What other Indian filmmaker is going to be featured at the Lincoln Center?
In fall, we are showing nine of Guru Dutt’s films. I have believed for a long time that we ought to know more about him and his work. Many people put Ritwik Ghatak next to Ray. If there is a trinity who would be the next one? Why not Guru Dutt? He worked within the parameters of the commercial cinema and yet he was innovative, and with Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam his vision was changing. He was making a film that looked deep into the predicaments of its characters. Ray deservedly got wide acclaim in America but some of us feel that the interest in Ray meant that many other talented directors did not get enough attention. I don’t blame Ray for it. I blame certain kind of critical shorthand. Look at the number of distinguished Iranian film-makers but they don’t get the kind of attention Abbas Kiarostami gets. Kiarostami is a great film-maker, one of the greatest directors in the world. But other Iranians are judged against his achievement. And this happened to Indian film-makers, especially Ri
