The Desi Gaze

In this episode, Ankita Rathour and Azharuddin share their love for the trailblazing 1987 Hindi film Mirch Masala directed by the Gujarati filmmaker Ketan Mehta. The film is about Sonabai/Sonbai, a spirited woman who works at a local pepper factory with other women. A subedar working for the British Raj wants her and is not shy to use force. Sonabai runs and hides in her factory while the ageing Muslim security guard, Abu Miyan vows to protect her at any cost when the other men of her village won't.  One of the finest anticolonial feminist films from the 80s starring the iconic Smita Patil as the protagonist. We now have an email address for our listeners! Please reach out to us at [email protected]

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Join hosts Ankita Rathour and Azharuddin as they discuss Khwaja Ahmed Abbas's iconic film Dharti Ke Laal (English: Children of the Earth, 1946). The film is a fictionalized depiction of the aftermath of British orchestrated Bengal famine of 1943 in which millions of Bengalis were starved to death to feed Winston Churchill's imperial interests. One of the early films of Indian social-realist film movement, Dharti Ke Laal was immensely popular in the Soviet Union, opening doors for the widespread distribution of Indian films. The famous Marxist Indian actor Balraj Sahni stars as one of the main characters.

As always please subscribe to the podcast if you like what you hear, and don't forget to leave us a review! Happy listening!