Special Lecture on “Films of Ray, Ghatak and Sen: Post Independence Bengali Cinema as National Cinema” by the History Department

Name of the Activity: The Department of History conducted a special lecture on “Films of Ray, Ghatak and Sen: Post Independence Bengali Cinema as National Cinema”.

Type of Activity: Special Lecture

Date/Duration of Activity: The special lecture was conducted on 14^th December from 2 pm till 4 pm.

Time: The special lecture was conducted from 2 pm till 4 pm.

Details of Resource Person: Professor Arup Ratan Samajdar

No. of Participants: 41 participants including 29 faculty

Objective of the Event: The special lecture was organised as a part of students SEC course of Semester 3. It was conducted with an intent at understanding the intricacies of Popular Cultural Traditions of Bengal.

Brief Description of the Event: The lecture commenced with an understanding of Post Independent Indian State’s encouragement of New Age Cinema. It explored the expansive oeuvre of 3 filmmakers and their deep legacy in understanding the popular traditions of Bengal. The lecture was conducted through snippets of films- demonstrating the importance of the visual archive. It focussed on a paradigm of using cinema as a historiographical method to describe cultural processes of Bengal. The lecture commenced with a vote of thanks by Head of the Department, Professor Piu Chatterjee.

Outcome of the Event: The outcome of the event was successful with the Qand A session focussing on gender dynamics of cinema and a discussion on music as a source.