Ashish Vithal Rajadhyaksha (born 12 March 1957) is an Indian film scholar, art curator and cultural theorist. He was a Senior Fellow at the Bangalore-based Centre for the Study of Culture and Society.[1]
Ashish Rajadhyaksha | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ashish Vithal Rajadhyaksha 12 March 1957 Bombay, India |
| Occupation(s) | Film scholar, cultural theorist |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse | Pushpamala N. (divorced) |
| Website | ashishrajadhyaksha |
Early life
Ashish Vithal Rajadhyaksha[2] was born on 12 March 1957 in Bombay (later renamed Mumbai), India.[1] His father was a soldier in the Indian army. Rajadhyaksha's serious interest in cinema developed in the late 1970s.[3] In 1978, he graduated from the University of Bombay with a Bachelor of Science degree.[1]
Career
Rajadhyaksha developed a keenness for Ritwik Ghatak's films after attending a course organised by the Film and Television Institute and the National Film Archive of India in the early 1980s. The first book that he authored was Ritwik Ghatak: A Return to the Epic, published in 1982.[3] Starting in 1983, he wrote numerous articles for publications such as the New Delhi–based Journal of Arts & Ideas and Calcutta (now Kolkata)–based Journal of the Moving Image.[1] He authored, with Paul Willemen, Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema in 1994.[4][5] After a long hiatus, Rajadhyaksha's next book, a solo, was Indian Cinema in the Time of Celluloid: From Bollywood to the Emergency in 2009,[1][6] followed by The Last Cultural Mile: An Inquiry into Technology and Governance in India in 2011,[3] and Indian Cinema: A Very Short Introduction in 2016.[7]
Personal life
Rajadhyaksha was married to Pushpamala N., a Bangalore-based artist.[8] The couple later divorced.[9]
Books written
- Rajadhyaksha, Ashish (1982). Ritwik Ghatak: A Return to the Epic. Screen Unit. OCLC 10516837.
- Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul (1998) [1994]. Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-563579-5.
- Rajadhyaksha, Ashish (2009). Indian Cinema in the Time of Celluloid: From Bollywood to the Emergency. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-22048-6.
- Rajadhyaksha, Ashish (2011). The Last Cultural Mile: An Inquiry into Technology and Governance in India. Centre for Internet and Society. OCLC 925374086.
- Rajadhyaksha, Ashish (2016). Indian Cinema: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-872309-7.