The Epistemic Archeology of Ashish Avikunthak: Cinema and Religiosity of Everyday Life

This book explores the diverse aspects of Ashish Avikunthak’s cinema, which challenges Western knowledge systems and cinematic practices, as well as ideological hegemonies of present-day India. For thirty years, Indian filmmaker Ashish Avikunthak has been making self-financed films that have robustly resisted capital and market logic. Starting from his early 16mm short films Etcetera (1997) and Kalighat Fetish (1999) to longer feature length works that he has been making since the past decade–Rati Chakravyuh (2013), Aapothkalin Trikalika (2016), Vrindavani Vairagya (2017), to the most recent Vidhvastha (2022) with several more projects in various stages of production. His body of work now amounts to seven short films and nine feature length works. This collection of essays rigorously interrogates, contextualizes, theorizes, and interprets his work in relation to some of the key preoccupations of this filmmaker, which include Tantric practice, alternative ways of filmmaking, as well as posing a cinematic challenge to oppressive epistemes. Furthermore, the current global assertion of authoritarianism and one-dimensional interpretations of cultural history and practice provide a timely and essential historical moment in which to dialogue with Avikunthak’s films. Why? Because Avikunthak’s cinema consciously contests totalizing historical and artistic narratives, and constructs frameworks of existential uncertainty and fragmentation that force us to reflect on the increasing political, economic, social, and climate chaos that is infusing and shaping our early 21st century global ontology.

Table of Contents:
List of Contributors List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Erin O’Donnell (East Stroudsburg University, USA) and Šarunas Paunksnis (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania) 1. Tantra in Indian Cinema: Ritwik Ghatak and Ashish Avikunthak, a Centennial Memory of the Jagaddal (1920-2020) and a Love Story Amrit Gangar (Independent Scholar) 2. Tantra and the Coloniality of Being: The Decolonial Praxis of Ashish Avikunthak Šarunas Paunksnis (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania) 3. Ashish Avikunthak’s Cinema of Dissent in an Authoritarian Age Erin O’Donnell (East Stroudsburg University, USA) 4. Ashish Avikunthak’s Nirakar Chhaya - A Barthesian Adaptation Aparna Frank (Hunter College, CUNY, USA) 5. Circles of Death in Ashish Avikunthak’s Cinema Arka Chattopadhyay (Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, India) 6. Is the World Really as It Appears in Art? Violence as a Civilizational Question in Ashish Avikunthak’s Vidhvastha Pratyush Bhattacharyya (UC Santa Barbara, USA) 7. Ritual-in-Action: Temporality and Its Discourse in the Films of Ashish Avikunthak Hrishikesh Ingle (The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India) 8. Sonic Disjunctions: Critical Listening to Ashish Avikunthak’s Filmworks Budhaditya Chattopadhyay (Critical Media Lab, Switzerland) 9. Cinematic Practice as Epistemic Archeology: An Interview with Ashish Avikunthak Erin O’Donnell (East Stroudsburg University, USA) and Šarunas Paunksnis (Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania) Filmography Index

About the Author :
Erin O’Donnell is an Associate Professor of History at East Stroudsburg University, USA. Her research and teaching interests include the histories of Bengali, Bangladeshi, and Indian film and photography. Šarunas Paunksnis is a Professor at Kaunas University of Technology in Lithuania. His current research interests include new media, Indian cinema, posthumanism, postcolonial theory.

Review :
Ashish Avikunthak’s productivity is staggeringly ambitious, consistently captivating, and aesthetically audacious. It might easily be compared to that of Harun Farocki, Werner Herzog, or perhaps even Jean-Luc Godard. This penetrating volume offers a much-needed exploration of Avikunthak’s radical cinematic practice, exploring how his films challenge dominant epistemes and subvert aesthetic conventions. The insightful essays in this book adroitly situate the intellectual and philosophical depth of his work within urgent debates on history, identity, and resistance. Essential reading for those interested in avant-garde cinema, postcolonial thought, and the transformative power of art in turbulent times. This is a very important book about a very important filmmaker, particularly at this moment or historical juncture. This is the first book I have ever seen on Avikunthak’s films, and the fact that it includes long-time collaborators, one of the film-maker’s videographers, and an interview are all real gifts. This is one of those cutting-edge books that will grow in importance with time. The book is interesting and compelling. Avikunthak continues to develop interesting cinematic ideas, and he has made a decisive intervention in ongoing debates about cinema’s future. He fully merits the sort of attention this book provides.