Ecocritical Analysis of Classics by Three Indian Film Maestros

What is it about?

In his groundbreaking non-fiction work The Great Derangement: Climate Change and The Unthinkable, the prominent novelist Amitav Ghosh first laments the virtual indifference of contemporary fiction writers in the context of climate crisis ((2017:3) and then goes on to note the potential power of fiction in the context of climate crisis (2017:126), "The great, irreplaceable potentiality of fiction is that it makes possible the imagining of possibilities. And to imagine other forms of human existence is exactly the challenge posed by the climate crisis: for if there is one thing that global warming has made clear, it is that to think about the world only as it is, amounts to a formula for collective suicide. We need, rather, to envision what it might be." Elsewhere, he also notes, "Television, film and the visual arts have found it much easier to address climate change than has literary fiction." This observation partially inspired this article and is a tribute to some of the most admired Indian filmmakers. Their significant portions of the portfolio raised the nature, environment, and climate issues.

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Photo by NOAA on Unsplash

Photo by NOAA on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Satyajit Ray is the only Indian filmmaker who has received the prestigious Academy award and India's highest civilian honor of Bharat Ratna for his lifetime achievements and contributions to the cinema. Although he made dozens of films, we review only those with natural elements playing essential roles in shaping the plot. After a few of Ray's films, we look at another maestro, Ritwik Ghatak's one film, which prominently features a drying river and its impact on people. Finally, we complete our trinity by reviewing a few movies by Mrinal Sen that show the conflicts between the people of the natural world in villages and those from the modern world. Each film is rooted in Indian settings, yet the themes they evoke are universal and universally accoladed with awards and recognition worldwide.