Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · 4d

Never thought I would ever see a Shyam Benegal film make it to Blu-ray home video in a boutique release. So honoured to have been able to write the essay. Another much anticipated release from @secondrun.bsky.social & landmark restoration from Film Heritage Foundation in India. #ParallelCinema

7 18

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · 16d

The splendidly programmed final double bill from @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social in the new series of Bombay Mix. Unfortunately unable to attend in person now but have recorded an intro for Kundan Shah's JBDY, and which will be a very rare UK screening. Unmissable!

Ranjit S. Ruprai @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social · 16d

📷 Counterculture On Camera 📸

Join @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social, @bressonian.bsky.social (recorded intro) + film historian @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social for a double bill of JAANE BHI DO YAARO & BLOW-UP at Close-Up Cinema on SAT 27 SEP 2025

tinyurl.com/yc4m69ys

Cool art by @bturnerinfo.bsky.social

1 3

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

Ranjit S. Ruprai @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social · 16d

📷 Counterculture On Camera 📸

Join @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social, @bressonian.bsky.social (recorded intro) + film historian @britfilmmelanie.bsky.social for a double bill of JAANE BHI DO YAARO & BLOW-UP at Close-Up Cinema on SAT 27 SEP 2025

tinyurl.com/yc4m69ys

Cool art by @bturnerinfo.bsky.social

6 9

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

Ranjit S. Ruprai @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social · Sep 1

Bombay Mix is back! A new season of double bills at Close-Up Film Centre on 13, 20 & 27 Sep 2025 with Dr. Kulraj Phullar, @phuonghhle.com & @bressonian.bsky.social

🇮🇳 MOTHER INDIA + 🇨🇺 I AM CUBA

🏠 BABUL + 🏡 OUR MOTHER’S HOUSE

📷 JAANE BHI DO YAARO + 📸 BLOW-UP

Info: supakino.com/events

6 6

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Aug 28

The recent Film Heritage Foundation 4K restoration of Shyam Benegal's MANTHAN (India, 1976) is coming to Blu-ray via @secondrun.bsky.social in October 2025. A classic of Indian Parallel Cinema.

More details here on the special features which includes a new essay on the film by me:

t.co/5O6252yT2M

1 5 14

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Aug 28

Happening today. 🎞️ 👇📽️

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Aug 13

Excited to be back at HOME cinemas in Manchester on Thursday 28 August at 6.30pm.

I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.

More info & tickets:

homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...

Badnam Basti (CTBA) + intro — Once lost and now rediscovered: India’s pioneering first queer film.

Once lost and now rediscovered: India’s pioneering first queer film.

homemcr.org

1 2

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Aug 13

Excited to be back at HOME cinemas in Manchester on Thursday 28 August at 6.30pm.

I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.

More info & tickets:

homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...

Badnam Basti (CTBA) + intro — Once lost and now rediscovered: India’s pioneering first queer film.

Once lost and now rediscovered: India’s pioneering first queer film.

homemcr.org

7 11

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Jul 3

Deeply grateful for a truly thoughtful appreciation of my new book on Indian Parallel Cinema; a work that took years of research, immersion, and no small measure of obsession to bring to life. The paperback edition will be released early next year. ❤️

mubi.com/en/notebook/...

Never to Meet: Indian Parallel Cinema

A movement of filmmakers overturned the industrial hegemony of Bombay, rejecting the orthodoxies of patriarchy, religion, and caste.

mubi.com

3 7

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Aug 13

Excited to be back at HOME cinemas in Manchester on Thursday 28 August at 6.30pm.

I will be introducing director Prem Kapoor's BADNAM BASTI (India, 1971), India's first queer film, and which is part of @cineredis.bsky.social on tour.

More info & tickets:

homemcr.org/whats-on/bad...

Badnam Basti (CTBA) + intro — Once lost and now rediscovered: India’s pioneering first queer film.

Once lost and now rediscovered: India’s pioneering first queer film.

homemcr.org

7 11

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Jul 27

Also, the version screened at @cineredis.bsky.social is the slightly longer restoration so comes in at 112 min. There is the 83 min version which is straight from the 35mm print that Arsenal had in the archive.

2

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Jul 27

It offers a really fascinating transnational detour in his career but I don't think it is reflected in his filmography and which suggests his work demands further study and excavation.

1 2

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Jul 27

In my intro to Badnam Basti at @cineredis.bsky.social I noted when I was researching the film, I stumbled upon an interview with Prem Kapoor in The Times of India in which he talks about a two part documentary he had finished making for the BBC on Indian cemeteries & Empire.

1 3 5

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Jul 15

Excited to be in Bristol next week for @cineredis.bsky.social 2025 film festival where I will be introducing two screenings of Prem Kapoor's groundbreaking BADNAM BASTI.

Thursday's screening (24 July) is sold out but still tickets available for Fri 25 July: 👇 🎞️

www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/1331...

Badnam Basti (Neighbourhood of Ill Repute)

This daring and progressive account of a complex love triangle broke all manner of taboos to emerge as India’s first queer film and an icon of Parallel Cinema.

www.watershed.co.uk

6 5

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Jul 22

'What happens to radical cinema in reactionary times?' by Arjun Sengupta. 🎞️ A quite splendid review of my new book on Parallel Cinema from Frontline India.👇

frontline.thehindu.com/books/indian...

