Author: Bibekananda Ray
Publisher: Publications Division
Year: 2005
Language: English
Pages: 275
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8123012985
Description
Cinema came to India from France on 7th July 1896, when six silent film strips, made by Lumiere brothers, were shown in Mumbai’s Watson Hotel. Three Years later, a Marathi still photographer, H S Bhatwadekar shot India’s first movie strip in Kamla Nehru Park in Mumbai. Fourteen years after that, in 1913, D G Phalke made the first Indian feature film, Raja Harishchandra. The Indian cinema became the world’s largest in volume, overtaking Japan in 1971. Some 900 feature films are added every year, bringing the total to nearly 33, 000 at the end of 2003.
Since Satyajit Ray compelled the world’s attention to the Indian cinema through his debut, Pather Panchali in 1955, a new genre has been added, called variously as auteur, art parallel, minority, offbeat etc: Ray himself preferred the term offbeat. In this chronicle, the author presents an uptodate bird’s eye view of the genre and holds that in its totality, it reflects the conscience of the race.
Contents
FOREWORD
PREFACE
Introduction
Shadows Before Substance
Inspiration behind Offbeat Cinema
Pather Panchali - the Benchmark film
Satyajit Ray nourishes the Genre
Archetypal Cinema - Ritwik Ghatak
Marxist Ethos and Beyond - Mrinal Sen
Ripples before the Wave
Bhuban Shome raises A Wave
Ankur crests Wave in Hindi
Offbeat in Bengali Cinema
Samskara users Offbeat in South
Adoor and Aravindan Lead in Kerala
Offbeat in Tamil and Telugu Cinemas
Offbeat in Other Cinemas
Feminist and other Themes
The Third Generation
Indian Filmmakers in the West
Documentary and short Films
Before the Camera
Behind the Camera
Treatment of Music and Dance
Government Intervention
Offbeat cinema in Cold Print
Window on the World
Initiatives for Better Cinema
Future of Offbeat Cinema