Kumar Shahani, one of the pioneers of the parallel cinema movement in India, died in a hospital in Kolkata on February 24 after a period of illness. He was 83 years old.
Shahani studied screenwriting and directing in Indian film and television, where he was taught by Indian master Ritwik Ghatak. He received a French government scholarship for postgraduate studies in France, where he studied at the Institute of Higher Film Studies and assisted Robert Bresson on Pretty Woman (1969).
He returned to India and directed his first feature film, Maya Darpan, in 1972. Shahani was known for his formal style of filmmaking, and his notable films include Tarang (1984), Khayal Jatha (1989), and Kasba (1990). . ).
Internationally, Shahani’s work was particularly well received at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, which programmed a number of his films, including “Maya Darpan”, the short films “Far Far Fari”, “Tarang”, “Kaspa”, the documentary films “Pavantarana” and “Char Adhyay”. “Jatha’s Imagination” won the International Federation of Film Critics Award in Rotterdam in 1990. In 2019, the Pingyao International Film Festival screened his early work, and Shahani gave a masterclass.
Shahani has also been involved with the Indian archiving and restoration initiative, Film Heritage Foundation (FHF). “The FHF is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Kumar Shahani, a pioneering director, a leading light of the Indian New Wave, and one of the first members of the FHF Advisory Board, who believed deeply in the importance of the work we do and in cinema as an art form. We were fortunate to have We recorded an in-depth on-camera interview with him as part of our oral history project and we are proud to preserve the archive of one of India’s most unusual filmmakers and a true artist. We hope to be able to bring back some of his amazing works in the future. He has made an effort to attend almost all our events over “We will miss him greatly over the years.”
“Today, India mourns the loss of Kumar Shahani, an influential director who left an indelible mark with timeless classics. His profound impact on the cinematic landscape continues, and his artistic contributions continue to resonate in the heart of Indian cinema,” the National Indian Film Development Corporation added.