|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Beyond The World Of
Apu
— The films of Satyajit Ray
A highly accessible work on arguably the finest film-maker India has ever produced, this book will engage not only serious readers of cinematic texts but also be a valuable learning resource for students of film studies, all over the world. The Women Of The
Mahabharata
— The question of truth
The 12 women of the Mahabharata whose life stories make up this book, range from Shakuntala, Savitri and Damyanti who are known only in sketches; from Sulabha, Suvarchala, Uttara Disha, Madhavi and Kapoti who are hardly known, and finally Draupadi, known widely but frozen in popular culture and writing in two or three standard clich`E9d images. Badrinath’s ability to combine respect and love and to write with impressive scholarship and grace will unforgettably transform our experience of reading the Mahabharata.
|
In this new work, John W.
Hood makes a thoroughly informed, socio-historical critique of all 29
feature films of Satyajit Ray. Structured along themes which the author
has identified in Ray’s movies, this reassessment analyses each film
independently, on the basis of its individual merits and lapses,
carefully avoiding the popular hagiography that is common to much of Ray
criticism. Having taken us through the two ends of the spectrum of
excellence and mediocrity that comprise Ray’s work, Hood concludes his
incisive study by affirming that "what makes Ray ascend into the
realms of the great is his profound sense of humanity".
In the stories where
Mahabharata speaks of life, women occupy a central place. In living what
life brings to them, the women of the Mahabharata show, that the truth
in which one must live, is however, not a simple thing; nor can there be
any one absolute statement about it. Each one of them, in her own way,
is a teacher to mankind as to what truth and goodness in their many
dimensions are.