Mumbai – DECO SCREENINGS

Mira Nair’s 1985 documentary exploring the ‘respectable’ and ‘immoral’ stereotypes of women in Indian society was told from the point of view of two strip-tease dancers in a cabaret house in Bombay. There were no voice-overs by either the dancers nor the men who frequented the cabaret club. Nair explored the marginalised, quite often, in her films—male and female. This time, it was the marginalised women in Bombay who had been cast out because of the ‘nature’ of their jobs. It was a striking exploration of patriarchy, hypocrisy, and the politics of the male gaze in urban India.

Venue: Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Education Centre

A documentary that sat at the intersection of cinema, India’s fast-fading theatres, and Art Deco, Cinema Pe Cinema delved into the personal stories of individuals who created and preserved the cinemas, and those for whom they were meant. It served as a tribute to these fading cultural spaces—some of them gorgeous Deco gems—and highlighted their significance as places of shared experience, while also reflecting on the changing landscape of Indian cinema.

The screening was followed by a discussion on the legacy of heritage cinemas in India, and reimagined their future with Atul Kumar, Vani Subramanian, Jigna Desai and Meenakshi Shedde.

Venue: Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Education Centre
4.30 PM – 5.45 PM (screening); 5.45 – 6.45 PM (discussion)

Art Deco Alive! in association with The Revolver Film Club presented a screening of Susheel Kurien’s Finding Carlton. The film explored the African American jazz diaspora in South Asia, and brought to life a remarkable example of early cultural globalisation. Built around a portrait of surviving Indian jazzman, the maverick guitarist Carlton Kitto, the film was a journey into India’s little-known Jazz age that lasted from the 1920s to the 1970s. The screening was followed by a discussion led by Naresh Fernandes. Naresh was joined by Ratan J Batliboi and Nakul Mehta.

Venue: Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Education Centre
4 PM – 5.20 PM (screening); 5.30 – 7 PM (discussion)