Kumar Shahani (7 December 1940 – 24 February 2024) was an Indian film director and screenwriter, best known for his parallel cinema films Maya Darpan (1972), Tarang (1984), Khayal Gatha (1989) and Kasba (1990). His films won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film in 1972, 1990 and 1991. Due to his dedication to formalism, and with the reputation of his first feature—Maya Darpan being considered among Indian cinema's first formalist films—critics and film enthusiasts often associated him with filmmakers such as Pier Paolo Pasolini, Andrei Tarkovsky and Jacques Rivette.Winds From the East. "Interview With Kumar Shahani", Retrieved on 17 June 2014. He was also known as a teacher at his alma mater, the Film and Television Institute of India, and as a theorist of cinema. His book of 51 essays Kumar Shahani: The Shock of Desire and Other Essays, was edited by Ashish Rajadhyaksha and published by Tulika Books in 2015.
Early life Shahani was born on 7 December 1940, in Larkana, Sindh (now in Pakistan). After the partition of India in 1947, Shahani's family shifted to the city of Bombay (now Mumbai). He attended the University of Bombay to obtain an undergraduate degree in political science and history, and studied advanced direction and screenplay writing at the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune, where he was a student of Ritwik Ghatak. He also studied with Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi. On a French government scholarship,Homi Bhabha Fellowships Council. "Mr. Kumar Shahani" , Retrieved on 2 March 2009. he moved to France to further his studies at the Institut des hautes études cinématographiques (IDHEC) and assisted Robert Bresson on Une Femme Douce.
Career After returning to India, Shahani made his first feature film Maya Darpan in 1972. He received funding twelve years later to make his next full-length feature film, Tarang, in 1984.Upperstall.com Profile. "Kumar Shahani Upperstall Profile", Retrieved on 2 March 2009. His other landmark films included the 1989 film Khayal Gatha and the 1990 film Kasba. He also made the short films Rails for the World, Fire in the Belly, Our Universe and Var Var Vari, the documentary Bhavantarana and Char Adhyay. His films won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Film in 1972, 1990 and 1991. Maya Darpan won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi in 1972. His films often appeared at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Khayal Gatha won the FIPRESCI Prize at Rotterdam in 1990. He received the Prince Claus Award in 1998.
From 1976 to 1978, he held a Homi Bhabha Fellowship to study the epic tradition of the Mahābhārata, Buddhist iconography, Indian classical music and the Bhakti movement.House of World Culture. "Kumar Shahani", "Culturebase The International Artist Database" Retrieved on 2 March 2009. Shahani was also involved with India's archiving and restoration initiative, the Film Heritage Foundation. He taught at the Film and Television Institute of India. His book of 51 essays, Kumar Shahani: The Shock of Desire and Other Essays, was published by Tulika Books in 2015. The essays were written over a 40-year period.Ashish Rajadhyaksha. Kumar Shahani: The Shock of Desire and Other Essays. academia.edu.
Influences Shahani considered Roberto Rossellini and Robert Bresson as major influences on his work and those from whom he learned the most. When comparing the two, he stated:
For his film Tarang, which dealt with labour issues, Shahani mentioned that he consciously tried to avoid 'repeating' or 'imitating' one of his favourite films: Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin. Shahani stated:
Shahani was also influenced by Ritwik Ghatak.
Death Shahani died in Kolkata, West Bengal on 24 February 2024, at the age of 83. He was survived by his wife and daughters Uttara and Rewati and his partner Rimli Bhattacharya.
Filmography Sources:Kumar Shahani, The HinduG.K., "Musings of a Marxist", The Hindu. Retrieved on 2 March 2009. Year Film Notes 1966 The Glass Pane b/w, 35mm, 10 min. Graduation film. FTII. 1967 Manmad Passenger b/w, 35mm, 15 min. Short film. FTII. 1967 A Certain Childhood (English and Gujarati). b/w, 35mm, 22 min. Documentary for Directorate of Films, Gujarat, India. 1970 Rails for the World 35mm, 20 min. Technicolor, Documentary made for Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) 1971 Object 16mm, 10 min. Kodachrome, Short film made in collaboration with the psychoanalyst Udayan Patel. 1972 Maya Darpan (Hindi) 35mm, 100 min. Feature. NFDC. Winner Filmfare Award – Best Film (Critics)National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi 1973 Fire in the Belly (English). b/w, 35mm, Documentary made for Films Division, India. 1976 Our Universe (English). b/w, 16mm, Educational film1983A Memoir of the Future(English). 35mm (incomplete). Film made on the work of British psychoanalyst W.R. Bion1983Rules of the Game35mm, Documentary (censored but not released), made for Films Division. 1984 Tarang (Hindi). 35mm, Cinemascope, Feature produced by NFDC. National Film Award – Special Jury Award (Certificate) 1988 Var Var Vari (Hindi). b/w, 35mm, 29 min, produced by the Film & Television Institute of India1988A Ship Aground(English). 16mm, Short film. 1989 Khayal Gatha (Hindi) 35 mm Winner Filmfare Award – Best Film (Critics)Winner FIPRESCI Prize – Rotterdam International Film Festival 1991 Kasba (Hindi) 35 mm, produced by NFDC. Winner Filmfare Award – Best Film (Critics) 1991 Bhavantarana (Oriya) film about Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra National Film Award for Best Biographical Film 1997 Char Adhyay(Hindi and Bengali) film based on Rabindranath Tagore's novel produced by NFDC 2000 Bamboo Flute/Biraha bhariyo ghar angan kone (Hindi and Tamil) film produced by the Ministry of External Affairs 2004 As the Crow Flies Film based on the artist Akbar Padamsee2007Chhapakhana (Bengali) short film made at Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute2009Priye Charushile(Oriya and Italian), feature documentary, completed but unreleased
Awards Source:"The 5th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art" (), Retrieved on 2 March 2009. National Award (1972, 1984, 1991) Filmfare Critics Awards – Best Film (1972, 1990, 1991) The International Film Festival of Rotterdam – FIPRESCI Award (1990) Prince Claus Award (1998)
References
External links Kumar Shahani – The Shock of Desire and Other Essays ed. Ashish Rajadhyakhsha Laleen Jayamanne The Epic Cinema of Kumar Shahani Jacques Kermabon & Kumar Shahani Cinema and Television: Fifty Years of Reflection in France
The museum as a refuge for film: the case for Kumar Shahini's epic cinema at Indian Auteur