We, the People: In Memoriam: Kumar Shahani (1940–2024)

Known to the world as the maker of films like Maya Darpan, Tarang, Bamboo Flute and Kasba, Kumar Shahani is one of the finest experimental film-makers of modern times. The synesthetic quality of his films which seamlessly merged colour, dance and music and silence and speech was unique and distinguished him from his teachers and companions. Most of all Kumar was a refined human being who valued friendships intensely. His could raise the mundane to the sublime and keep values of democracy, freedom of speech, social togetherness, and individual dignity at the centre of his films. He wanted to make a film on the Constitution of India as a civilisational document of humanity. This article is an attempt to capture that story, a story that remained unfinished.