Mrunal Sen Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

- by
- •
- Sociology, Cinema and Socio-Political Consciousness, Indian Cinema, Political cinema

Film is a device that gives platform for reflecting contemporary social issues and it also works as watchdog for political
system. Indian cinema has been, since long, a strong medium to portray and comment on social issues of its respective
times. Although politics and social issues go hand in hand, Indian Cinema has been, though not as a rule, seen to ignore
the politics largely. History of Indian politics has always been dramatic in nature and it seems to be following the same
path in present too. In spite of this, there’s a strong disconnect between the filmmakers and the continuously ongoing
political drama. Mrinal Sen was one filmmaker among very few others, who has fearlessly addressed social issues and
their entanglement with the contemporary politics. This paper, mainly, will study the socio-political approach of Mrinal
Sen’s filmmaking with some of his films like Calcutta Trilogy (1970 to 1973), Chorus (1974), Ek Din Pratidin (1979) and
their relation with contemporary socio-political situations in Bengal. This study will not be limited for his subjects but it
will go in deep for his characterization and situations chosen to comment on contemporary socio political issues. It also
explains the connections of Mrinal Sen’s social and political ideologies with his cinema. Indian Cinema has seen a
number of renowned filmmakers who have addressed social issues in their films under the tag of ‘art cinema’ but they
rarely seem to make any comment on the political aspect. Mrinal Sen stands out in the league of his contemporaries as
far as his approach towards the concept and style of film making is concerned and therefore, it becomes important to
study his contribution to what we can call-‘Indian socio-political cinema’.

- by Sumedh MK and +1
- •
- Cinema and Socio-Political Consciousness, Indian Cinema, Political cinema, Mrunal Sen