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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 as a spectral bridge between the poetic humanism of Indian cinema and the blockbuster sensibilities of Hollywood. It was concieved in the mid-1960s, when Satyajit Ray — Bengali auteur, polymath, and poet of the everyday — turned his gaze…
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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 Florence without its salons.
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Chittaprosad Bhattacharya, The Chronicler of the Hungry and Forgotten
In reflecting on Chittaprosad Bhattacharya, one is reminded of the philosopher Theodor Adorno’s assertion that art must resist the commodification of life, that it must stand as a counterforce to the dehumanizing tendencies of modernity.
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The Satirical Bengali Art that Shamed Society’s Hypocrisy
Kalighat paintings, born amidst the bustling streets and chaotic rhythm of 19th-century Calcutta, offer a masterful and sardonic glimpse into the hypocrisy of society. At first glance, these works may appear deceptively simple — watercolor strokes on paper, vibrant colors embracing figures that seem whimsical, almost playful.
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‘Charitraheen’ to ‘Charulata’, the Evolution of Shame and Morality in Bengali Cinema
On humid afternoons in Kolkata, when the shadows of old colonial mansions stretch long across quiet lanes, a question lingers in the air. It is the question of shame — of morality that weighs like invisible chains, of whispered stories that women hear from their grandmothers and, years later, recount to their own daughters. Bengali…
ARTMO MAG 