Play it Again

One cannot look forward without closure, can one? In this episode Pragya Tiwari and Raja Sen list their favourite books, movies, plays and music— mostly unusual suspects and share some very strongly held contrarian opinions. Join us in taking this long, last look at 2025 and send us your thoughts. We are always listening.

Amitava Kumar is a brilliant writer, artist and teacher. He is also one of them most brilliant consumers of culture, which makes him one of our dream guests. In this episode, books, films and art collide and coalesce in unexpected ways and the absolute joy and pleasure of reading and listening and watching is for all to partake in. Just make sure you have a pen and paper handy for the the recommendations that come along the way.

In this episode, we feature an award-winning poet, composer, writer, actor. The polymath Swanand Kirkire talks about Kumar Gandharva, the National School of Drama, and his many influences in art, theatre and cinema

In this episode we talk about one of the greatest pleasures of all times- going down a rabbit hole. Allowing a film to suggest another, or a book to lead you to an art work that compels you to listen to a forgotten music album. Our hosts recount their rabbit hole journeys from this year and play a unique word association game. Listen in for a host of recommendations of what and how to read and watch.

In this episode we have a heart to heart with Neeraj Ghaywan about why he made Homebound, how he found a foothold in the industry, the films that have shaped him, his obsessions and anxieties, and being a Dalit filmmaker in Bollywood.

Show Notes:

• Masaan, Homebound, Geeli Puchhi, Sacred Games — by Neeraj Ghaywan
• Fight Club, by David Fincher
• Three Monkeys, by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
• Underground, by Emir Kusturica
• The White Ribbon, by Michael Haneke
• Kaminey, by Vishal Bhardwaj
• Gangs Of Wasseypur, by Anurag Kashyap
• Udaan, by Vikramaditya Motwane
• Chalte Chalte, by Aziz Mirza
• Rosetta, by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne
• The Great Beauty, by Paolo Sorrentino
• Enter The Void, by Gaspar Noe
• Soy Cuba, by Mikhael Kalatozov
• Led Zeppelin: The BBC Sessions
• Ijaazat, by Gulzar
• The Bridges Of Madison County, by Robert James Waller
• The Trial, by Franz Kafka
• The Trial, by Orson Welles
• Aani Maani, by Fahim Irshad
• Dept Q (Netflix)
• Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
• Amour, by Michael Haneke
• Satantango, by Bela Tarr
• Fire On The Ganges, by Radhika Iyengar
• Giovanni’s Room, by James Baldwin
• Sorry To Bother You, by Boots Riley
• Bridge Over Troubled Water, by Simon And Garfunkel
• Geetanjali, by Mani Ratnam
• Sagara Sangamam, by K Viswanath

A new podcast on how we consume culture, and how it consumes us. Hosted by Pragya Tiwari and Raja Sen. Produced by Radio Kalkatta by Oijo.

In this episode, we speak with Aatish Taseer, novelist and non-fiction writer, to examine the cultural influences that have shaped him and his writing. In his new book he charts a road to find himself anew after an enforced exile from his homeland by traveling to places and exploring themes that interested his younger self. In this episode we peel back layers of narrative to reveal the cultural contradictions that underpin the way he looks at the world and navigates his own predicament.

Show Notes

• Return To Self: Excursions in Exile https://www.amazon.in/Return-Self-Excursions-Exile/dp/9369897720/ref=sr_1_1?crid=14FRAFYDV0SSQ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.nam6klDq8aR4kutKsCluw9FjiZ1KShSa2ckJkNpJRqpnAOSb_JHjZH9G2ErvHgpJu5LIIU1idU31SC33v9MI7g.9KtHa40JDcqKv482Nr0ajLf-t-woVXrhhqvP7wD_f9o&dib_tag=se&keywords=a+return+to+self+aatish+taseer&qid=1757921863&sprefix=return+to+self%2Caps%2C257&sr=8-1

• VS Naipaul: The Grief and the Glory https://granta.com/vs-naipaul-the-grief-and-the-glory/

• Satanic Verses and Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie

• JM Coetzee on Samuel Beckett https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetry-news/78818/jm-coetzee-reads-into-samuel-beckett-eight-times

• Stranger in the Village, James Baldwin https://harpers.org/archive/1953/10/stranger-in-the-village/

• Manto, translated by Aatish Taseer https://www.amazon.in/Manto-Selected-Stories-Aatish-Taseer-ebook/dp/B008M7S672

• On Rebecca West https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/apr/06/wests-world-lorna-gibb-review

• Girish Karnad on VS Naipaul https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/vs-naipaul-slammed-by-girish-karnad-for-his-views-on-muslims-503528

In this episode our hosts Pragya Tiwari and Raja Sen talk about the idea of a cultural DNA- books, music, and movies that have shaped us as individuals and are formative to the way in which we look at the world. They also talk about their shared cultural DNA as friends, arguing that most important relationships are based on a shared love of culture. Listen in to get to know them and yourselves better.

Show Notes:

• Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen by PG Wodehouse
• Jeeves And Wooster (TV series)
• Blackadder (TV series)
• Haroun And The Sea Of Stories by Salman Rushdie
• The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
• Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
• Thud by Terry Pratchett
• Aladdin Sane by David Bowie
• The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars by David Bowie
• The Real Frank Zappa Book by Frank Zappa
• Titties & Beer (from the album Baby Snakes) by Frank Zappa
• 8 1/2 by Federico Fellini
• Satyricon by Federico Fellini
• Jalsaghar / The Music Room by Satyajit Ray
• Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne by Satyajit Ray
• Charulata by Satyajit Ray
• The Apu Trilogy by Satyajit Ray
• Annie Hall by Woody Allen
• Fleabag (TV series)
• Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge by Aditya Chopra
• Breathless by Jean-Luc Godard
• Hero No 1 by David Dhawan
• 1984 by George Orwell
• Animal Farm by George Orwell
• The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway
• Black Bag by Steven Soderbergh
• Ghajini (2008) by AR Murugadoss
• Gangs Of Wasseypur by Anurag Kashyap
• Omkara by Vishal Bhardwaj
• Kaminey by Vishal Bhardwaj
• Dev D by Anurag Kashyap
• Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino
• Waiting For Godot
• Friday Night In San Francisco by Al Di Meola, Paco De Lucia and John McLaughlin
• Dreamers by Bernardo Bertolucci
• Ishqiya by Abhishek Chaubey
• Gulaal (album) by Piyush Mishra
• A Case Of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammad Haneef
• Midnight In Paris by Woody Allen
• A Real Pain by Jesse Eisenberg
• Play It Again, Sam by Woody Allen
• Casablanca by Michael Curtiz