Peer Seminar on “Ye haath humku de de Thakur! – deconstructing Gabbar Singh as the Antagonising Other in Sholay”

Name of the Activity: Peer Seminar on “Ye haath humku de de Thakur! – deconstructing Gabbar Singh as the Antagonising Other in Sholay”
Type of Activity: Peer Seminar
Date/ Duration of Activity: (from-to): 01.04.2024
Time: 2:45 to 3:45 pm
Details of Resource persons: Dr. Gargi Talapatra (Assistant Professor, Dept. of English)
No. of Participants: 38

Objective of the event: The Peer Seminar is a departmental activity initiated by the Department of English where each month, a member of the faculty presents their research papers in front of the other teachers of the Department. This has been instituted as an attempt to encourage academic dialogue and widen research perspectives amongst the faculty.  Peer seminar continues to be a unique endeavour by the Department of English in order to encourage a promising atmosphere for research and the exchange of scholarly ideas. It serves to enrich faculty members and students alike through the facilitation of critical thinking and dialogue.

Brief description of the event: The Department of English, The Bhawanipur Education Society College organised Peer Seminar: Chapter 7 on 1st April, 2024 at 2:45 pm. The speaker was Dr. Gargi Talapatra; her paper was entitled “Ye haath humku de de Thakur! – deconstructing Gabbar Singh as the Antagonising Other in Sholay”. The paper primarily argued that Sholay through its skilled plot construction and adherence to popular patriarchal and class dynamics constructs Gabbar as the antagonizing Other, while making other characters seemingly righteous on grounds of slippery logic.  The session was followed by a dynamic Q&A session where students and faculty members exchanged ideas associated with film, theory and interpretations.

Outcome of the event: The session elicited a plethora of discussions on film theory and the popular films, with reference to Bollywood and Indian Cinema in the late 20th century. The PG students engaged in a stimulating discussion with Dr. Gargi Talapatra during the Q&A session. Peer Seminar has brought about an amiable climate of research in the department, initiating a much-needed dialogue between faculty and students regarding possible areas of research, both subject-specific and interdisciplinary.