Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on video and digital forms in the politically, economically and culturally marginalized areas of Bengal, India. It addresses vernacular idioms, and problems of marginalization; and, illustrates how an oppositional landscape and labouring bodies appear in these films.

Paper long abstract:

This paper focuses on contemporary video and digital cultures popular in politically, economically and culturally marginalized areas of Bengal, India. The paper presents empirical research conducted on films from Purulia District, Bengal, namely 'Manbhum' films (which shares boundaries with Bihar as well as Odisha), and tackles questions of political movements, community undertakings, language, and sub-regional industrial forms. Thus, writing about the 'other' side of cinema produced from Bengal it first, addresses the multiplicity of vernacular idioms, cultures and problems of political marginalization. Secondly, it illustrates the ways in which the issue of an oppositional landscape- explored in opposition to the imagery of lush green riversides of Bengal- become crucial from this perspective. Moreover, the subject of the labouring body, also framed by issues of caste and tribe, refigure in these films. The faces, actions and the comic gestures produce new cinematic vistas. In connection to this, this paper examines specific generic tendencies, the overlaps and connects it to the subject of local culture industries in order to study how these films throw back at us extremely popular, indigenous, subversive, boisterous, even vulgar and offensive images. Such narratives problematize our theoretical conjectures regarding mainstream-popular, as well as, alternative art forms and Bengali-Bhadralok cinema. Briefly, by analyzing the topics of national and regional cinemas, this paper engages with the politics of 'other' cinemas, and the complexity of peripheral aesthetics.