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{{Short description|Indian film scholar and cultural theorist}}
{{BLP sources|date=March 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ashish Rajadhyaksha
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Ashish Vithal Rajadhyaksha
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|3|12|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Mumbai|Bombay]], India
| alma_mater =
| occupation = Film scholar, cultural theorist
| years_active = 1982–present
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse = Pushpamala N. (divorced)
| children =
| website = {{URL|ashishrajadhyaksha.academia.edu}}
}}
'''Ashish Vithal Rajadhyaksha''' (born 12 March 1957) is an Indian film scholar, art curator and cultural theorist. He was a Senior Fellow at the [[Bangalore]]-based Centre for the Study of Culture and Society.<ref name="cscsarchive" />

== Early life ==
Ashish Vithal Rajadhyaksha<ref>{{Cite web |date=20 October 2014 |title=评论档案艺术档案 |url=http://www.artda.cn/view.php?tid=9227 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20210624053929/http://www.artda.cn/view.php?tid=9227 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |access-date=30 June 2021 |website=Artda.cn |language=Chinese}}</ref> was born on 12 March 1957 in Bombay (later renamed [[Mumbai]]), India.<ref name="cscsarchive" /> His father was a soldier in the Indian army. Rajadhyaksha's serious interest in cinema developed in the late 1970s.<ref name="thenews.com.pk" /> In 1978, he graduated from the [[University of Mumbai|University of Bombay]] with a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree.<ref name="cscsarchive">{{Cite web |title=Ashish Rajadhyaksha |url=http://www.cscsarchive.org/Members/ashish |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624054626/http://www.cscsarchive.org/Members/ashish |archive-date=24 June 2021 |access-date=30 June 2021 |website=Centre for the Study of Culture and Society}}</ref>

== Career ==
Rajadhyaksha developed a keenness for [[Ritwik Ghatak]]'s films after attending a course organised by the [[Film and Television Institute of India|Film and Television Institute]] and the [[National Film Archive of India]] in the early 1980s. The first book that he authored was ''Ritwik Ghatak: A Return to the Epic'', published in 1982.<ref name="thenews.com.pk">{{Cite web |last=Akhtar |first=Aasim |date=17 June 2018 |title=Ghatak continues to fascinate me even today |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/565708-ghatak-continues-fascinate-even-today |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630035817/https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/565708-ghatak-continues-fascinate-even-today |archive-date=30 June 2021 |access-date=30 June 2021 |website=[[The News International]]}}</ref> Starting in 1983, he wrote numerous articles for publications such as the [[New Delhi]]–based ''Journal of Arts & Ideas'' and Calcutta (now [[Kolkata]])–based ''Journal of the Moving Image''.<ref name="cscsarchive" /> He authored, with [[Paul Willemen]], ''Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema'' in 1994.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 September 2011 |title=What experts say about Bengaluru's possibility as a "creative city" |url=https://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/3426-live-coverage-bengalurus-possibility-as-a-creative-city-3426 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630044812/https://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/3426-live-coverage-bengalurus-possibility-as-a-creative-city-3426 |archive-date=30 June 2021 |access-date=30 June 2021 |website=Citizen Matters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Nath |first=Parshathy J. |date=6 June 2015 |title=Celluloid history |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/celluloid-history/article7289274.ece |url-status=live |access-date=30 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630050939/https://www.thehindu.com/features/celluloid-history/article7289274.ece |archive-date=30 June 2021}}</ref> After a long hiatus, Rajadhyaksha's next book, a solo, was ''Indian Cinema in the Time of Celluloid: From Bollywood to the Emergency'' in 2009,<ref name="cscsarchive" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Guy |first=Randor |author-link=Randor Guy |date=14 October 2009 |title=Encyclopaedic study of Indian cinema |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/Encyclopaedic-study-of-Indian-cinema/article16886547.ece |url-status=live |access-date=30 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630050939/https://www.thehindu.com/books/Encyclopaedic-study-of-Indian-cinema/article16886547.ece |archive-date=30 June 2021}}</ref> followed by ''The Last Cultural Mile: An Inquiry into Technology and Governance in India'' in 2011,<ref name="thenews.com.pk" /> and ''Indian Cinema: A Very Short Introduction'' in 2016.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Luhrssen |first=David |date=23 November 2016 |title=Indian Cinema: A Very Short Introduction |work=[[Shepherd Express]] |url=https://shepherdexpress.com/film/i-hate-hollywood/indian-cinema-short-introduction/ |url-status=live |access-date=30 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630050939/https://shepherdexpress.com/film/i-hate-hollywood/indian-cinema-short-introduction/ |archive-date=30 June 2021}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
Rajadhyaksha was married to Pushpamala N., a Bangalore-based artist.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tripathi |first=Shailaja |date=16 March 2018 |title=Pushpamala speaks art in many languages |work=[[The Hindu]] |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/art/speaking-art-in-many-languages/article23268422.ece |access-date=30 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630051800/https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/art/speaking-art-in-many-languages/article23268422.ece |archive-date=30 June 2021}}</ref> The couple later divorced.<ref>{{Cite web |last=N |first=Pushpamala |date=5 September 2019 |title=Elegy for a lost friend: Gauri Lankesh (1962–2017) |url=https://indianculturalforum.in/2019/09/05/gauri-lankesh/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630052957/https://indianculturalforum.in/2019/09/05/gauri-lankesh/ |archive-date=30 June 2021 |access-date=30 June 2021 |website=Indian Cultural Forum}}</ref>

== Books written ==
* {{Cite book |last=Rajadhyaksha |first=Ashish |title=Ritwik Ghatak: A Return to the Epic |publisher=Screen Unit |year=1982 |oclc=10516837}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Rajadhyaksha |first1=Ashish |title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema |last2=Willemen |first2=Paul |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=0-19-563579-5 |author-link2=Paul Willemen |orig-year=1994}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rajadhyaksha |first=Ashish |title=Indian Cinema in the Time of Celluloid: From Bollywood to the Emergency |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-253-22048-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rajadhyaksha |first=Ashish |title=The Last Cultural Mile: An Inquiry into Technology and Governance in India |publisher=Centre for Internet and Society |year=2011 |oclc=925374086}}
* {{Cite book |last=Rajadhyaksha |first=Ashish |title=Indian Cinema: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-19-872309-7}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rajadhyaksha, Ashish}}
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Film theorists]]
[[Category:Indian film historians]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Mumbai]]
[[Category:University of Mumbai alumni]]

Ashish Rajadhyaksha - Revision history

GAURI PARIHAR at 01:02, 29 January 2026