Shyam Benegal is the best known and most prolific contemporary film-maker from India's arthouse or 'New Cinema' tradition. This work traces a career with its beginnings in political cinema and a realist aesthetic. Sangeeta Datta demonstrates how the struggles of women and the dispossessed and marginalised in Indian society have found an eloquent expression in films as diverse as Nishant, Bhumika, Mandi, Suraj Ka Satwan Ghoda and Kalyug. The book also traces Benegal's work with his protégés and collaborators including many of the biggest names in Indian Cinema — Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Karishma Kapoor and A.R. Rahman.
Sangeeta Datta is a film historian, lecturer, critic and documentary film-maker. She runs a London-based film society, In Focus, which promotes South Asian cinema in the UK and is a member of FIPRESCI International.
Foreword by Derek MalcolmAcknowledgmentsPrefaceIntroduction1. Parallel Cinema in India2. The Formative Years3. The Rural Trilogy: Winds of Change4. The Women's Voice: Bhumika and Mandi5. Histories and Epics6. Subaltern Voices7. The Last Trilogy: Search for Identity8. Experiments with TruthAppendix: ReflectionsNotesBibliographyFilmographyIndex
Thea Buckley, Mark Thornton Burnett, Sangeeta Datta, Rosa García-Periago, UK) Buckley, Thea (Queen’s University Belfast, UK) Burnett, Professor Mark Thornton (Queen's University Belfast, Sangeeta (Independent filmmaker) Datta, Spain) Garcia-Periago, Rosa (University of Murcia