Explorations in Cinema through Classical Indian Theories / Progress in Mathematics (PDF)

"This book is a cutting-edge treatise that propels contemporary film theory into untrodden territory. It revolutionarily disentangles film theory from Eurocentric fixations to radically re-think the nature of moving images by adroitly summoning robust theories of Indian epistemological traditions. Mullik dexterously employs Indian theories of perception (Nyaya), aesthetics (Bharata), and suggestion (Anandavardhana) to comprehend meaning-making in cinematic modernity. This project is an indisputably original study that encompasses exceptionally complex integration of pre-modern Indian philosophical formulations with contemporary film theory."

--Ashish Avikunthak, Filmmaker and Associate professor, University of Rhode Island, USA

For the first time, this book applies the wisdom of classical Indian theories to read cinema. Gopalan Mullik contends that existing Euro-centric film theories are moribund because of their interest in making prescriptive claims regarding how cinema should be viewed, rather than attending to how films are actually experienced by ordinary audiences. Classical Indian (or "Hindu") theories offer a theory of the ordinary which helps to project perceptual, aesthetic, and artistic responses of average filmgoers to cinema. After indicating the limitations of existing film theories, this book then discusses the Vedic cosmological principles that form the foundation of three "Hindu" theories: the Nyaya theory of perception or pratyak¿a, Bharata's theory of aesthetic pleasure or rasa, and Anandavardhana's theory of artistic suggestion or dhvani, all of which provide striking insights into our understanding of cinema. By applying these theories to analyses of both Indian and Western films, Mullik demonstrates that, despite their Indian origin, they possess a universal validity. A unique feature of the work is its observation of certain extraordinary similarities between classical Indian thought and modern Western thinking involving structuralism, post-structuralism, post-modernism, and embodied aspects of phenomenology that have important consequences for understanding cinema.

Dr. Gopalan Mullik is a Visiting Lecturer at St. Xavier's University, Kolkata, India.