Girish Karnad: A not very subtle environmental message

Noted theatre and cinema auteur Girish Karnad died June 10, 2019 morning; here's looking back at his film Cheluvi

Patent prejudice

This verbally-loaded anti-GATT film is a shrill intellectual harvest that tends to over-romanticise the small organic farmer

Understanding Adivasis

Tapan Bose's Jharkhand, 10 years in the making, has a participative view of the timeless, unspoilt lives of Adivasis stripped of their land

Tough decisions ahead

A BBC serial says strong political will is needed to ensure that energy is used efficient.

Against their wishes

An amateur film brings out the plight of Hyderabad's child brides without making judgements.

Projecting a distorted reality

A documentary for British children presents an inaccurate and oversimplified image of India.

Qualitywise, India is miles ahead

The Indian entries in a recent development video competition held by the British Council, far outpaced their competitors in production quality, …

BBC dreams about the machine

Two BBC serials take the viewer to the awesome world of computers, dramatising their history, and showing how they have become an integral part …

Too much protest, too little practice

The October edition of Newstrack had a livelier-than-usual Crosstalk, which featured doctors furious at being brought under the purview of the …

Female and unwated in India

A BBC serial has pieced together damning evidence of the rise in female foeticide in India in the 1990s.

Patkar populism lights sparks on Zee TV

Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar fended with dexterity the provocative questions posed to her in Zee TV's Aapki Adalat.

Daubs fo gilt on the Israeli image abraod

Two films on Israel, despite their obvious public relations motive, nevertheless catch and hold firmly, the viewer's interest.

Stumbling along on the road to green

A documentary telecast on Rajiv Gandhi's 50th birth anniversary examines the late Prime Minister's environmental initiatives, but finds the …

Languishing in the cans

Films on successful technological projects and innovative government schemes have failed simply because there has been no effort to show them to …

Living with the Devil's Element

BBC's film on chlorine is more successful in underlining the vital role it plays in daily life, rather than in detailing why it should be banned

Pitching for sustainability in agriculture

Two films, shown recently in the Capital, focus on alternative farming strategies as a counterbalance to the ecologically destructive Green Revolution

Doordarshan's new tricks show promise

Classroom 2000+ is a promising teaching experiment, which, if extended, could revolutionise science education in Indian villages. Meanwhile, Quest,…

Tears and the drama aside, the message survives

Prabhat Roy's award-winning Shwet Paatharer Thala is a tear-jerker, which nevertheless effectively preaches the lesson of family welfare.

Riveting saga of a river that gives -- and takes

Goutam Ghose's Padma Nadir Majhi depicts how poor fisherfolk, already vulnerable to nature's whims, are exploited by fellow-humans.

STAR shifts from soaps, sleuths to nature

As people become more concerned about the environment, a TV channel moves its focus from family dramas and crime thrillers to nature.

One high-profile crusader takes on another

The activists' extremism subtly: Patkar compares the dam to a bomb while another activist says if the Berlin Wall could be brought down, why not …

Indian TV opens eye to environmental issues

Environmental issues aren't "sexy" enough for video news magazines, except when there is an element of conflict.

Chilika documentary fails to make a point

Oriya film-maker Prithwiraj Mishra's documentary is impressive for its photography, but he fails to deal convincingly with the question of the …

12 film marathon spotlights urban decadence

Interestingly, apartment blocks in Warsaw bear a strong resemblance to Delhi Development Authority's more abominable creations.

A not-very-subtle environmental message

The film should communicae its environmental message far more effectively than the dozens of inept documentaries that have been made on the subject.