What Killed Indian Parallel Cinema?

Omar Ahmed locates the rise and fall of India’s parallel cinema within a shifting postcolonial state—caught between resistance and repression. His book suggests that parallel cinema declined after 199...

frontline.thehindu.com

3 5

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Jul 22

'What happens to radical cinema in reactionary times?' by Arjun Sengupta. 🎞️ A quite splendid review of my new book on Parallel Cinema from Frontline India.👇

frontline.thehindu.com/books/indian...

What Killed Indian Parallel Cinema?

Omar Ahmed locates the rise and fall of India’s parallel cinema within a shifting postcolonial state—caught between resistance and repression. His book suggests that parallel cinema declined after 199...

frontline.thehindu.com

3 5

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

The Cloud Door @the-cloud-door.bsky.social · Jul 20

Thank you so much for believing in us!
These are our next steps...
Watch this space!

@ranjitsruprai.bsky.social & @bressonian.bsky.social
Founders of The Cloud Door

10 17

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

Jeff Billington @facesofjeff.bsky.social · Jul 15

If you want to see classics of South Asian cinema issued in beautiful new editions - which you obviously do - then make sure you are backing this brilliant project!

The Cloud Door @the-cloud-door.bsky.social · Jul 13

We hit 20% of our kickstarter goal!

Another milestone reached & all thanks to you! ❤️
Please keep spreading the word as we need all the support we can get to make this a reality. 🙏

You can pledge an amount or pre-order the Blu-ray:

www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcd...

10 9

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

Sean Gilman @theendofcinema.bsky.social · Jul 15

I supported this and you should too!

The Cloud Door @the-cloud-door.bsky.social · Jul 15

Latest newsletter just landed in your inbox… please keep spreading the word about our new label and this first amazing film release… and keep making those pledges! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcd...

4 10

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Jul 15

Excited to be in Bristol next week for @cineredis.bsky.social 2025 film festival where I will be introducing two screenings of Prem Kapoor's groundbreaking BADNAM BASTI.

Thursday's screening (24 July) is sold out but still tickets available for Fri 25 July: 👇 🎞️

www.watershed.co.uk/whatson/1331...

Badnam Basti (Neighbourhood of Ill Repute)

This daring and progressive account of a complex love triangle broke all manner of taboos to emerge as India’s first queer film and an icon of Parallel Cinema.

www.watershed.co.uk

6 5

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

The Cloud Door @the-cloud-door.bsky.social · Jul 15

Latest newsletter just landed in your inbox… please keep spreading the word about our new label and this first amazing film release… and keep making those pledges! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcd...

7 7

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

Ned Raggett @nedraggett.bsky.social · Jul 14

Lovely to see this plan! Again, check out their feed and their current Kickstarter to get things up and running for them. It's a striking looking first film to start with, and having this kind of open range for the future is a delight.

The Cloud Door @the-cloud-door.bsky.social · Jul 14

Thanks Ned for your support! Once we release this first title we will be up & running. We already have a plan to release more Indian film titles and we want to be all regions, all genres, all cinemas so in no way restricted to arthouse/indie films.

3 4

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

Ned Raggett @nedraggett.bsky.social · Jul 14

I have just learned about this excellent new boutique Bluray house with a focus on South Asian cinema -- their initial Kickstarter for their first release will run for another two weeks and a half, but they're only at 20%. Spread the word! This really looks like the start of a beautiful effort here.

The Cloud Door @the-cloud-door.bsky.social · Jul 1

☁️🚪The day has arrived! We are live with the Kickstarter and so are pre-orders for Om Dar-B-Dar. We are very excited to share with you details of the first release! ☁️🚪

www.kickstarter.com/projects/tcd...

OM DAR-B-DAR (1988) - Limited Edition Blu-ray & Extras

THE CLOUD DOOR, a new boutique label, presents one of Indian cinema's most influential cult films on Blu-ray.

www.kickstarter.com

2 28 28

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

David Hudson @dwhdaily.bsky.social · Jul 10

Parallel Days/Bollywood Nights opens @newyork.asiasociety.org on Friday, @bressonian.bsky.social and @ranjitsruprai.bsky.social are launching @the-cloud-door.bsky.social, and Guru Dutt turned 100 this week!

www.criterion.com/current/post...

Suhasini Mulay in Mrinal Sen’s BHUVAN SHOME (1969)

5 6

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Jul 3

Every little bit you can contribute will all add up and help us reach our goal and succeed in getting started for many years to come.

2 4

Reposted by Omar Ahmed 🍉

Omar Ahmed 🍉 @bressonian.bsky.social · Jul 3

☁️ 🚪 For nearly ten yrs, this home video dream has lived in my heart. You know my love for Indian Cinema runs deep. Now, more than ever, I ask: please pledge to the Kickstarter and give it the chance it deserves:

kickstarter.com/projects/tcd...

OM DAR-B-DAR (1988) - Limited Edition Blu-ray & Extras

THE CLOUD DOOR, a new boutique label, presents one of Indian cinema's most influential cult films on Blu-ray.

kickstarter.com

4 14 16