Lockdown Blues: How About Watching Films Division Documentaries For A Change?

Done with television? Had your fill of Netflix etc? There is an interesting set of documentaries that you could watch and that too by not having to pay for a streaming platform membership? 

This is your chance to explore the much forgotten Films Division. Click on its YouTube channel to see some inspiring documentaries. 

Here’s a list collated by Scroll.in:

An Indian Day

Also known as ‘India 67’ this biographical documentary by S Sukhdev is on India. He captures a country on the move by assembling images from daily life such as a man getting a hair-cut, a woman preparing a meal, young men and women dance at a party, weddings and funerals. 

And I Make Short Films

This film by acclaimed documentary maker SNS Sastry, records India’s history by showing the death of Jawaharlal Nehru, unrest on the streets, Ravi Shankar tuning his sitar, MF Husain making his first documentary etc.

Ustad Allah Rakha

This film by Shekhar Nair is on tabla legend Allah Rakha. It includes photographs from foreign tours including one with Marlon Brando and Ravi Shankar), and glimpses of his family members, including a very young  Zakir Hussain. 

Amir Khan

This is another documentary by the genius of SNS Sastry. It revolves around acclaimed Hindustani classical singer Amir Khan. 

Abid

This is Pramod Pati’s 1972 film on painter and writer Abid Surti. It is actually about two artists at work. One is Surti, who enters a white-walled room and covers every inch and corner with brightly-coloured abstract works. The other is Pati, who speeds up the film to create a hyper-kinetic and cartoonish effect. 

Sohrab Modi

This documentary by Yash Chaudhary has a candid interview with the legendary actor and director. Modi speaks frankly about his love for history and the aborted attempt to direct a film on the emperor Asoka. His actor wife Mehtab, who starred in Jhansi Ki Rani, sums up her husband’s commitment to cinema in three words: he was all “film, film film,” she says.

Siddheshwari

This is Mani Kaul’s biographical documentary on Hindustani classical singer Siddheshwari Devi played by actress Mita Vashisht.

Pandit Bhimsen Joshi

This one by noted lyricist and poet Gulzar gives a peek into the personal and professional journey of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Joshi also recalls singing alongside Manna Dey for the film Baiju Bawra in 1952. 

A Painter of Eloquent Silence: Ganesh Pyne

Buddhadeb Dasgupta’s documentary examines Ganesh Pyne’s thematic concerns with death, his penchant for allegory, and the influence of cinema on his art. Kalamandalam Gopi

This 1975 Adoor Gopalakarishnan-made documentary is on renowned Kathakali performer, Guru Chengannur. The Malayalam speaking portions have been dubbed into English. 

A Few Things I Know About Her

Anjali Panjabi’s film on Meera is a play on Jean Luc Godard’s Two or Three Things I Know About Her (1967). Like Godard’s film, Panjabi’s quest to understand Meera unfolds as a visual essay. 

Hans Akela

Jabbar Patel’s Hans Akela is about  classical and folk music artist Kumar Gandharva.

KL Saigal

Yash Chaudhary’s KL Saigal captures the rich and short life of singing star Kundan Lal Saigal. It begins by asking a bunch of youngsters if they have heard of one of early Indian cinema’s most popular performers. 

UR Ananthamurthy… Not a Biography but a Hypothesis

Girish Kasarvalli’s documentary on renowned Kannada writer UR Ananthamurthy talks about his early influences, his formative years, and his shifting approaches to world building over his literary career.