Calendar

A key section of the India Studies framework at The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) is “Deconstructing the Film Song”. It began with a series of four workshops during our Self-Discovery via Rediscovering India Festival Series that brought together leading scholars & academics, film practitioners & students, along with fans of the Hindi film song. The objective of these workshops was to deconstruct iconic Hindi film songs to examine their formation across music, lyrics, playback, choreography, directorial visualisation, as they fuse into sites where aesthetics, ideology, and performance intersect, so as to help clarify the nature of India and her relationship to the film song. The Hindi Film Song functions as a narrative device, conveying myriad textures of emotion through melody, voice and poetry. As cultural texts that encode memory, desire, and ideology, songs are integral to the circulation and resonance of films in the public realm. Over time they have become autonomous bundles of creative energy - the glue that binds us over time, articulating and perhaps even defining the idea of Indianness. These first Workshops were an attempt to understand the nature and power of this glue, while contemplating the ways to situate it within TRIS' academic framework for Contemporary India Studies.

As we near sharing the vast online India Studies knowledge base on tuliresearchcentre.org with the world, we end with our last grand archival Exhibition on the rare and vintage cinematic arts. The Expo covers over 110 years of cinematic art, created by some of the finest film directors, cinematographers, art directors, technicians and designers working in cinema from India, Hollywood, Japan, Germany, France, and Poland. It is also a key principle at the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (TRIS) to support new and nascent International Film Festivals in whatever capacity possible. Hence it is our privilege to help the International Film Festival of Delhi (IFFD) successfully launch its first edition on 25th March 2026. In the pioneering tradition of IFFI, and as Head of the erstwhile and much respected Osian's-Cinefan Festival for Asian and Arab Cinema with my dearly departed friend and Founder of Cinefan - Aruna Vasudev - we know what energy, expertise and commitment is required to galvanise and inspire the cinematic fraternities of Delhi, India and the rest of the world. It is a very serious and difficult task. Our audiences are demanding and to attract the young and non-cinephile is also no easy task. I hope these exhibitions will help the public grasp how deeply history is living in the contemporary. That contemporary life or creativity cannot achieve its best version without knowing and respecting the work of the best who came before us, nurturing and guiding our path with their service and vision. We look forward to welcoming you to Bharat Mandapam Hall 14 in the days to come. Please register at https://www.iffdelhi.com for the films and other events, it is free to all.

Cinema as a Critical Educational Resource focuses on gaining an understanding of India through the lens of cinema. It deals with rare gems from Indian cinema and beyond to chronicle the history and culture of India and investigates how cinema captures the nuances of Indian life, portraying the experiences, struggles and aspirations of its people. Using critical resources such as film publicity material, including booklets, lobby cards and posters, this research area offers unique insights into its cultural diversity, social fabric and historical evolution.

An address by Neville Tuli at the Celebrate Cinema Festival, organised by Whistling Woods International in collaboration with the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies. The address will provide insight into Tuli's unique India Studies conceptual framework where "Cinema as a Critical Educational Resource" provides the first core Research Category. His address takes forward how knowledge regarding Cinema is radically revisualised, redefined and restructured so as to build a deep and vast framework to understand ourselves, our sense of identity as creative individuals, our relationship with India, and the rest of the world, and naturally the nature of India itself, as much for the general public as for the scholar and student.

Tuli Research Centre for India Studies In collaboration with Whistling Woods International Presents '𝘼 𝙂𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙪𝙧𝙪: 𝙍𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙑𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙢𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙪𝙧𝙪 𝘿𝙪𝙩𝙩' An exhibition of rare and vintage artworks, mostly from the film publicity departments of the film-makers illuminating the many facets of Guru Dutt's artistic and cinematic journey, highlighting forms of creativity from the glorious silver-gelatin photographic prints to the grande French release poster.

T.R.I.S. in Collaboration with the 17th Habitat Film Festival Cinema as a Critical Educational Resource is the 1st Research Category of Sixteen for T.R.I.S.'s India Studies framework. Its significance is amply visible in its online knowledge base tuliresearchcentre.org The Masterclass will include a walk-through of the archival exhibition on The Cinema of Shyam Benegal & Raj Kapoor with Mr Tuli. The Masterclass will not only highlight the history of Indian cinema but will also demonstrate how the T.R.I.S. online knowledge-base invites a deeper study of visual materials, embracing, equally, an enquiry into art arising from the genre of cinema – posters, song synopsis booklets, lobby cards, film and working stills, trophies etc from across the world, and their relationship to the fine and popular arts and photography.

T.R.I.S. in Collaboration with the 17th Habitat Film Festival Cinema as a Critical Educational Resource is the 1st Research Category of Sixteen for T.R.I.S.'s India Studies framework. Its significance is amply visible in its online knowledge base tuliresearchcentre.org To ensure that the Habitat Film Festival is not merely a viewing opportunity, but a learning experience that widens the knowledge-base of every cinephile, this year's HFF will also feature an extended masterclass by Neville Tuli, Founder and President, Tuli Research Centre for India Studies, on Cinema as a Critical Educational Resource. This will be especially interesting for students, academics, faculty members and the film fraternity who are primarily interested in using the world of cinema to integrate across other subjects with an in-depth and unique transdisciplinary pedagogic approach to learning and education.

T.R.I.S. in Collaboration with 17th Habitat Film Festival will be commemorating the life and work of two pioneering individuals of the Indian film industry, who shaped Indian cinema in their unique ways. One exhibition celebrates the birth centenary of Raj Kapoor, while the other remembers Shyam Benegal. The Cinema of Raj Kapoor – 15 to 20 May 2025 The Cinema of Shyam Benegal - 21 to 25 May 2025 10:00 am to 8:00 pm daily at the Convention Centre Foyer Gallery

T.R.I.S. in Collaboration with 17th Habitat Film Festival will be commemorating the life and work of two pioneering individuals of the Indian film industry, who shaped Indian cinema in their unique ways. One exhibition celebrates the birth centenary of Raj Kapoor, while the other remembers Shyam Benegal. The Cinema of Raj Kapoor – 15 to 20 May 2025 The Cinema of Shyam Benegal - 21 to 25 May 2025 10:00 am to 8:00 pm daily at the Convention Centre Foyer Gallery

Lead Designer from IIT Bombay for National Salt Satyagraha Memorial, Dandi (2019). Currently, Project Head, School of Innovation IIT Indore. The Conversation and Visual Presentation will focus on the Research, Process, Planning and Design of the Dandi Memorial to tell the story of how Gandhiji demonstrated the power of Truth and Non-violence.

Professor of Political Studies at School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The Conversation will focus upon understanding the nature of courage and fearlessness required today so as to sustain a life of action dedicated to Gandhi's supreme moral principle of 'Ahimsa'.

Professor of Modern and Contemporary Philosophy at the Centre for Philosophy, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Conversation will focus on the dialogue & debate between Mahatma Gandhi & Rabindranath Tagore.

Lead Role in Shyam Benegal's “The Making of the Mahatma” (1996). Conversation will focus on the role of Cinema and its potential educational impact, and specifically regarding Gandhiji, and Rajit's personal experiences as a creative individual and his understanding of public perception towards Gandhian thought.

as part of the Rediscovering India via Self-Discovery Exhibition Series Part V

for www.beta.tuliresearchcentre.org

Self Discovery via Rediscovering India Series Part IV

Tuli Research Centre for India Studies

Self Discover via Rediscovering India Series Part III

Self-Discovery via Rediscovering India Series Part II