Invisible Transnationalism: Iranian New Wave and its Influences on the New Marathi Film

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article presents a critical mapping of invisible or subterranean transnationalism in the context of two geo-spatially distant cinemas. Interrogating the specific textual instances of the new Marathi film, I demonstrate that its narrative aesthetics has been significantly influenced by the New Iranian Cinema. The New Marathi film, which has emerged after Shwaas (2004), carries an unmistakable reworking of several Iranian films. Apart from certain productions that have children as their protagonists, several films like Valu (2009), Jhing Chik Jhing (2010), etc. derive their fundamental narrative premise from the minimalist plots of Iranian films like The Wind Will Carry Us, Children of Heaven, and The White Balloon. This, however, is circumscribed by the circulation of Iranian films through pirated DVDs, pirate networks, and peer-to-peer sharing. The article forwards two notions for invisible transnationalism: a) the valorization of Iranian films by Marathi filmmakers as an ideological remapping for narrative expressivity, and b) how this shapes the historical juncture defining the new-ness of the Marathi film.