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As a child I had always been fascinated by the wonderful world of folktales. Growing up in a society that had nurtured the traditional values and preserved a vast array of Assamese oral narratives was itself an amazing experience. Much before I was a student of Mass Communication, I started watching cinema and analyzing them either in casual talks or through some serious writing. As I entered into the field of Film Studies through academic courses and film watching sessions, I started learning about the craft, reading a film as a text and appreciating its different technical aspects.

Before I had joined the PhD course at the Department of Folklore Research, Gauhati University, I had gained some sort of enlightenment towards the relationship of Folklore with Mass Media through a course in Folklore and Culture Studies. This had paved the way of my interest in exploring these interconnected and interdisciplinary fields in a well organized manner. As I discussed the topic of my research with my Supervisor, he advised me to take up a study that would explore the relationship between Cinema and Folklore, which would in turn open newer avenues of observation and research.

The study opened newer dimensions of Film Studies in front of me. It helped me in understanding the presence of folklore in cinema in all forms, be it in orality, as material culture, as customs and traditions, or as forms of folk performing arts. The research has also been a source of gaining in-depth knowledge about how to observe the intricate relationship between the fields of Folklore and Mass Media in general and Cinema in particular, through a range of varied perspectives.

Meghna Choudhury
Date: 29-09-2022
Place: Gauhati University