By Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Followed by screening of
 

Rocketry: The Nambi Effect (India)
(157 min; 2022; Hindi/Tamil/Telugu/English)
Director: Madhavan

With R. Madhavan, Simran Bagga, Rajit Kapoor
  
Rocketry: The Nambi Effect is a retelling of Shri Nambi Narayananʼs life story as it unravels in an interview by the celebrated superstar and Badshah of Bollywood, Shah Rukh Khan, on a TV programme. Like many great minds, Nambi is also deeply flawed, his genius and obsession earning him enemies and detractors, thus making him a compelling modern protagonist. 

Beyond serving as a treatise for the vindication of quiet achievers in society, the film also challenges the audience to take up the responsibility of recognizing, and celebrating these special contributors, whether it be a Nambi Narayanan or a teacher educating poor kids, soldiers at the border, doctors serving in remote villages, or volunteers helping the needy. It also raises a powerful question – Why arenʼt we standing up collectively to defend our innocent and powerless against the hegemony of the powers that be? For every Nambi, there are a thousand more quiet achievers fighting for justice.

As part of this screening, from 3 to 12 December 2022 there will be an exhibition at the Art Gallery, Kamaladevi Complex, IIC
 

Cine-Pop!
Bollywood Photo Culture
Amassed from the streets of Bombay, this growing array of images from the collection of Rahaab Allana highlights movie stills and associated memorabilia that advertised and popularized actors and epic sequences from the original film. Dated largely between the 1950s and ‘80s. The exhibition features photographs from studios such as Studio Nataraj, Himalaya Talkie Distributors and Pravinchandra G. Javeri, most of which are in Bombay (present day Mumbai).
 

Two books from the “Routledge Focus on Modern Subjects” will be discussed:

Disciplines of Modernity: Archives, Histories, Anthropologies

By Saurabh Dube (Routledge Taylor & Francis: 2022)

The Dazzle of the Digital: Unbundling India Online

By Meghna Bal and Vivan Sharan (Routledge Taylor & Francis: 2022)

Discussants: Dr. Mahesh Uppal, Director, ComFirst India; Prof. Prathama Banerjee, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi; Prof. Projit B. Mukharji, Professor, History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania and Ashoka University; Prof. Vibodh Parathasarathi, Associate Professor, Centre for Culture, Media and Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia University; Ms Meghna Bal, Fellow, Esya Centre and co-author of the book; Shri Vivan Sharan, Partner, Koan Advisory Group and co-author of the book; and Dr. Saurabh Dube, Distinguished Professor of History, El Colegio de Mexico, Mexico City and author of the book