Friday, Dec 02, 2022
Journalism of Courage
Premankur Biswas
Premankur Biswas has been associated with the Indian Express in different capacities for close to a decade and a half. He writes on queer culture and Bengali cinema. You can find him on Twitter at @PremankurBiswas and you can write to him at premankur.biswas@indianexpress.com
More From Premankur Biswas
Price rise, governance and more: Here’s what women voters want in Himachal Pradesh
November 11,2022 22:39:56 PM
Himachal Pradesh will vote on Saturday and according to the figures of the last Assembly election, 79 per cent women had voted while only 70 per cent men had practiced adult franchise.
Fri, Nov 11, 2022
Inside Kolkata’s Amitabh Bachchan Temple, stories that make Big B the enduring superstar
October 11,2022 14:20:41 PM
On Amitabh Bachchan’s 80th birthday today, his fans in Kolkata are celebrating their idol's big day in the temple dedicated to the star.
Tue, Oct 11, 2022
‘The Durga Puja ceased to be purely religious in its urban form a very long time ago’: Historian Tapati Guha-Thakurta
October 01,2022 10:00:03 AM
The academic who paved the way for the inclusion of Kolkata’s Durga Puja on Unesco’s list of intangible cultural heritage on what makes it such a unique sociological phenomenon
Sun, Oct 02, 2022
Tucked away in the heart of Kolkata’s Cossipore area lies the city’s oldest Durga Temple
September 30,2022 19:00:45 PM
The Chitteswari Durga idol, built of wood, is more of a folk version of the Goddess
Sun, Oct 02, 2022
How these women are fighting to save a 200-year-old Kolkata house
September 29,2022 17:22:17 PM
Four women are safeguarding not only a beautiful house in the heart of Kolkata, but also preserving a way of life
Fri, Sep 30, 2022
How politicians in Bengal conducted a masterclass in homophobia
September 17,2022 15:17:52 PM
When representatives and leaders are steeped in prejudice -- as Trinamool Congress has shown -- it sends out a chilling message to the most vulnerable
Sat, Sep 17, 2022
Lokkhi Chele review: A promising concept marred by amateurish writing
August 29,2022 18:10:12 PM
A film that could have been much more than what it ends up being, Lokkhi Chele is a strange beast. It tries to critique religious dogmatism but its ambitions are marred because of an almost amateurish screenplay.
Mon, Aug 29, 2022
Why a sweetmeat could land people in jail in pre-independent Kolkata
August 15,2022 15:17:40 PM
From the 1920s to 1940s, many Kolkata eateries supported freedom fighters by providing them rooms for secret meetings (like Paramount and Swadhin Bharat Hotel) or sheltering freedom fighters like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Surya Sen, Rash Behari Bose.
Mon, Aug 15, 2022
The toxic Fathers of St. Xavier’s, Kolkata
August 12,2022 07:14:03 AM
Premankur Biswas writes: The teacher forced to resign, her privacy violated, is no aberration. St Xavier’s has a history of control and oppression
Sat, Aug 13, 2022
Why Satyajit Ray is still the saviour for the Bengali film industry
May 19,2022 15:22:56 PM
Over the years, there have been many Ray tribute films of different shades and stripes. The earliest of them being the 2010 Srijit Mukherji film, Autograph.
Thu, May 19, 2022
How a school WhatsApp group helped these women rebuild their lives
May 11,2022 09:40:57 AM
“We need women to be strong to build a strong nation. And that concept made me realise that we should do something about dropout mothers."
Wed, May 11, 2022
India’s first post office cafe opens in Kolkata
March 15,2022 10:04:48 AM
“If India Post has to maintain its hold in not only the market but also in conversation, in people’s mindscapes, then something more has to be done — that’s why this café"
Wed, Mar 16, 2022
Why Badhaai Do spoke to a jaded gay man like me
March 06,2022 03:30:30 AM
Badhaai Do, though, was a hard nut to crack. It’s almost as if director/writer Harshavardhan Kulkarni baited us hardened gays with the trailer. We walk into the theatres with our claws out, what we get instead is a surprisingly sensitive film depicting the specific heartbreaks of being queer in India.
