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Articles by Vidyarthy Chatterjee
Garfield Sobers and the Caribbean stories cricket cannot tell alone
The recent passing away of the Barbadian cricketing giant Garfield Sobers, days short of his 90th birthday, signifies not just a huge sporting loss but the disappearance of a Black icon whose urgency lay in the influence he exerted beyond the playing field.
Patriarchy, Pollution, Protest
No language is sufficient to support Rahul Gandhi for his recent call to a gathering of women in Pune to “smash patriarchy” and “break the cage” designed by texts like Manusmriti to hold women in eternal physical, emotional and psychological bondage.
The mother who became an autumn bird
There was a time—the 1970s to the 1990s—when the Indian Panorama showcase would attract many film aficionados from different parts of the country and from abroad to the International Film Festival of India (IFFI). Sadly, increasing political interference in the conduct of the festival since the beginning of this century caused the Panorama to go on a downward slide, shooing away many of those who had in earlier days sworn by it.
Bhavni Bhavai: As relevant today as in 1981
1 hour ago Five or so years ago, Amrit Singh kept catching glimpses of something that looked like home. He was doing customer phone support in Quebec, for a Canadian company that makes trail cameras, helping hunters, farmers and ranchers across rural North America troubleshoot their equipment. In the camera …
Bhavni Bhavai : As relevant today as in 1981
Some 45 years have passed since this writer first saw that breathtaking film about how “untouchables” lived and died—in poverty, squalor, and abject degradation—once upon a time in the land that now goes by the name of Gujarat. It was a cold January day, and the venue of the screening, as a part of the Indian Panorama showcase, was Mavalankar Auditorium on Rafi Marg in New Delhi.
Remembering a Chill Wind from Chile
Soon after usurping power in 1973, the US pawn and Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet ordered the killing of all those who were opposed to his rule. ‘Operation Condor’ was the name given to the plan to liquidate opponents. As a result, during his reign of terror (1973 to 1990), thousands of Chilean men and women of conscience and conviction were murdered or forced into exile. As is to be expected, even after so many decades, the scars of that period have not entirely healed.
Economics of Political Assassination: Raoul Peck’s Remembrance of Lumumba
“Despite his brief political career and tragic death – or perhaps because of them – Lumumba entered history through the front door: he became both a flag and a symbol. He lived as a free man, and an independent thinker.
More Carandiru Than Copacabana, Brazil Is
The megalomaniac in the prime minister, Narendra Modi came to the fore once more recently when he repeated that India has what it takes to stage the Olympics. It appears that Vishwaguru is all set to make a bid to host the 2036 Olympiad in Ahmedabad when it is in serious doubt whether BJP will be in office at the Centre till then.
‘Killa’: A Brahmin Child’s Dietary Defiance
The young Marathi filmmaker Avinash Arun is unique in that he is both self-taught and Institute-trained. He brings to his filmmaking elements ranging from a certain personal indulgence to the discipline associated with formal education. He was into filmmaking in his own eclectic way even before gaining admission to the Film & Television Institute of India (FTII).
The Farmer Is Not to Be Trifled With, in Reel or Real Life
On April 29, in the midst of the second round of voting in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, Gaighata in 24 Parganas (North) witnessed, arguably, a ‘first’ in the history of electoral practise in the country when more than one bonafide Indian citizen was sought to be prevented from voting on account of the lungi he was wearing.
Márquez, Las Malvinas, and cinema of ‘the disappeared’
The just-ended World Cup saw Lionel Messi and his team, along with thousands of Argentines in the stands, repeatedly invoke the killing of “our brothers” in Las Malvinas 44 years ago to deepen world consciousness against British brutalities and violations of the Geneva Convention governing prisoners-of-war. What Messi did was to continue with the frenzied calls for justice first put into practice on the playfield by Diego Maradona.
