This talk focuses on the inter-braiding of cultural production in India and America. As the sailboats begin to ply between America and India, the creation and appeasement of Orientalist desires is a process in which Americans, too, become active producers of ‘Indian culture,’ influencing dance, literature, and film. I also examine a parallel story of early American discourses on the development of ‘selfhood,’ the books and articles coming from Indian shores that contribute to this, and the Indians filmmakers who borrow upon such discourses and offer their critique as well.

Based in Pune, Gayatri Chatterjee teaches Film Studies at  Symbiosis School for the Liberal Arts. She has taught and lectured widely in the USA, and was a Fellow at Birbeck College-University of London. Her first book Awara (1992) won the Swarnakamal, the President’s gold medal as the Best Book on Cinema. Mother India (2002) was published as part of the British Film Institute’s film classics series. Her articles have appeared in national and international volumes. She has made two documentary films, Homes for Gods and Mortals and Life is Water. A feature film based on her script Bitter Chestnut is nearing completion.