Nalini Malani's Early Films Revealed in Paris Retrospective, Exploring Partition and Modernism

At the Centre Pompidou in Paris, a retrospective of Nalini Malani highlights her early films from 1969 to 1976, such as Still Life, Onanism, and Utopia, produced during her tenure at Akbar Padamsee's Vision Exchange Workshop in Bombay. Malani, who was born in Karachi in 1946 and moved to Calcutta in 1947, examines significant historical moments like the Partition. Her video installation Remembering Toba Tek Singh premiered at the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai in 1999. Notable works, including Cassandra (2009) and In Search of Vanished Blood (2012), tackle themes of violence through diverse materials. Her 2014 retrospective at the Kiran Nadar Museum in New Delhi affirmed her influence on Indian modernity, challenging Nehruvian Modernism and promoting women's representation in her Stories Retold series (2002–).