Bipin Balachandranis an art historian, academic and visual artist. He has extensively published articles and studies on art and visual culture and presented papers in national and international seminars. He is also author of two books, including a novel in Malayalam and director of three documentaries. He has been a U.G.C subject expert for the project of e-content developing in visual art studies and resource person for various projects supported by Kerala state government.
Men of Pukar: Narrating the non-narrative
PhotoMail2021-09-25T21:38:51+05:30Abul Kalam Azad's ‘Men of Pukar’ does not try to ‘re-narrate’ Ilango’s Kaveripattinam but Azad has his own heroes and heroines and more often he cuts his depth of focusing short in order to present them within the discursive premises where the incongruity between the history and present day condition of the place is felt. He neither tries to document the relics of the past glory (if there is anything at all) nor claims his images to be that of some ‘historical’ moments. Instead, he allows viewers to delve into the ‘image-space’ for some cultural codes which would help them to re-read the historical narratives in multiple ways.