Representation of the city in cinema: ‘The Calcutta trilogy’

Communication has had a profound influence on the process of urbanization, while the processes of urbanization have shaped the nature of communication technologies and philosophies. In this paper the authors focus their attention on a third aspect of this interplay between communication and urbanization, namely, how communications media represent the discourse of urbanism. Their chosen medium of communication is film. By examining the complex ways in which films represent urbanization with special reference to Satyajit Ray's Calcutta Trilogy, the authors aim to illuminate the vital relationship that exists between space, time and identity in a rapidly changing urban space.