Ira Bhaskar

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Ira Bhaskar
Occupation(s)Professor, Cinema Studies Scholar
Employer Jawaharlal Nehru University
Spouse C. Uday Bhaskar
Children Swara Bhasker

Ira Bhaskar is an Indian academic and cinema studies scholar, known for her work on the cultural and historical influences in Indian cinema. She has served as a Professor of Cinema Studies at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, and a former dean of the school. Bhaskar has authored and edited influential works, including Islamicate Cultures of Bombay Cinema (2009), and has served on the board of the Nehru Trust for Indian Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum (NTICVA).

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She also served as a member of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC)

Early life and education

Ira Bhaskar completed her Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and MPhil in English Literature at Delhi University. She later earned a PhD in Cinema Studies from the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, in 2005, with a focus on narrative poetics and Indian cinema. Before joining JNU, she taught at Gargi College, Delhi University. [1]

Academic career

Bhaskar served as a Professor of Cinema Studies at JNU’s School of Arts and Aesthetics, also as dean. [2]

Her research explores melodrama, nationalism, and Islamicate cultural influences in Indian cinema, with a particular focus on Bombay cinema. She has published 26 research papers and is recognised for her interdisciplinary approach to film studies. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

She has held visiting faculty positions at various institutions, including Columbia University, the University of Pavia, York University, and the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. Bhaskar has also been a scholar-in-residence at York University and received research fellowships from the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library and the British Academy. [8] [9] [10]

In 2022, she was appointed to the board of the Nehru Trust for Indian Collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum. [1]

Central Board of Film Certification

Bhaskar served as one of the ten member of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), India’s regulatory body for film certification, where she contributed to the review and certification of films for public exhibition. During her tenure, she engaged with issues of censorship, artistic expression, and cultural representation in Indian films, aligning with her broader scholarly focus on gender and nationalism in cinema. She resigned from the CBFC in January 2015, citing organisational dysfunction, including a lack of board meetings since January 2014 and alleged interference and corruption within the board, following the resignation of CBFC chief Leela Samson amid controversy over the clearance of the film MSG: The Messenger . [11] [12]

Publications

Bhaskar’s scholarship focuses on the historical and cultural dimensions of Indian cinema. Her notable works include: [13]

•  Islamicate Cultures of Bombay Cinema (2009, Tulika Books), co-authored with Richard Allen, which examines the influence of Islamic cultural forms on Bollywood cinema. [14]

•  Bombay Cinema’s Islamicate Histories (2009, Intellect Books), co-edited with Allen, exploring the historical interplay of Muslim and Hindu cultures in Indian films. [15]

• Facets of India's security: essays for C. Uday Bhaskar (2021, Routledge). [16]

•  Contributor to Gender Meets Genre in Postwar Cinemas (2012, University of Illinois Press). [17]

Personal life

Bhaskar is married to C. Uday Bhaskar, a retired Indian Navy officer and strategic analyst. Their daughter, Swara Bhasker, is a Bollywood actress and activist and their son Ishan Bhaskar is a film director. [18] [19] [20]

References

  1. 1 2 "Professor Ira Bhaskar joins the board of the NTICVA". www.nehrutrustvam.org. Archived from the original on 2025-04-28. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  2. "Farewell, Ira Bhaskar: Teacher par excellence". The Indian Express. 2023-04-03. Archived from the original on 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  3. "Ira Bhaskar". Intellect Books. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  4. "Prof Ira Bhaskar and Prof Ranjani Mazumdar | Welcome to Jawaharlal Nehru University". www.jnu.ac.in. Archived from the original on 2025-02-18. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  5. "Ira Bhaskar Voices". Times of India Voices. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  6. "Ira Bhaskar". University of Chicago Press. Archived from the original on 2024-07-27. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  7. "Review: Bombay Cinema's Islamicate Histories edited by Ira Bhaskar and Richard Allen". Hindustan Times. 2022-07-22. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  8. "Ira Bhaskar Entertainment Photo Ira Bhaskar, professor ..." Times Of India. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  9. Das, Tina (2024-10-29). "Padmaavat to The Kerala Story, how new-age Bollywood films spread Hindu nationalism". ThePrint. Archived from the original on 2024-10-29. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  10. "Ira Bhaskar on The Quint". TheQuint. Archived from the original on 2024-06-25. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  11. IndiaToday.in (2015-01-16). "After CBFC chief Leela Samson, Censor Board member Ira Bhaskar decides to quit". India Today. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  12. "We are not Congress stooges: Censor Board's Ira Bhaskar". India TV News. 2015-01-20. Archived from the original on 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  13. Ramnath, Nandini (2021-09-20). "Muslim stereotyping in Hindi films: 'We cannot allow ourselves to forget what constitutes us'". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 2025-05-24. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  14. Bhaskar, Ira; Allen, Richard (2009). Islamicate cultures of Bombay cinema. New Delhi, India: Tulika Books. ISBN   978-81-89487-53-9.
  15. Allen, Richard; Bhaskar, Ira (2022-04-07), "Introduction: Bombay Cinema's Islamicate Histories", Bombay Cinema's Islamicate Histories, Intellect Books, pp. 1–34, ISBN   978-1-78938-397-3 , retrieved 2025-08-02
  16. Uday Bhaskar, C.; Kumaraswamy, P. R., eds. (2022). Facets of India's security: essays for C. Uday Bhaskar (First South Asia ed.). Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN   978-1-032-25357-2.
  17. Gledhill, Christine, ed. (2012-01-15). Gender Meets Genre in Postwar Cinemas. University of Illinois Press. ISBN   978-0-252-03661-3.
  18. "Commodore C Uday Bhaskar, Director of the Society for Policy Studies (SPS) - TBCY". 2020-11-09. Archived from the original on 2025-03-28. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  19. "Swara's cool daddy fields questions from millennials". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2025-08-02.
  20. "Swara Bhaskar Birthday: पिता पूर्व सैनिक तो मां जेएनयू में हैं प्रोफेसर, कुछ ऐसा है स्वरा भास्कर का परिवार". Amar Ujala (in Hindi). Archived from the original on 2022-06-05. Retrieved 2025-08-02.