'Lagaan': Cricket, colonial resistance and the nation for a new millennium
As the film celebrates 25 years, it shows us the possibilities of using cinema to imagine a utopian nation - and also the pitfalls of doing so
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Uttaran Das Gupta
14
Articles
Articles
Gangster state: Politics as a criminal enterprise in pursuit of power
The 2010 Hindi film 'Raajneeti' showed the pursuit of power as an end in itself, and it has disquieting afterlives
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'Mere Apne': Unhappy young men, alienation and political violence
Adapted from Tapan Sinha's Bengali blockbuster, 'Apanjan', Gulzar's debut feature captured the restless youth of the 1970s on screen
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Asha Bhosle (1933-2026): 'The Last Mughal' who redefined Indian film music
The 1998 Hindi film 'Saaz' apparently dramatized Bhosle's rumoured rivalry with elder sister Lata Mangeshkar - though both denied such claims
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'Dhurandhar: The Revenge': Rage, revenge and wrathful myths of new India
The blockbuster turns national service into a personal quest for revenge, without any critical self-reflection
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Prisoner and prison guard: Jafar Panahi's empathetic vision of cinema
His latest feature film, 'It Was Just An Accident', uses a child's morality to demand what it means to be human in a world shaped by power
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Satyajit Ray's 'Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne': Singing in the dark times
Satyajit Ray's 1969 musical-fantasy film responded to a world on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe - with music and hope
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The fetish of fascism: How Salò exposes the aesthetics of domination
Pier Paolo Pasolini's last film 'Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom' looks uncompromisingly into the horror of authoritarian rule
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