Leftist Thought in Indian Cinema

SAC – Leftist Thought in Indian Cinema

This issue for the first time debates different aspects of the leftist ideology that have impacted on filmmaking all over India. A major chapter discusses setting up of the Indian Peoples’ Theatre Association (IPTA) in 1943 which opened new possibilities of creativity in post independent popular Indian Cinema.

“Directors, actors, scriptwriters, lyricists, music directors and dance directors – a large spectrum of the talent that went into filmmaking – came from the IPTA, moulding the vision of the world that the film presented. Among the well-known actors who had an allegiance to the IPTA were Balraj Sahni, A. K. Hangal, Utpal Dutt. Well-known music directors included Anil Biswas, Salil Choudhury, Hemant Kumar and Ravi Shankar; song writers Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Prem Dhawan, Shailendra, Kaifi Azmi were associated with the PWA and IPTA; scriptwriters K. A. Abbas and V. P. Sathe were IPTA members; directors Bimal Roy, Shambhu Mitra, Mohan Sehgal were closely involved with the IPTA, as were the dance directors Uday Shankar and Prem Dhawan (who choreographed songs in Do Bigha Zameen and Naya Daur),”

writes Rashmi Doraiswamy.