The Desi Gaze

Haqeeqat (1964), Chetan Anand: Indo-China, Cold War, and Postcolonial Nation Building

Ankita and Azhar unpack one of the finest war films in Bollywood history. Though set in 1962 during the Indo-China war, Haqeeqat [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haqeeqat_(1964_film)] (Reality) deals with the trauma of losing Jawahar Lal Nehru and perhaps his vision for a non-aligned India. Dharmendra, Balraj Sahni, Sudhir, Vijay Anand, Jayant, and Priya Rajvansh star. While the film can be seen as a cinematic revenge against China's aggression in 1962, it nonetheless opens the questions about war-labor, absurdity of human-made borders, illusion of nation, postcolonial sovereignty, ideal citizenry and more. Ankita and Azhar engage in a complex discussion of the film while lamenting the impossibility of such films being made in Bollywood today.

Postcolonial India, Jewish Bollywood, and Lessons for Today: Yahudi (1958), Directed by Bimal Roy

Our latest episode dicusses one of the finest and heavily overlooked Hindi film Yahudi [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahudi](English: The Jew) from 1958. Starring Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari, Sohrab Modi, and Nazir Hussain, the film is a testament of postcolonial ethnic solidarity that shaped Bollywood. It is based on the play Yahudi Ki Ladki [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahudi_Ki_Ladki] by the Urdu poet, playwright, and dramatist Agha Hashar Kashmiri, [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agha_Hashar_Kashmiri]a classic in Parsi-Urdu theatre. Wajahat Mirza's dialogues are outstanding while Shankar Jaikishan's melodies haunt. Directed by the socialist Bengali filmmaker, Bimal Roy and produced by the Jewish-Indian sound enginner Savak Vacha, the film imagines Jewish persecution in Roman Empire to tell a story of love, empathy, and the sheer idiocy of religious and hyper nationalist hatred. For Azhar, this film is a healing balm to the Indian population traumatized and wounded by Partition and Ankita thinks it is time we bring back the amalgamation of socialism, literariness, and melodrama back to Bollywood! Hope you enjoy this episode!

The Hubris of Capitalism: Abhimaan (1973). Directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Happy Karl Marx Day! In this episode Ankita is joined by Zane Merritt as they unpack the 1973 Hindi film Abhimaan [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abhimaan_(1973_film)]. Dr. Merritt is a freelance musician and academic currently residing in Buffalo New York. He holds a PhD in western classical music composition from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Masters' degree in classical guitar performance from Butler University. He has performed his own music and those of his colleagues internationally, performing solo concerts in Toronto, New York City, and Nagoya, Japan as well as appearing as a featured soloist with the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra and the Slee Sinfonietta. As an academic, he has taught courses on composition, music theory, and vernacular music such as The Beatles and Heavy Metal. He is currently the instructor of record for "Bollywood and South Asian Cinema" at the University at Buffalo. Abhimaan stars Amitabh and Jaya Bachhan along with the phenomenal Bindu and Asrani in pivotal roles. Ankita sees this film as a befitting response to western capitalist imperialism heightening during the cold war. Whether Mukherjee intended it or not, the film is a staunch critique of hyper individualism that capitalism promotes. Hope you enjoy this episode! Write to us at thedesigazepodcast@proton.me As always, subscribe to the podcast, and don't forget to leave us a review!

The Radical Possibilities of Melodrama: Roti (1974). Direced by Manmohan Desai

In this episode, we discuss the 1974 blockbuster Hindi film Roti. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roti_(1974_film)] The film stars Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz, Pinchoo Kapoor, Sujit, Nirupa Roy, and Om Prakash along with the who's who of 70's Bollywood. We love Roti for its stellar soundtrack but even more for the subtle pro-China subtext during the cold war era. Manmohan Desai was an expert of Masala films (a mix of genres) and here, he brilliantly uses and abuses the many possibilities of melodrama to push for a more socialist aligned narrative during a time when India was determined to stay non-aligned. Was this a result of the anti-imperialist leadership of Indira Gandhi? Or could this film be a quiet rebellion when communist movemment in India was being deliberately crushed? Many readings are possible. Write to us at thedesigazepodcast@proton.me As always, subscribe to the podcast, and don't forget to leave us a review!

Rules of Engagement! Pardesi (1957). Directed by Khwaja Ahmad Abbas and Vasili Pronin

We bring you the first ever Hindi film jointly produced by India and the Soviet Union–the 1957 film Pardesi [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardesi_(1957_film)] (Khozhdenie Za Tri Moray or The Foreigner), starring Oleg Strizhenov, Nargis, Padmini, and Balraj Sahani along with a special appearance by Prithviraj Kapoor. Made in Russian and Hindi, this film is a testament of Indo-Soviet solidarity. It is based on travelogues of a 15th century Russian traveler Afanasy Nikitin who wrote a memoir called A Journey Beyond the Three Seas. Ankita and Azhar discuss the importance of watching this film today, its portrayal of East-West cultural engagagement and why this film matters especially today when US imperialism has gone berserk. Here is the blog post [https://madhulikaliddle.com/2010/09/09/khozhdenie-za-tri-moray-aka-pardesi-1957/] mentioned by Ankita Also, listen to this fanstastic episode on the Soviet film Letter Never Sent [https://coldwarcinema.com/s2-ep-11-letter-never-sent-1959-mikhail-kalatozov] by Cold War Cinema podcast Write to us at thedesigazepodcast@proton.me As always, subscribe to the podcast, and don't forget to leave us a review!