Thiong'o, Tharoor and Films on Colonial History

Hello Readers!

When one talks about colonialism and postcolonialism, Shashi Tharoor is a name whose work is worth considering.

Shashi Tharoor is a renowned author who has penned a postcolonial text namely, "An Era of Darkness: British Empire in India" He has given many speeches about Indian colonial history and how Britishers 'Looted' India for two centuries. Here is the work done before on the topic. Click Here to navigate to the blog post.

* Films on Colonial History

There are several films made with reference of colonial aspects and colonial history.

1. Kavi Raz's The Black Prince

Duleep Singh was the last king of Punjab state, a princely state of British India. His father Ranjeet Singh was killed in the Anglo-Sikh war when Duleep Singh was a kid. Duleep Singh was set on the throne at five. At the age of fifteen, he was abducted by Britishers and sent to England. He was converted to Christianity and was not allowed to get back to India. During his exile, his mother Jind Kaur ruled in Punjab. The film covers the strong colonial politics and shrewd strategies to colonize the land at any cost.

2. Stephan Frears' Victoria and Abdul

3. Mira Nair's Reluctant Fundamentalist

4. Deepa Mehta's Midnight's Children

5. Richard Attenborough's Gandhi

The films captures the timespan of British India and a struggle for freedom. Though the film is a biopic but still it carries the colonial history in the background.

6. Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List

Oskar Schindler, (born April 28, 1908, Svitavy [Zwittau], Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now in the Czech Republic]—died October 9, 1974, Hildesheim, West Germany), German industrialist who, aided by his wife and staff, sheltered approximately 1,100 Jews from the Nazis by employing them in his factories, which supplied the German army during World War II. (Britannica, for more https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oskar-Schindler)

And many other films are there which capture the colonial nuances from the history. Here is a list of some more films. https://mubi.com/lists/postcolonial-cinema

References:

Al-Kadhi, Amrou. "Victoria and Abdul is Another Dangerous Example of British Filmmakers Whitewashing Colonialism." The Independent, 18 Sept. 2017, www.independent.co.uk/voices/victoria-and-abdul-white-wash-british-empire-colonialism-poverty-slavery-a7950541.html

Thank You!