Aruna Vasudev

Indian scholar and film critic (1936–2024)

Aruna Vasudev

Vasudev in 2010

Born| (1936-11-01)1 November 1936
Died| 5 September 2024(2024-09-05) (aged 87)
Nationality| Indian
Spouse| Sunil Roy (died 1993)
Children| One

Aruna Vasudev (1 November 1936[1] – 5 September 2024) was an Indian critic, author, editor, painter, and maker of documentaries who was considered an eminent scholar on Asian cinema,[2][3] and was described as the "mother of Asian Cinema".[4]

## Early life and education

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A younger sister of Uma Vasudeva, she was born in 1936. After marrying Sunil Kumar Roy, an Indian diplomat, she chose to retain her maiden name.[5]

His Excellency Sunil Roy died in New York from cancer in 1993, having previously served as Indian Ambassador to Poland, then Mexico, and High Commissioner to Nigeria.[6]

In the early 1960s, she attended film classes in New York where her father was working and created a number of short documentaries after her return to India. She received a doctorate from the University of Paris on cinema and censorship.[7] Her PhD thesis was published as a book titled Liberty and Licence in the Indian Cinema in 1979.[2]

## Career

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Vasudev recently served as director of Osian's-Connoisseurs of Art Private Limited.[3][8] She was also one of the Trustees of the Public Service Broadcasting Trust in India.[9]

She started as a greenhorn helping in the makeup rooms of Doordarsan in 1960.[10]

She launched Cinemaya in 1988 as a publication that showcases filmmakers from Asia. In 1991, she founded the internationally renowned NETPAC as an organisation to forward the cause of Asian films.[5]

From 1990, she was the President or Jury Member of international film festivals including Karlovy Vary, Locarno, Cannes (Camera d'Or), Las Palmas, Pusan, Singapore, Fajr (Tehran), and Antalya.

## Death

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On 5 September 2024, it was announced that Vasudev had died at the age of 87.[11]

## Honours and awards

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### Honours

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Appointed Cavaliere della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana in 2004,[12] in 2019 Vasudev was honoured by the French Government as Officier des Arts et des Lettres,[13] the highest accolades from two major film-producing countries, Italy and France.[5]

### Awards

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In 1997, Vasudev won the Korean Cinema Award at the Pusan International Film Festival.

In 2006, Vasudev received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Cinemanila International Film Festival.

In 2015, Vasudev was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2nd edition of the International Film Festival of Colombo[14] for her contributions towards putting Asian cinema on the international map.[15] At the Hawaii International Film Festival the same year, Vasudev won a Vision in Film Award.

The Tripoli Film Festival[16] has named its prize for Best Writing on Cinema as the “Aruna Vasudev Award”.[4]

## References

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1. ^ Aruna Vasudev, 1936 – 2024
2. ^ a b "Lifetime Achievement Awards - Aruna Vasudev and Adoor Gopalakrishnan". IFFCOLOMBO 2015 - International Film Festival of Colombo 2015. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
3. ^ a b "Aruna Vasudev: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
4. ^ a b "Aruna Vasudev gets 4 lifetime awards in 1 year". asianage.com/. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
5. ^ a b c "Power Moment: Aruna Vasudev". Verve Magazine. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
6. ^ www.nytimes.com
7. ^ www.in.ambafrance.org
8. ^ "www.osians.co.in". Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
9. ^ www.psbt.org
10. ^ "The Telegraph - Calcutta : Weekend". www.telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 1 January 2007. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
11. ^ "Film scholar Aruna Vasudev, 'Mother of Asian Cinema', passes away at 88". The Hindu. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
12. ^ www.presidenti.quirinale.it
13. ^ www.tribuneindia.com
14. ^ www.ceyiff.com
15. ^ Ramakrishnan, T. (27 October 2015). "Adoor, Aruna Vasudev to be honoured at Colombo Film festival". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
16. ^ www.tripoli-filmfestival.org

## External links

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* Aruna Vasudev at IMDb
* Cinemaya official website Archived 6 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine
* 25 years of NETPAC

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