The Media Lab: News & Events

International Seminar on ‘Writing Histories for Indian Cinema’

Organized by Department of Film Studies Jadavpur University

October 28-30, 2009, Vivekanda Hall, Subarna Jayanti Bhhavan

Subhajit Chatterjee

Anindya Sengupta

Jt. Coordinators

The agenda of the conference was to revisit the writing of Indian film history keeping in view the fact that some substance has accumulated in the area since Film Studies came into its own in India. The discipline has returned to important moments – the silent period, the studio era, the 1950s, the era of the mass film, etc. As distinct ways of approaching texts and forms developed, scholars have also tried to build models for contextualizing them in ‘history’, including ‘film history’. Approaches have varied from political economic orientation to local histories of institutions and personnel. The literature largely indicates the plurality - histories rather than a History - of Indian cinema, even as textual analyses remain focused on formal universals.

The central issues discussed in the conference included a) the need to rethink the models of historiography that present themselves spontaneously to the student of Indian cinema;

b) possibilities of imagining the historical contours of an Indian cinema that can do justice to the different regional industries; c) How to arrive at account of certain phases which all film industries have in common, eg., the advent of sound? d) Contemporary models of archival research and their relationship to pre-Film Studies critical paradigms .

The three-day seminar involved presentation of research papers, the closing session of each day being devoted to a panel discussion on a chosen topic related to the broad theme of the seminar. The list of speakers with a brief description of events is presented below:

Day 1

Papers

Virchand Dharamsey(Archaeologist & Independent Scholar, Mumbai)

Joppan George(The Media Lab, Jadavpur University)

Stephen P. Hughes (School of Oriental & African Studies, London)

Panel: Film History before Film Studies

Somen Ghosh (Independent scholar, Kolkata), Gopalan Mullick (St. Xaviers College, Kolkata) Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay (Dept. Of Film Studies, J.U)

The paper presentations on the first day focused on making sense of crucial historical markers in the early period of Indian cinema. Virchand Dharamsey commented on the generic and formal significances of interaction between stage and screen during the early sound period while Joppan George discussed the technological interactions and appropriations overseeing the transition into sound era. Stephen Hughes drew attention to earlier practices of film distribution and exhibition involving mobile networks such as traveling shows.

The panel discussion moderated by Abhijit Roy (Dept. of Film Studis, JU) focused on the traditions of film history writing before the advent of Film Studies as an academic discipline. Focusing on contribution of film society movements in India, the panelists critically revisited various accounts of indigenous filmmaking practices both as artistic discourse and as popular form.

Day 2

Papers

S.Theodore Baskaran (Independent scholar, Bangalore)

Subhajit Chatterjee(Dept. of Film Studies, Jadavpur University)

M. Madhava Prasad (The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad)

Panel: Film Studies, Archives, Film history

Madhuja Mukherjee (Dept. Of Film Studies, J.U), Ravi Vasudevan (Sarai-CSDS, Delhi), Stephen P. Hughes (School of Oriental & African Studies, London), Gayatri Chatterjee (Film & Television Institute of India, Pune)

The second day’s papers focused on archives, academic research and their relation to critical accounts of Indian film history. S.Theodore Baskaran’s paper addressed the historical dimensions of the concrete problems pertaining to archival resources on Indian cinema while Subhajit Chatterjee’s paper focused on ways in which alternative models of archival research could redefine the social significances of Indian cinema within a broader domain of popular culture. M. Madhava Prasad’s paper on the other hand critically addressed contemporary academic accounts, commenting on various configurations of ‘Indian film history’ in relation to broader histories of the Cinema.

The panel discussion, titled ‘Film Studies, Archives, Film history’, moderated by M. Madhava Prasad, centred around archival research and various revisionary models for history writing that have emerged since the institutionalization of Indian cinema studies, focusing on studio histories as well as contextual readings that often reveal multiple layers within popular film forms.

Day 3

Papers

Gayatri Chatterjee (Film and Television Institute of India, Pune)

Ashish Rajadhyaksha (Centre for the Study of Culture & Society, Bangalore)

Ravi Vasudevan (Sarai-CSDS, Delhi)

Panel: Digital Archives: Challenges before History

Ashish Rajadhyaksha (Centre for the Study of Culture & Society, Bangalore), Anindya Sengupta (Dept. Of Film Studies, J.U), Moinak Biswas (Dept. Of Film Studies, J.U),

The final day’s paper presentations elaborated on various modes of classification and reading of popular film texts and forms. Gayatri Chatterjee and Ravi Vasudevan commented of multilayered nature of popular texts often demanding alternative modes of enquiry that can address historical processes pertaining to construction of generic and formal complexities. Asish Rajadhyaksha’s discussed the technical as well as conceptual problems of textual classification commenting on the historically complex nature of such practices.

The final day’s panel discussion moderated by Subhajit Chatterjee, centred around the conceptual and practical challenges thrown by digital archiving practices. The discussants commented upon emergent digital tools and models that could redefine the formal and aesthetic conventions of archiving but also reflected upon the attendant conceptual difficulties in relation to production of critical accounts from digital databases.

The seminar ended following the valedictory session and vote of thanks.