The Dead Line

The years between Indian independence (1947) and the dominance of colour cinema (early 1960s) saw the emergence and fruition of a distinct, confident, and nuanced black and white aesthetic in Hindi mainstream cinema. Shadow Craft is an ardent and immersive study of cinematic craftings that emblematise the oeuvres of Kamal Amrohi, Raj Kapoor, Nutan, Bimal Roy, Guru Dutt, and Abrar Alvi. Films such as Aag (1948), Mahal (1949), Seema (1955), Pyaasa (1957), Sujata (1959), Kagaz Ke Phool (1959), Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), Bandini (1963) remain formative to the visual psyche of generations of South Asian viewers. This enduring visual language demonstrates a minutely attuned and sympathetic camera, evocative pools of shadow, affect-rich atmospheric composition, and the visual autonomy of performance.With seventy five rare and curated images from the archives, Shadow Craft offers for the first time a consolidated and intimate journey through this pioneering black and white cinema aesthetic at its most expressive and climactic moment.THE TIMES THRILLER OF THE MONTHA SUNDAY TIMES THRILLER OF THE YEAR'Vivid and packed with journalistic lore ... Mixing pulsating derring-do with painstaking detective work' Sunday Times A Bangladeshi camp. A British ambassador. A Harley Street doctor.Investigative journalist Casey Benedict is used to working on stories that will take her from the bottom to the top of society - stories with a huge human cost. And her latest case is no different.A frantic message is found hidden in clothes manufactured for the British high street. They take the girls... Casey and her team at the Post know they are on the brink of a major expose but identifying the factories in which the clothes have been made is one challenge, following the trail of those taken is another. Their attempts to find the girls will take Casey from her London newsroom across the world and into the very heart of families who will be destroyed if what she uncovers is ever revealed.The Hunt and the Kill, the third in the Casey Benedict series, is out in July 2021. Available for pre-order now.