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Click Here  to check out this and the various other independent entries of the exhibition!

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Click Here  to check out the Virsa (The Punjabi Literary Society) Section of the exhibition!

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Click Here  to check out the Bazm-e-Adab  Society (The Urdu-Literary Society) Section of the exhibition!

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Click Here to check out the History Society Section of the exhibition!

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Click Here  to check out the Fine Arts Society Section of the exhibition!

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Literature & Cinema

I’ve always been drawn to classic Novels. Give me a copy of Sense and Sensibility or maybe Little Women, and I shall lap at the words the way a dehydrated dog laps at a bowl of water. Of course, every reader has something different that draws him to a book. For me it’s always been the way every character’s speech is so intricately designed to plunge the reader into waves of emotion and deepest ponderings, or the way in which the author could describe a seemingly mundane day for over three or four pages and still somehow make it pivotal to the story, or the way a glance, a passing remark, a gentle touch, all of which could be a turning point in a characters history. 

I however have always been handicapped by the limitations of my imagination. While I enjoy these books oh so very much, they’re all set in a time that seems so foreign and almost other-worldly. A world where honour and propriety were of everyday conversation, where one could talk about the shades of pink in the sky in over a million different ways and hear dialogue so cleverly illustrated through words that my mind could all but fathom to absorb. And so, I sadly have never been able to most accurately paint the picture that the author was trying to draw with every syllable he/she writes. Which is probably why I admire film makers who do. 

While I completely agree there probably will never be a movie that could most accurately portray everything I love about the novel in under two hours, I still am left dumbfounded at teams of directors, screen writers, script makers and so on, who collectively come together and are able to capture almost every detail of anguish, joy, sorrow and poetry on screen. Take for example the recent adaptation of Little Women, or the not so recent adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Almost completely different styles of filmmaking, and yet somehow every time I re-watch these movies, I fall madly in love with each character all over again. The melodies that grace every scene turning cinema to poetry, the lengthy pause that comes after a characters outburst, and oh the dancing in perhaps almost every adaptation ever, all so perfectly summarised and portrayed, it’s almost impossible not to feel the intensity of each moment as it passes you on the screen and leaves you longing for more.

While I might owe my love for these movies to the fact that I almost wish to melt into the pages of the books I read, and watching a movie gets me halfway there, I will always be the first person to critique and fall in love with a new adaptation of my favourite novel. It's no secret I am a romantic at heart and may even be old-fashioned, but it takes a lot to capture my emotions, and I applaud cinema and its many factions for having done so time and time again.

-Sneha Daniel

B.A. (Hons) Economics, St. Stephen’s College

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Recurring Themes in Movies

Film’s primary author is its director, as advocated by French critic turned- filmmaker Francis Truffat. A film at the end of the day is a director’s medium. Actors are only accountable for their performances but it’s the director who manipulates everything ranging from screenplay to the final cut, what’s finally put up is not the script but a director’s interpretation of the same.

Consequently a film is a reflection of its director. Filmmakers more often than not use familiar motifs, unique to them, to convey the desired feeling. This involves use of music, varied colour palettes, particular narrative structure or camera movement, even reference to popular movies/literature that has shaped them as an artist.

Here is an attempt to dive deeper into few of these ideas by deciphering some of the most prominent works, attempt is to look beyond the obvious, to look for recurring themes and find how extremely varied films are linked to one another.

Vishal Bhardwaj and use of mirrors- revealing the vulnerable side of his characters

Maqbool (2003)

Omkara (2006)

Kaminey: The Scoundrels (2009)

Imtiaz Ali and mountains- his characters escape to mountains to find one self.

Jab We Met (2007)

Rockstar (2012)

Karan Johar and his love for benches- a motif to overcome isolation

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1999)

Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Ghum (2001)

Kamyaab and Bombay Talkies- failed actors finding their feet

Bombay Talkies (2012)

Kamyaab (2020)

End credits of Andhadhun (2018)- ode to old Hindi Classics, a recurring theme in Sriram Raghvan’s movies

A Death in the Gunj and Andhadhun- cars with dark secrets easily fading away in daylight

Andhadhun (2018)

A Death in the Gunj (2016)

- Anas Arif

This is a part of an article by Anas Arif that was originally published in https://www.thebriefbulletin.com/articles

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Bulbul Can Sing

The trees shed the flowers of palash

Which heave with her ripe bosom

The absence of metaphysical in the physicality of loveIs the absence of fragrance in the vibrance of Palash

Material passions are irresistible

Often, they sell oppression in the garb of morality

Between the divinity of radhakrishna

And the brutality of "our culture"

Hangs that lifeless young girl

From the ropes of your hypocrisy

~

Desire often supersedes love

Love of teenage passions dreams of wild kisses

Fantasies are often devoid of love

But perhaps not as empty of love

As societal rules are

~

Discover the haunting rawness of it

The filth of pigs, the filth within uncut nails, the filth in young minds

The shanties of Assamese villages

Which reek of everything mundane

As mundane as incessant rains

Take it slow. Slower.

