Refocus: the Films of Shyam Benegal

The first edited collection of essays dedicated to Shyam Benegal's career and filmsOffers in-depth scholarship on Indian parallel, or new wave, cinemaProvides cultural contexts for Benegal's films, including representations of gender, class, and casteCan be used in academic courses dealing with Bollywood, gender politics, subaltern studies, media studies, adaptation, and postcolonialismShyam Benegal is widely perceived as one of the most influential Indian filmmakers, yet his voluminous body of work remains relatively under-studied in contemporary film scholarship.To help fill this critical lacuna, ReFocus: The Films of Shyam Benegal undertakes a closer look at Benegal's films, a trailblazing auteur who successfully redefined the contours of non-commercial Hindi language cinema. This addition to ReFocus: The International Directors Series will consider how Benegal, over the course of his forty year career, used cinema as a potent medium to narrate the story of a nation in continuous transition. The 13 essays in the volume will explore how Benegal's films articulate his concerns over caste, class, gender, religion, and other allied social, economic and political problems characterizing the Indian subcontinent. This collection also includes a full-length interview with Shyam Benegal that investigates his perspectives on the art of film-making.