Trilogy of solitude and a fable: Vittorio de Sica at 125
Few films have exerted as profound and lasting an influence on viewers the world over as The Bicycle Thieves. Its maker, the legendary master of Italian neorealism, Vittorio de Sica (1901-1974), directed a series of outstanding films, but none had a greater impact on the connoisseur and commoner alike than The Bicycle Thieves. De Sica would have turned 125 this year.
Nouvelle vague in Ghatsila
I was reading the film critic Vidyarthy Chatterjee’s two-volume collection of writings on cinema, A Life in Cinema: Views, Reviews, Interviews, brought out by Aksharik, an independent publisher based in Hooghly, West Bengal. I was struck by the depth and acuity of Chatterjee’s observations, but it was the subtitle—Views, Reviews, Interviews—that unleashed a horde of memories.
What does Satyajit Ray’s Mahanagar tell us about Bengal’s politics of prejudice?
An incident that took place in Calcutta fourteen years ago asks to be narrated to show, first, how the pathology of fear of a phantom enemy can make even the powerful look silly and cowardly; and secondly, with what ease the socially visible and economically well-endowed can trample upon the rights of the weak and the vulnerable without fear of retaliation or opposition from any quarter.
FIFA World Cup: The stories behind the spectacle
Singers Andrea Bocelli and EJAE perform during the opening ceremony before the FIFA World Cup Group A match between Mexico and South Africa, in Mexico City, on June 11, 2026. | Photo Credit: RICARDO MAZALAN/AP With the 2026 FIFA World Cup now under way, this Frontline package looks at football’s long, uneasy relationship with politics and power.
Rukmavati and the keepers of the sacred lie
A village in Rajasthan steeped in the weeds and mosses of tradition. Rukmavati’s husband has just died, plunging his feudal household into deep sorrow. Rukmavati (played with the right degree of grim-facedness by the famed theatre artiste Uttara Baokar) decrees a five-year period of mourning in black and abstinence from all forms of socialising. But her five daughters, all of mature age, can barely take the renunciation.
Chalam Bennurkar saw the fire long before the explosions
The immediate reason for recalling Chalam Bennurkar’s documentary on the scarred lives of the children working in the match and fireworks factories of Sivakasi, Tamil Nadu, was the grim shadow cast by two recent fire-related tragedies in South India—a massive explosion and fire at a fireworks facility in Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu, on April 20, that claimed 23 lives and left several others injured; and a devastating blaze at a fireworks storage unit in Mundathikode, Thrissur, Kerala, on April...
The mad, sad, improbable world of Jiri Menzel
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the making of one of the greatest debut films in the annals of world cinema: Closely Watched Trains by the Czech master Jiri Menzel (1938-2020). If there is such a thing as light-hearted seriousness, arguably no one excelled at it more than Menzel, one of the legendary makers of New Czech Cinema, which took the world by storm in the 1960s to 1980s. It was our privilege to see many of his films repeatedly, thanks to the active film club movement.
The mad, sad, improbable world of Jiri Menzel
"The album cover and title song video are so sexually potent it almost makes you forget how Canadian the rest of the record is." What happened when Lee Aaron declared herself the Metal Queen We really had to put up with a lot of crazy bullshit in the 1980s. Video games were just blips and bleeps, Kiss took off their make-up, people wore …
Life and Times of Lav Diaz: Existentialist Dilemmas of a Filipino Director
Lav Diaz The distinguished Philippines director, Lav Diaz turns sixty this year. Diaz was born on December 30, 1958 and raised in Cotabato, Mindanao which has seen an armed movement for a separate Muslim State for the past several decades. In this overwhelmingly Catholic country, Mindanao sticks out like a sore thumb to some people.
You loved his face, his eyes, his voice. But did you pay him?
The folklore around the legendary actor-director-producer Pramathesh Barua (1903—1951) began with a bang only to end in a whimper. Immensely popular with audiences throughout the country, Barua earned in lakhs, but frittered the wealth away on drink, women, high living, and misadventures in his later years. While Kanan Devi, the heartthrob of thousands like Barua, rose from obscurity to extraordinary prosperity, Barua’s faded from remarkable early success to penury.