Into the innocence of pure friendships

Purer than the first showers of monsoon

~

Love is loss

Love amounts to loss

Loss longs for love

Love loses love

And after the loss of love,

Can BulBul still sing?

- Sharmishtha Singh Ranawat

BA Programme, St Stephen’s College

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Love, Death & Robots

A colorful, diverse anthological animated series with no two episodes looking the same or telling the same story. Short, sharp, and to the point with its varied storylines and even more differed portrayal of those stories. They make you see, think, and always gasp at the twists and turns it takes. It isn't a suspense - thriller series but, even in the short 10 minutes, the story knows how to bring the person to the edge and keep wanting more. It's an ideal weekend binge. It has something to keep the visuals entertained and mind thinking.

-Sara Alex

BA Programme, St Stephen’s College

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In this segment, we explore the influence of Malayalam Literature on cinema.

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Malyalam Literature and Art

By Adarsh P Mathew  B.Sc. (Hons) Physics, St. Stephen’s College

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The practice of movie adaptations of popular literary works became a major draw in the 1950s. It is interesting to note that both, the first nationally recognised film in Malayalam, Neelakuyil(1954) and one of the very first experimental films of the Industry, The Newspaper Boy(1955), were based on literary works. In the 60s and 70s, more film adaptations started coming up in the mainstream cinema and majority of them were successes. The trend of adapting multiple works of the same writer began during this time. Thakazhi Sivashankara PIllai, MT Vasudevan Nair and Vaikom Muhammed Basheer are three such writers whose many literary works were made into films. This reduced the gap between literature and cinema in Malayalam. Thakazhi’s Randidangazhi(1958), Chemmeen(1965) and Anubhavangal Palichakal(1971), Basheer’s Bhargavi Nilayam(1964), Balyakalasakhi(1967), Mucheettukalikkarante Makal(1985) and Mathilukal(1990) and Vasudevan Nair’s Iruttinte Athmavu(1966), Asuravithu(1968), Olavum Theeravum(1969), Nirmalayam(1973), Aalkkotttathil Thaniye(1984) and Theerthadanam(2001) have been made into films.

- Adarsh P Mathew

B.Sc. (Hons) Physics, St. Stephen’s College

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By the 1980s, the practice of adapting literary works to films became very rampant. The films based on literary works of other languages also started coming up. Kanamarayathu (1984; based on an English novel), Koodevide(1983; based on a Tamil Novel) and Utharam(1989; based on the English story ‘No Motive’) were three such films. P. Padmarajan, who was an author, screenwriter and director, followed the paths of Thakazhi and Basheer and was the bridge between cinema and literature during the 80s and 90s. Many of Padmarajan’s films were adaptations of his own literary works (Thoovanathumbikal, Aparan, Kallan Pavithran), while he also adapted other literary works from various languages, like Innale, Koodevide(both based on Tamil novels by Vasanthi, Moongil Pookal and Punarjanmam respectively) and Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal(based on novel by K.K. Sudhakaran). Padmarajan was also one of the very first filmmakers to adapt non-literary works to Malayalam cinema. Two of his films, Thinkalazhcha Nalla Divasam(1985) and Kariyilakkattu Pole(1986) were based on radio dramas, ‘Ammakkuvendi’ by Sajini Pavithran and ‘Sisirathil Oru Prabhatam’by Sudhakar Mangalodhayam respectively. The other notable films released in 80s and 90s based on literary works were Daivathinte Vikrithikal(1992), Vidheyan(1994) and Ponthan Mada(1994) 

-Adarsh P Mathew

B.Sc. (Hons) Physics, St. Stephen’s College

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In the late-1990s and early 2000s, Jayaraj and Shyamaprasad were two directors whose majority of films were adaptations of literary and art works. Parallel to Vishal Bharadwaj’s attempts in remaking Shakespearan plays in Hindi cinema, Jayaraj recreated a number of Shakespeare’s classics in Malayalam Cinema and achieved international acclaim. Kaliyattam(1997; based on Othello), Veeram(2016; based on Macbeth) and Kannaki(2002; based on Anthony and Cleopatra) are some of the notable works. Like Padmarajan, Shyamaprasad adapted literary and art works from various languages and produced several artistic and meaningful films. His works include Agnisakshi(based on a Malayalam novel), Akale(based on an English Novel), Ore Kadal(based on a Bengali novel) and Elektra(based on Greek legend).

- Adarsh P Mathew

B.Sc. (Hons) Physics, St. Stephen’s College