| 17 | | Early work sited in rural environment (Ankur and Nishant in AP, Manthan in Gujarat), using professional actors but with explicit references to the peasant unrest, initially CPI(ML)-led (see [[Naxalite]]) and acquiring a national dimension after the failure of the 1971-2 harvests. This work provided an early aesthetic articulation of what would soon become official government media policy towards the rural areas via the SITE programme. Later features are closer to the entertainment-led ‘middle cinema’. Made several features (including fiction) on commission for clients, e.g. the National Dairy Development Board in Gujarat (Manthan), the CPI(M)-led Government of West Bengal (Aarohan), the Handloom Co-operatives (Susman), Indian Railways (Yatra), an Indo- Soviet government-sponsored feature- documentary (Nehru) and the 53-episode TV serial based on Nehru’s book, The Discovery of India (Bharat Ek Khoj). Influential presence in national film policy organisations. |
| | 17 | Early work sited in rural environment (Ankur and Nishant in AP, Manthan in Gujarat), using professional actors but with explicit references to the peasant unrest, initially CPI(ML)-led (see [[Naxalite]]) and acquiring a national dimension after the failure of the 1971-2 harvests. This work provided an early aesthetic articulation of what would soon become official government media policy towards the rural areas via the SITE programme. Later features are closer to the entertainment-led ‘middle cinema’. Made several features (including fiction) on commission for clients, e.g. the National Dairy Development Board in Gujarat (Manthan), the CPI(M)-led Government of West Bengal ([[Aarohan]]), the Handloom Co-operatives ([[Susman]]), Indian Railways (Yatra), an Indo- Soviet government-sponsored feature- documentary (Nehru) and the 53-episode TV serial based on Nehru’s book, The Discovery of India (Bharat Ek Khoj). Influential presence in national film policy organisations. |