Haren Ghosh: Life and death of an impresario
The Oxford English Dictionary defines an impresario as a person who organises theatrical or musical productions, a word of Italian origin. When jatra, or late-night folk theatre, was popular in Bengal and its hinterland, the troupe manager went by the name of adhikari. Haren Ghosh (1895–1947) was considered an adhikari by some, but he was, in fact, an impresario of the highest international standard—the first of his kind in the Indian subcontinent.
How Cuba's Filmmakers are Using Cinema to Defy US Imperialism
Donald Trump has been thundering against Cuba for years now, but never so aggressively as in recent months, especially since what practically amounts to the annexation of Venezuela happened. Each new day, new sanctions are imposed on the small Caribbean island synonymous with son cubano, rum, boxing, baseball, and a deeply inspiring tradition of documentary filmmaking.
How Indonesian Cinema Resists Forgetting the CIA-Backed Coup of 1965
All through the second half of the 20th century, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) engineered military coups in different countries across at least three continents to serve American geopolitical interests. The bloodiest of these interventions was the one that occurred 60 years ago in Indonesia, unseating President Sukarno and resulting in the massacre of between 500,000 and one million people suspected of harbouring communist sympathies.
The Blind Man | Outlook India
Recollection of a blind Adivasi man who shared a silent, ritualised bond with the author’s family through weekly Sunday meals in 1950s Jamshedpur. The man’s sudden disappearance leaves a deeper imprint than his presence, especially on the author’s mother, revealing how small acts of kindness create enduring human connections.
The Blind Man | Outlook India
Home Culture society Sunday musings visits of a blind man his disappearance A childhood memory of quiet generosity, where a blind man’s Sunday visits become a lasting meditation on dignity, loss, and what it means to truly see. Vidyarthy Chatterjee Updated on: 8 February 2026 8:32 pm Updated on: 8 February 2026 8:32 pm A childhood memory of quiet generosity, where a blind man’s Sunday visits become a lasting meditation on dignity, loss, and what it means to truly see.
Bangladesh 1971 Liberation Memory vs Islamist Revival in 2024
Bangladesh heads to elections on February 12, but the country is in turmoil. Since the student-led uprising of August 2024 that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s government, violence has continued unabated. Statues of Tagore and Nazrul have been vandalised across the country; in June 2025, a mob ransacked Rabindranath Tagore’s ancestral home in Sirajganj.
US Invasion of Venezuela: Chavez’s Legacy and Maduro’s Fall (2026)
To understand the political, social, and economic implications of the US invasion of Venezuela and the capture of Nicolas Maduro, it may be useful to revisit documentaries from the early 2000s, when the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez battled one storm after another to defeat Western conspiracies to destabilise his regime.
In many worlds: On the book jacket, Aparna Sen is hailed as a 'celebrated' actress - Telegraph India
On the book jacket, Sen is hailed as a 'celebrated' actress.
Shashi Anand Documentary: Calcutta’s Invisible Labour (2025)
He had been ailing for some years, yet when news came of his death, anyone who had known the man even briefly found it difficult to accept he was gone. Such was the presence of the distinguished documentarian, Calcutta’s own Shashi Anand (1955–2025), who died recently. But the focussed commitment to the downtrodden that he brought to his art was not the only badge of honour Shashi wore lightly. You had to meet him to understand where that art came from.
Chhabi Biswas & Balraj Sahni: Two Great Thespians 2025
Had he been living, Chhabi Biswas (1900–1962) would have turned 125 this year. Arguably the most memorable character actor in Bengali cinema, Biswas possessed such depth and range that he could draw crowds on the strength of his performance alone. To see him at his best was to wish to see nothing after. His death at the peak of his powers made it doubly tragic. Only months earlier, he had given an unforgettable performance in Satyajit Ray’s Kanchenjunga.
