I am a filmmaker and film theorist. My research is practice-based and focuses on issues surrounding the representation of cultures. I make films on communities displaced within the mainstream national imagination of India such as the Indian diaspora and the widows of Vrindavan. I have recently commenced a new documentary project examining the cultural landscapes and folklore of India’s north-eastern state, Assam.
In my films I explore alternate vocabularies for evoking the communities with whom I collaborate. Through research and filmmaking I have posited that montage editing provides a critical discourse for documenting non-mainstream and subaltern subjects. Besides documentary, I am interested in experimental film and the integration of video in live performance.
My theoretical concentrations span film and documentary theory, postcolonialism, modernism and ethnography. I have taught practical and theoretical courses related to film, globalisation and ethnography. I am interested in devising a pedagogical approach for teaching critical and self-reflexive video practice. At WAC, I teach video production combining practical training with specific theoretical inputs. My courses are theme-based and students are encouraged to experiment and contextualise their video work historically. I also develop opportunities for students to undertake training in ethnographic and collaborative methods through taught and field-based courses.
Film: Kamakha Through Prayerful Eyes (2013)