• Umbra 9 | 'Our Gods: Part II' | December 2017
The second part of ‘Our Gods’, a special double-issue, that studies the various forms and methods by which a divine figure is cultivated and then contoured within Indian popular culture. It expands the presented focus of the first part of the edition and seeks to imagine larger, ‘popular culture’ as a phenomena that is a yield of – through transgression and then consolidation – of smaller, more local sub-cultures. It includes a photo-essay of the Manimahesh Yatra in Himachal Pradesh, an extensive study of the design inherent in the career trajectory of iconic superstar, MGR, and a review of Peter Brook’s Mahabharata, among other contributions.
In this Issue
Article

A study of the intricate systems of god-making that launched M.G.R. from DMK poster-child to a latter-day deity.

Interview

An exchange with Aruna Vasudev, about The Inner Path as well as the current circumstance of alternate film exhibition.

Commentary

Commentary on the macabre new hit series, American Gods, and Wim Wenders’ 1987 classic, Wings of Desire.

Review

An evaluation of Peter Brook’s The Mahabharata, a production that relocated a holy epic from the sacred spaces of canon to contemporary human relevance.

Essay

An examination of Don’t Disturb the Dead, a book that chronicles the conventional middle-class family behind the country’s greatest foray into genre filmmaking.

Umbra 9 | 'Our Gods: Part II' | December 2017

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Tags: Umbra Issue 9

Umbra 9 | 'Our Gods: Part II' | December 2017

Umbra 9 | 'Our Gods: Part II' | December 2017

The second part of ‘Our Gods’, a special double-issue, that studies the various forms and methods by which a divine figure is cultivated and then contoured within Indian popular culture..

Umbra 8 | 'Our Gods: Part I' | June 2017

Umbra 8 | 'Our Gods: Part I' | June 2017

The first part of ‘Our Gods’, Umbra’s special double-issue that focuses on and contemplates the various representations of divinity in Indian popular culture: film, television, stage-plays and graphic novels. It then examines their role in the cultivation of a popular consciousness..

Umbra 7 | 'Others' | February 2017

Umbra 7 | 'Others' | February 2017

‘Others’ exists as a condensation of medial representations of individuals, communities or groups whose experiences or lived realities are often excluded from a mainstream narrative that is homogeneous, conventional and cultivated through a consensus that veers towards a bland conservatism..

Umbra 6 | 'Cities' | September 2016

Umbra 6 | 'Cities' | September 2016

The sixth issue of Umbra explores the notion of a city – in its material, memorial and mythical forms. It takes off – and includes – Charles Correa’s seminal essay, ‘The Mythical City’, and uses its central precinct – that of the distinction between a city as a collective imaginary of its residents or distant dreamers, and the actual, physical space that comes to forge it..

Umbra 5 | 'Spaces' | April 2016

Umbra 5 | 'Spaces' | April 2016

The fifth issue marks a significant turn in the journey of Umbra: it is the point at which the magazine begins to develop tendencies of speculation, poetry and the anecdotal – an upheaval that marks a radical reformation in its earlier, stated mission of cold, bureaucratic reportage..

Umbra 4 | 'Exile' | May 2015

Umbra 4 | 'Exile' | May 2015

What is the cinema of a people in a state of perpetual movement? Do they stall for the camera, or must the camera accommodate their kinesis? How does a medium based in subtle shifts and gradual decay respond to a situation marked inherently by these phenomena? ..

Umbra 3 | September 2014

Umbra 3 | September 2014

The third issue of the magazine includes interviews with filmmakers whose work centers around mobilization and then reconciliation (as opposed to, resettlement): Rajesh Jala, with Children of the Pyre, Sourav Sarangi, with Char, and Pawan Srivastava, with Naya Pata..

Umbra 2 | January 2014

Umbra 2 | January 2014

An issue that explores the sector of documentary cinema in the country through the conduct of a roundtable that includes some of its leading practitioners and commentators..

Umbra 1 | August 2013

Umbra 1 | August 2013

The inaugural issue of the publication and one that outlays its concerns – screen culture, the dynamics of the film society movement, their active documentation – most actively..