"This book is perhaphs, the first modest attempt by an Indian film critic delve into the rather delicate subject of feminist film criticism within the framework of Indian popular cinema. The idea was rooted in a consistent thrashing of ideas and concepts attacking the patriarchal dominance in Hindi popular cinema through articles written in Indian publications and papers presented at seminars on cinema over the past two decades. It is more of an emotional response to the portrayal of women in Indian cinema than a cerebral and clinical analysis conducted along the British schools of feminist film criticism based on psycho-analysis, semiology and structuralism. It has sought to place Indian popular cinema in perspective along sociological lines where the subjects of mythology, marriage, adultery, prostitution, rape, suicide and male masquerade have been analysed through the myopic glasses of an Indian woman addicted to cinema and to women. This is the result of three years of intensive research, through films, books and documentation consisting of archival material on Indian cinema."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Shoma A. Chatterji
Shoma A. Chatterji, based in Calcutta since 1995, is a noted author, freelance journalist and film critic writing for over 20 years. Her areas of specialization are cinema, gender, television, personalities, children human rights, literature and relationships. She conducts workshops on writing, journalism, and film appreciation in Mumbai and Kolkata several times a year. She won a commendation for her 'Outstanding Contribution to women's Issues' from the Eve's Weekly Woman Journalist Award in 1988; the National Award for Best Film Critic of the years in 1991; the Best Film Critic Award from the Bengal Film Journalists' Association i 1998 and National Award for the Best Book on cinema in 2003 for the book Parama and other outsiders-the Cinema of Aparna Sen. She is a postgraduate in Economics, Education and also holds a postgraduate diploma in Journalism from Mumbai's Somaiya Institute of Journalism and Mass Communication. She has presented papers at national and international seminars on cinema and gender and has been on the international jury at several international film festivals across Europe. She is a founder member of FIPRESCI-India, an international organisation of film critics based in Munich. She has authored four books on gender, four film biographies, two film analyses, three collections of short fiction in English and one collection of cinema articles in Bengali.
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