'1970: Key Events

• The Naxalite Movement takes a new turn with student uprisings in Calcutta and other cities. Rebelling against corrupt and archaic education systems, problems of unemployment and the class divide separating Westernised urban life from the ‘reality’ of rural India, the student action becomes iconoclastic, defacing statues of Gandhi, Rammohun Roy, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Vivekananda et al. Furious debates about the role of art and culture, the supportable and objectionable aspects of India’s history, and the role of its petty bourgeoisie, end badly with brutal police and military crackdowns and indiscriminate killings. Anti-Naxalite hysteria grips the state machinery. The central government approves the West Bengal Prevention of Violent Activities Bill.

• Indira Gandhi’s turn towards socialism is reflected in the new Industrial Licensing Policy, reversing the trend towards deregulation. This socialism is incarnated in the Fourth Five-Year Plan, with an outlay of Rs 15,902 crore. The government abolishes privy purses and all privileges to India’s erstwhile royalty.

• The English monthly Stardust, using ‘Bombay English’ and featuring movie star gossip and scandals, revolutionises the concept of the fanzine.

• Journal of the Kerala Film Chamber (Cochin) starts. Close Up (no. 5/6) publishes a special number on ‘The Indian Film Scene’.

• Samskara inaugurates New Indian Cinema in Kannada.

• Firoze Rangoonwala publishes his Indian Filmography: Silent and Hindi Films (1897-1969).