Sun, Mar 06, 2022
Narayan Debnath, the cartoonist who never underestimated children
January 18,2022 17:45:03 PM
Narayan Debnath, like all great artists, managed to make most of his creations timeless. Which is ironic because for generations of Bengalis, a Narayan Debnath comic strip exudes nostalgia.
Sat, Aug 13, 2022
5 Buddhadeb Dasgupta films that are essential viewing for Indian film lovers
June 10,2021 16:25:54 PM
Here is a list of Buddhadeb Dasgupta films that makes for essential watching. The director died on Thursday at the age of 77.
Fri, Jun 11, 2021
Breathless from Covid-19, Kolkata is willing to pay a high price for oxygen
April 27,2021 18:51:41 PM
A cylinder which would generally cost about Rs 7,000 in Kolkata is now commanding Rs 40,000 to Rs 75,000.
Tue, Apr 27, 2021
Till the end, Tollywood tried to live up to the phenomenon called Soumitra Chatterjee
November 15,2020 12:37:40 PM
Soumitra Chatterjee dead: In Mrinal Sen’s Akash Kusum, Soumitra Chatterjee plays an ambitious middle-class executive, who is losing everything he values because of one bad decision. The Hindi remake Manzil starred Amitabh Bachchan, but a back-to-back viewing of both these films will tell you how nuanced Chatterjee’s turn as Ajoy was.
Sun, Nov 15, 2020
Why we keep mixing up Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee films, and the subtle distinctions between them
June 04,2020 21:51:26 PM
Both, Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee turned to the wealth of Bengali literature several times in their respective careers and also ensured that their films dealt with themes of progressive socialism.
Thu, Jun 04, 2020
Stuck in Bihar village, transwomen dancers from Bengal just want to get home
May 28,2020 12:51:15 PM
About hundred or more trans women from West Bengal are stuck in different districts of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh because of the lockdown.
Thu, May 28, 2020
No electricity, mobiles down, Kolkata residents talk of ‘petrifying’ cyclone Amphan
May 21,2020 12:31:09 PM
Although Kolkata's entire population was affected, it is the eastern fringes of the city where the impact was apparently felt the most. Teghoria area of North 24 Parganas district woke up to submerged streets on Thursday.
Thu, May 21, 2020
‘No labourers, running out of stock’: How eastern India’s largest wholesale market is dealing with the lockdown
April 02,2020 06:48:21 AM
Posta, which would see retailers from neighbouring states like Assam and Sikkim, among others, hasn’t seen any buyers from neighbouring states.
Thu, Apr 02, 2020
Why Basu Chatterjee’s interpretation of Byomkesh Bakshi is the gold standard
March 29,2020 16:31:06 PM
Rajit Kapur, who played the detective with such ebullient, cocky enthusiasm, was and still is the definitive Byomkesh Bakshi for most Indians. A remarkable feat considering the character has been played on screen by a galaxy of stars including Uttam Kumar, Jisshu Sengupta, Anirban Bhattacharya, Dhritiman Chatterjee and even filmmaker Sujoy Ghosh.
Thu, Jun 04, 2020
Delhi: United by pain and hope, Hindus, Muslims pick up pieces at Chand Bagh
February 28,2020 21:38:29 PM
"The mob didn't care I was Hindu. They just wanted blood. My Muslim friends helped me salvage some stock," says Ganesh Pandey, whose fruit shop was burnt down.
Fri, Feb 28, 2020
Delhi violence: How can anyone do this to my school, asks a past student
February 27,2020 21:19:55 PM
Arun Modern Senior Secondary School in the northeast Delhi neighbourhood of Brijpuri was vandalised and gutted by a mob on Tuesday evening. An ex-student, who now owns a shoe shop nearby and was a witness to the violence, shares his account.
Thu, Feb 27, 2020
Stranded with a dead body in GTB hospital, this shopkeeper wants Arvind Kejriwal to intervene
February 26,2020 10:17:42 AM
GTB hospital has seen a rush of people injured in clashes among anti- and pro-CAA activists.
Wed, Feb 26, 2020