in attendance with the ailing Sethji; Hansa’s death was a suicide, why was it covered up?; what of the affair that Rahul is having with Janki, their maidservant, who is full of venom against the family; and the involvement of Anita, Rahul’s secretary, in his personal life. With the police getting involved, it is time for them to either come clean or go their separate ways.Read More »
