India@75 1962: Ebrahim Alkazi helms National School of DramaTEAM FRONTLINEAs NSD’s first director, he would cast the mould for modern Indian theatre.
Photo Essay Kerala Kalamandalam’s first female Kathakali pupils step into male bastion Thulasi Kakkat
A glimpse into the pastSUDHA MAHALINGAMPhotographs by SUDHA MAHALINGAMHampi’s uniqueness lies in the fact that despite the many centuries over which it was built and the many dynasties that ruled it, the architecture i
Story of a silent era pioneer Maya Roy: Forgotten star of silent eraVidyarthy ChatterjeeDebiprosad Ghosh’s painstaking research pieces together the writings of Maya Roy, an actor of the silent movie era who did groundbreaking work as a
Afghanistan Vandalised AfghanistanOSMUND BOPEARACHCHIThe destruction of Afghanistan's cultural treasures during the period of the civil war in looting and illegal excavations has caused a huge loss of hu
Cinema Celluloid cityTHEODORE BASKARANFrom roadside screenings of short silent films to producing big-budget films, Chennai has come a long way since 1897.
CINEMA Of genocide and liberation: the works of Tareque MasudVidyarthy ChatterjeeTareque Masud introduced the new generation of Bangladeshis to the freedom struggle through his Muktir Gaan, Muktir Kotha and Matir Moina, films that
Battle of Talikota Beyond the Hindu-Muslim binaryVikhar Ahmed Sayeedin Rakkasagi, Tangadagi, Hampi and Vijayapura The story that the Battle of Talikota was a religious war is perpetuated in many forums and feeds into reductive right-wing historical iterations that
Short story in Translation ‘Savara’ by Chaudhury Hemakanta Misra: Odia short story in translationA powerful portrayal of travelling entertainers in small-town Odisha.
Personality Agnes Smedley: ‘Daughter of Earth’Sachidananda MohantyNovelist, feminist and world revolutionary Agnes Smedley rejected “ordained social hierarchy” to follow her radical path to self-discovery. She co
Culture Hindu deities in JapanBenoy K. BehlEven deities that have practically been forgotten in India are still worshipped in Japan.
Short story ‘The vow’ by S. Diwakar: A Kannada short story in translationS. DiwakarDiwakar’s writing functions simultaneously on two planes—fiction and metafiction, while conjuring unusual experiences in a compressed and pictoria
CINEMA Revisiting Mrinal Sen’s "Calcutta ’71" Vidyarthy ChatterjeeMrinal Sen’s provocative reaction to the spectre of hunger, Calcutta ’71, turns 50. This work of the master film-maker deserves to be seen, studie
Essay Reclaiming the indigenous: D.H. Lawrence, Mabel Dodge Luhan and the New WorldSachidananda MohantyThe British-born novelist D.H. Lawrence, along with the arts patron Mabel Dodge Luhan, spearheaded a major movement in counterculture in New Mexico in
Behemoth studios in the era of pan-Indian films Yash Raj Films used to set trends, not follow them. Can it turn the tide?
SlideshowCaptured in timeAs independent India turns 75, some of the defining images of those seven decades.