One of the greatest ambassadors of Indian cinema on the global stage, Mrinal Sen
has always seen his life and work as part of the social and political fabric of
his time. Considered the enfant terrible of Indian cinema when he broke on the
scene in the 1960s and '70s, Sen today is known for his films that capture
moments of truth in the ordinary lives of ordinary people. His masterfully
subtle and nuanced portraits of urban class tension, leftist politics, and the
city of Calcutta itself—which Sen has called his El Dorado—set his cinema apart
from that of his contemporaries.
Montage encapsulates half a century of