An Interview with Actor, Nandita Das
By Mary Ann Chacko
In this ‘Cafe Dissensus’ conversation, internationally acclaimed actor and social worker, Nandita Das speaks to Mary Ann Chacko, an Editor of Cafe Dissensus, NYC.
An Interview with Mr. Amit Khanna, Ex-Chairman, Reliance Entertainment
By Cafe Dissensus
In this ‘Cafe Dissensus’ conversation, Mr. Amit Khanna, Ex-Chairman, Reliance Entertainment, talks about the Indian entertainment industry.
Film: An Informal Conversation with Jayan K. Cherian, Director, Papilio Buddha
By Mary Ann Chacko & Mosarrap H. Khan
In this Cafe Dissensus Conversation, Director Jayan K. Cherian discusses his new film, Papilio Buddha, which deals with the land-struggles of dalits and adivasis in the Western Ghats of Kerala.
Bangladesh: A Nation Divided
By Mosarrap H. Khan
About a month after I watched these two films in Kolkata, I landed in Dhaka toward the middle of December, 2011 with the twin purpose of attending a conference of Bengal studies and conducting research for my study on Muslim everyday life in the sub-continent. Once in Dhaka, I could feel an air of excitement and celebration on the occasion of Bangladesh’s fortieth anniversary of its independence.
Film: An Overview of the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF)
By Rafikul Islam
Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, presided over the inauguration. Sukalyan Bhattacharya choreographed Down Memory Lane, which showcased 100 years of Indian Cinema. Dev and Koel felicitated Big B. Ranjit Mallick gave the inaugural speech. In the opening ceremony, a clipping of Brand Bengal was screened.
Film Review: ‘Anurag Khashyap’s That Day After Everyday’
By Mary Ann Chacko
While walking on the streets with my sister, cousins, or friends, we would suddenly hear someone calling ‘shh!shh!’ from an alley. Your reflex action would be to turn and look and what did you see? A random guy with an erect penis trying to grab your attention.
Education: Dreamcatcher Humaira Bachal at Teachers College, Columbia University
Humaira Bachal is the Founder & President Dream Foundation Trust. Humaira moved to the Moach Goth squatter settlement in Karachi City, when her village and her home were destroyed by floods in interior Sindh.
No ‘Kashmir’ in India: A Film Festival Vandalized in Hyderabad
By Abu Saleh
The opening day of the festival was at the L V Prasad Preview Theatre. Before the inaugural session, around forty people gathered one by one and started shouting. At first they broke the entrance door panels, windowpanes, one TV screen and began to throw flower vases. They went inside the projector room, damaged some of the old film reels of the institute/distributor (LVP).
Film: Rendezvous with Shyam Benegal
By Nadira Khan
He seemed very eager to narrate the history of the Hindi film industry and how Urdu language and Hindustani culture played a crucial role in the early period of its development. He said that Hindi, as is often thought, is a not a recent language. Rather, it existed before in a different form.
Film Review: The Reluctant Fundamentalist; Director – Mira Nair
By Mosarrap Hossain Khan
Nair, and her team of scriptwriters, which includes Mohsin Hamid himself, did what appears to be the most sensible. Take Changez’s story from the novel and replace the part played by the silent American visitor with that of an American journalist, Bobby, who doubles up as a CIA agent, more like his mentor, Prof. Rainier, who once worked as a CIA operative in Afghanistan.
Rendezvous with Kabir Khan
By Nadira Khan
I remembered my first rendezvous with the film stars during my childhood which I spent in a tiny town, surrounded by paddy fields and which had one concrete main road branching into muddy lanes. Living there the film world was beyond my reach.
Cafe Dissensus Everyday 