Srijan Mandal

How does Kumbalangi Nights reinvent masculinity on screen?

At a time when mainstream cinema still profits from masculine chest-thumping (consider the endless parade of…
How Regional Cinema Is Reframing India’s Sociopolitical Consciousness?

Away from the spotlight of commercial gloss, regional cinema in India is reshaping sociopolitical consciousness—with nuance,…
How India’s Oral Storytelling Traditions Preserve and Transmit Cultural Knowledge

In an age where information is cheap but wisdom scarce, these traditions whisper a subversive question:…
7 Forgotten Indian Folk Art Forms You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

If you haven’t heard of these art forms, blame geography—and possibly our education system.
How Does Tarun Majumdar’s Shriman Prithviraj Still Speak to Class, Childhood & Colonial Hangovers?

Tarun Majumdar’s Shriman Prithviraj (1973) is a film that refuses to age, much like the stubborn idealism of its…
How Did Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Literature Critique Caste and Gender Hierarchies in Colonial Bengal?

Imagine, if you will, a society where the air itself seems to curdle with unspoken rules—where…
What Economic & Cultural Factors Sustain Kolkata’s hand pulled Rickshaws?

How does a city renowned for its intellectual fervor, a place where street debates about Marx…
A Historical Analysis of Bengali Cinema’s Satire on Class Divide

If history is written by the victors, Bengali cinema has long been the scribe of the…
Why Young People Should Let Satyajit Ray’s 2k Restored Nayak Shatter Their Instagram Illusions

In a world where the line between persona and person grows thinner by the tweet, Satyajit…
How Bengal Was Once the ‘Opium’ Capital of the British Empire

A cautionary tale of how commerce, when divorced from ethics, can enslave even its architects.
How Rituparno Ghosh Redefined Sexuality and Gender in Bengali Cinema

In films like Chitrangada: The Crowning Wish (2012) and The Last Lear (2007), Ghosh moves beyond conventional narrative forms…
The Role of Mishti and Bengali Cuisine in Symbolic Storytelling in Film

In Bengali cinema, as in life, mishti (sweets) are not mere props; they are narrative alchemists, transforming sugar…
Did Satyajit Ray’s Unfinished Sci-Fi Film Inspire Steven Spielberg’s ET?

Few unfinished projects haunt the imagination like Satyajit Ray’s The Alien. This unmade science fiction film exists…
What role did the concept of ‘adda’ play in fostering a culture of critical thinking and literary creativity in Bengal?

To speak of Bengal without mentioning adda is like describing Athens without the agora or Renaissance…