South Asian Cinema is nearly synonymous with Indian Cinema to the international audience, though other South Asian countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal have developed strong film cultures too. The objective of the course is mapping the cine profile of the South Asian countries and examining Bollywood’s hegemonic presence in the region. This seminar course will study some cases across a range of South Asian Cinema cultures by exploring their common as well as different cultural backgrounds, historiography, and sociopolitical realities. Topics will include both historical and contemporary cinematic practices in South Asian countries such as the Partition of India in South Asian Cinema, cinematic representation of the Liberation War of Bangladesh, Bollywood’s cultural influence in other South Asian countries, portrayal of Kashmir in Indian cinema, diasporic Indian cinema and ‘other Bollywood’ cinema. Films by directors such as Raj Kapoor, Satyajit Ray, Ritwik Ghatak and Anurag Kashyap from India, Zahir Raihan, Alamgir Kabir and Tareque Masud from Bangladesh, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Shoaib Mansoor from Pakistan, and Lester James Peries from Sri Lanka will be studied closely.

Taught by Fahmid Haq, Bard College Annandale

This was an OSUN class and was open to students from multiple OSUN partner institutions.