When year-end joy crashes against Yule in Kolkata
It’s December and as the bells toll harder ushering in the Yuletide spirit, with it comes a hungry appetite. It is safe to say that Christmas has the best spread among all the festivities. The variety it provides is truly spectacular. Tracing the mood in Kolkata are IBNS correspondent Sudipto Maity and photographer Subhodeep Sardar
People might envy celebs walking the red carpet but they are also under the scrutiny of the public all the time and need to be on guard too, finds Pramita Bose
Vandana Gopikumar and her organization, ‘The Banyan’, help those dealing with homelessness, mental illness and poverty. SPAN magazine writer Michael Gallant meets Gopikumar to discuss her ideas and work field
Caught up in the spirit of the famous Halloween festival parade in New York recently, and intrigued by the opening scene of the parade for the dead in the latest Bond film Spectre, Ranjita Biswas tries to dig into the origin of the tradition and discovers it is embedded in ancient fear of the unknown, evil spirits and dark nights
Bollywood songs with jewels and ornaments used in the lyrics have enriched the melody and the rhythm of the films. TWF correspondent Shoma A. Chatterji probes into the Hindi film song with women’s jewellery as the subject and explores its significance.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan: Such a Long Journey
NETPAC (Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema) is bestowing the Lifetime Achievement Award to filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan at the International Film Festival of Colombo this month for his contribution to cinema. The award comes at a time when Adoor has put in 43 years exclusively to filmmaking as a director and rightly considered as one without par on the Indian subcontinent. Shoma A. Chatterji explores his films and filmmaking.
While the world even now faces an unprecedented refugee crisis, a Bengali film on the Partition of India in August 1947 takes us to one of the most brutal phases in the history of refugees victimised by forced migration. Shoma A. Chatterji tracks back to Indian films that dealt with the Partition and examines how Rajkahini by National Award winning filmmaker Srijit Mukherjee stands within this cinematic world.
UN@70: Celebrating seven decades of Asia-Pacific growth, development & security
On this day, 70 years ago, the Charter of the United Nations came into force hope, rising from the ashes of World War II. For seven decades the UN has driven multilateralism for peace, security, development and human dignity – in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world. Although far from perfect, no other organisation has done more to "save succeeding generations from the scourge of war and to promote social progress and better standards of life" for all.
India must take the baton of African growth from China
The stage is perfectly set for India to take the baton of African growth, in the wake of deepening economic crisis in China, says Sujeet Sarkar, an international advisor in governance
Entertaining soldiers in the high ridges of the Siachen camp with her popular chart busters was an exceptional experience for Akriti Kakar, as she reveals to TWF correspondent Pramita Bose
The Path of Zarathrustra made in English is a film that perhaps for the first time explores the Parsi identity and the history and origin of the faith. This reminds us of the contribution of the Parsis to Indian cinema. But has Indian cinema been kind to the community in portraying them? Shoma A. Chatterji writes
For millions of Indian children today, Gandhi is identified with the bald, bespectacled old man whose face appears in the currency note. Within this ambiance of anonymity and ignorance, Hindi cinema has succeeded to some extent in liberating the Father of the Nation from his captive anonymity frozen on rectangular pieces of paper to celebrate the principles he lived by. On the occasion of his birth anniversary, Shoma A. Chatterji looks at films on portrayal of Gandhi and on his ideologies
India and Armenia: The connection
Armenia and India, two of the world’s oldest civilizations, have also shared socio-cultural ties for many centuries as new research shows. Mane Mehrabian, a journalist from Armenia, reports
Pyaasa Revisited: Meeting the people's poet anew
Guru Dutt's cult film Pyaasa (1957) fully restored now is going to be screened at the 72nd Venice Film Festival this year in the Competition Section for restored films. In a scenario when many classics of India cinema are getting threatened with extinction, it is good news indeed, TWF correspondent Shoma A. Chatterji reports
The hit movie Bajrangi Bhaijaan has an interesting character called Chand Nawab, a small time television reporter in Pakistan, who is not taken seriously by channel editors. But how members of the fourth estate are portrayed in Bollywood in general? Shoma A. Chatterji takes a look