Aparahnam Review: Naxalism, Memory & Moral Resolve
At a time when naxalites, real or imagined, are being eliminated in doubtful encounters and displayed to the public and the press like trophies won in battle, a Malayalam film made over three decades ago about an upright young radical may be profitably recalled for its poetic and political possibilities.
Rossellini and Pasolini’s India Visions Revisited in 2025
The 80th anniversary this year of Roma, Citta Aperta (Rome, Open City), one of the jewels of Italian neo-realist cinema, takes us back to a time when large parts of Europe had been reduced to rubble yet refused to give in to Hitler and Mussolini. Roberto Rossellini (1906-1977), the film’s director, reportedly received a substantial sum from a wealthy widow to make two films—one on the unprotected street children of Rome, the other on a martyred Catholic priest executed by the fascists.
Bagishwar Jha and the Legacy of the BFJA, 2025
The chequered history of the Bengal Film Journalists’ Association (BFJA) is bound up with the struggles and sacrifices of Bagishwar Jha, the unusual patriarch who shaped this organisation’s character more than anyone else. Bagishwar Jha, who died several decades ago, was a father-figure in Bengal film industry circles and to generations of film-lovers and film writers. He was both soul and body of the BFJA, the oldest film writers’ club in the country, founded in 1937.
Compassionate enquiry
'Moonlight Express' alternates between the witty and the wild. However, what remains with the reader after the adventure is over is a strange wisdom in the wake of bonding, however briefly, with fellow-travellers of many ages and classes, religions and nationalities, both men and women Vidyarthy Chatterjee Published 07.11.25, 10:38 AM NIGHT TRAIN in Russia.
Two masters and India
Both Rossellini and Pasolini made documentary films on India, reflecting their appreciation of a land of ancient achievements and many contradictions, but in markedly different styles Vidyarthy Chatterjee Published 03.11.25, 07:24 AM Pier Paolo Pasolini (left) and Roberto Rossellini Sourced by the Telegraph The 80th anniversary of Roberto Rossellini’s film, Roma, Città Aperta (Rome, Open City), falls this year.
Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s Neem Annapurna and the Cinema of Exile, 2025
Forty-five years ago, in 1980, Buddhadeb Dasgupta (1944–2021), widely regarded as the most accomplished Bengali filmmaker among those who followed the Ray-Ghatak-Sen trio, directed the black-and-white classic Neem Annapurna (Bitter Morsel).
B.V. Karanth: 50 Years of Chomana Dudi and Theatre Legacy
It is a measure of the diminished times we have brought upon ourselves that even in his home State of Karnataka, few people appear to remember the holistic earthy genius and lasting achievements of Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth (September 19, 1929–September 1, 2002). Once heralded across the country and instantly recognised as just B.V. Karanth, the well-built, bearded man was synonymous with creating memorable theatre and film music out of little more than thin air.
Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s legacy and controversies
The last quarter of the 20th century saw the emergence of New Malayalam Cinema as an important body of artistic and political work. This development was possible largely because of the exertions of three rare dissimilar artists—Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Govindan Aravindan, and John Abraham. Their combined creativity made film aficionados all over India—and beyond—to sit up and take notice.
Aribam Syam Sharma: The Unrecognised Master of Manipuri Cinema
The renowned Manipuri filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma, who will turn 90 in a few months, is a pabung to his people—a father-figure embodying innocence, wisdom, a joyful spirit, and the espousal of peace, particularly when circumstances turn difficult. Syam Sharma was born on March 21, 1936, and owes his disposition to his deep Vaishnava roots combined with his serious study of the Tagorean vision that he imbibed during his four-year stay in Shantiniketan as a young student of philosophy and music.
Buñuel and Carrière: How a Surrealist and Scriptwriter Created Film History
It is 125 years since the Spanish master filmmaker Luis Buñuel was born. Regarded as one of the greatest figures in the annals of cinema, Buñuel (1900-1983) was a friend of the martyred poet Lorca and the fellow surrealist painter, Salvador Dali.
