Creative News - India Together

NATIONAL WOMEN’S THEATRE FESTIVAL
Womanhood: A synthesis through many forms

Shoma A Chatterji writes on Samanway 7, a unique theatre festival showcasing performances conceived of and crafted exclusively by women, which evolved into a well-blended expression of feminist questions that have sustained through the ages.

Art Women

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MUZZLING ACTIVISM

What’s ‘fashionable’ about protesting human rights violations?

A recent observation of the Supreme Court, while hearing a petition filed by a filmmaker challenging censorship of his documentary, has left human rights advocates in the country anguished and puzzled. Shoma A Chatterji explains why.

OP-ED Justice Human Rights

A TRIBUTE TO FORGOTTEN LEGENDS

In search of Binodini and her peers

The leading ladies of Bengali theatre in the late 19th and 20th centuries presented an intriguing portrait of women caught between two worlds, liberated in a way, yet shackled in others. A recent performance as tribute to these artists leads Shoma Chatterji to reminisce their lives and times.

Art Culture Women Women's Films and Books

DUBBING FILMS

From one language to another: What’s at stake?

Indian cinema has, of late, witnessed high-decibel debates over the desirability of dubbing Hindi films into regional languages. But does dubbing really pose a threat to vernacular cinema? Shoma Chatterji explores.

Films Culture Media

GULAB(I) GANG

Will reel kill the power of real?

A mainstream Bollywood production in the making, titled Gulab Gang, draws heavily on the circumstances and even the name of a now-famous real life movement, but purports to be purely fictional. Shoma Chatterji explores the questions of ethics and creative morality that this raises.

Reviews Films

OBITUARY

Remembering Rituparno (1963-2013)

The premature demise of acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, who passed away on May 30, has robbed Indian cinema of a rare combination of courage and sensitivity and perhaps, of many more masterpieces to come. Shoma A. Chatterji reminisces his works in this tribute to his genius.

Art Media Society

FINANCIAL SECURITY

Inflation: perception and reality

There is an urgent need for reliable and transparent consumer price indices that covers the large majority of Indian families, from the poorest upwards. Kannan Kasturi reports.

Child health Economy Society Films and Books

INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT

Hot ash burns child to death

Illegal dumping of industrial waste around Raigarh takes the life of 7-year-old Twinkle Thakur, raising familiar troubling questions about the trajectory of 'development' in India. Kanchi Kohli reports.

Environmental Hazards Chhatisgarh Environment Health Laws and Governance Politics Child health

ENDLESS STRIFE

Awakening the somnolent state

The common thread between our external and internal security predicaments is our approach to time. Most security issues are long-standing and seemingly interminable. If we understood why this is so, we can change it, writes Firdaus Ahmed.

Firdaus Ahmed OP-ED Economic Issues Government Opinions Health Laws and Governance RTI Law and Policy Urban Poor Media Opinions Land ORGs Exposes RTI Opinions Society Films and Books Business Women Opinions Women's Representation HARYANA Himachal Politics Health Interviews People Agriculture Opinions Literacy Tourism Profiles Environment Opinions Subcontinental Musings

OPINION

The dull days of White Gold

Across India, cotton growers make up the largest group of the over 180,000 farmers who committed suicide between 1997 and 2007. There's nothing like an election to spur policy change, though, notes P Sainath.

P Sainath Agriculture MAHARASHTRA OP-ED Government Opinions RTI Opinions Women's Representation Tripura Environmental films and books Child health Tourism The Real Picture

WOMEN/MEDIA

Films from the fields

These rural, illiterate women from the Community Media Trust in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh wield the plough and the camera with equal ease and expertise. The final product are films that tell their stories. Charumathi Supraja has more.

Gender and Media ANDHRA Women

INTERNATIONAL PEACE FESTIVAL

New lease for documentaries

Film-makers are finding new ways to get around the difficulties of their new environment - the loss of state patronage, subtle self-censorship in the media, and the taboos of mainstream society. They're putting the new IT world to work promoting their films, and setting up their own events to find their audience. Darryl D'Monte reports.

Peace Media Human Rights

THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT

'Poster' women

Over 100 posters were displayed recently in New Delhi as part of an exhibition titled 'Poster Women'. The posters, said Urvashi Butalia of Zubaan, "visually map the history of the movement". Like windows, they offer a glimpse of the women's movement spanning the past 35 years. Deepti Priya Mehrotra reports.

Art Women