That perfect shot
The uniqueness of Khosla — the man — is as much a treat to read as it is to see the artist in him grappling with soaring success and the occasional searing failure with equal equanimity Vidyarthy Chatterjee Published 08.08.25, 06:25 AM Book name- RAJ KHOSLA: THE AUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY Authors- Amborish Roychoudhury with Anita Khosla and Uma Khosla Kapur Published by- Hachette Price- Rs 799 In the 1950s and the 60s, in a small corner of the Hindi-speaking heartland, the name, ‘Raj Khosla’,...
From Ritwik Ghatak to John Abraham: A Radical Cinematic Legacy
The birth centenary this year of Ritwik Ghatak, the redoubtable chronicler of the partition of Bengal as also of the naxalite movement, is as good an occasion as any to recall the insightful words of the independent American critic Jacob Levich, who studied the cinemas of both Ghatak and, arguably, his foremost student, John Abraham, with equal keenness: “Ghatak’s stint as vice-principal of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) for a short while in the 1960’s left something of him in...
How Ramu Kariat’s Chemmeen Helped Malayalam Cinema Reckon With Caste, Desire, and Class
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the making of Chemmeen (Shrimp), which may be said to have first brought Malayalam cinema to the notice of the rest of the country. The director of the film had a short but crowded and creative life: Ramu Kariat was born in 1928 and died in 1979, a life of only 51 years. Much water has flowed down Kerala’s picturesque network of palm-lined canals since the making of Balan in 1937.
Development Or Dam-nation—Revisiting A Narmada Diary, 30 Years Down the Line | Outlook India Original
Home National Development or dam nationrevisiting a narmada diary 30 years down the line In a style that is both highly visual and penetratingly interrogative, filmmakers Anand Patwardhan and Simantini Dhuru questioned the very ethics of large dams being built with foreign loans that benefit the urban society and neglect the excluded sections.
G. Aravindan and the Legacy of New Malayalam Cinema
He had a short life and an even shorter tenure as a filmmaker: Just 15 years during which he directed at least half a dozen masterpieces that were both the pride and the envy of his best peers. The 90th birth anniversary of the Malayali auteur Aravindan is being observed across the country. Govindan Aravindan (1935-1991), was one of the key figures in New Malayalam Cinema genre.
Poetry | From Jamshedpur To Gaza
Poetry | From Jamshedpur To Gaza Photo: Anupriya Yoga Poetry | From Jamshedpur To Gaza Photo: Anupriya Yoga Sindoor (Jamshedpur riots, 1964) Mohit Chaudhuri was muslim as if being Babur’s child running Mohit’s remembrance Tripti pishi never married (pishi means father’s sister in Bangla.) Love Without you, Umar Khalid i cannot imagine our country i cannot imagine this land given us by eternities of you will give us new children and countless post offices filling our empty/emptied souls with...
Man of many passions
Considering the comparative popularity of the varied art forms in which Pasolini engaged himself, it is perhaps understandable that the world should remember him as primarily a film-maker Vidyarthy Chatterjee Published 24.05.25, 06:03 AM Pier Paolo Pasolini during the filming of 'The Gospel According to St. Matthew' Sourced by the Telegraph Fifty years ago, Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975) fell foul of an extreme-Right conspiracy.
Birsa Munda at 150: Land Rights and Adivasi Resistance Through the Years
It has been said that the best way to know a person is to go by the company they keep. The reasons for the persecution and death of the Jesuit activist-priest, Stan Swamy, can be better understood in relation to his comradeship with Sister Valsa John Malamel, a Malayali nun murdered some 14 years ago in the village of Pachhwara in Pakur district of Jharkhand, about 250 kilometres north-east of Ranchi. “They buried us.
'Slaves of the Empire': Capturing an Unknown Slice of Subaltern History
Art & Entertainment Rajesh James' 'Slaves of the Empire' is visually intriguing and aesthetically provocative as it goes about documentarising, as opposed to documenting, a hitherto largely unknown slice of subaltern history.
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