The Second Seat

A conversation space at the intersection of cinema and culture. Rooted in Hyderabad. Hosted by Darshim Saxena.

Episodes

Episode 03 — Mere Focus Ki Love Story (Venkat Alexa)

Twenty-two years of focus, eight hundred commercials, one new producer. Read the essay.

Episode 02 — Ramanuj, Before Anuj (Anuj Sharma)

Chhattisgarh, cinema, and the seat beside him. Padma Shri, Actor, UNICEF Celebrity Advocate, Singer, MLA Dharsiwa. Read the essay.

Episode 01 — I Love Lights (C. Raja Krishnan)

Rajinikanth, Dharavi, and French cinema. Twenty-seven years as a gaffer. Read the essay.

Film Analysis

Long-form criticism on how a film is made and what it says, going beyond box office narratives. Published in Millennium Post, Free Press Journal, Deccan Herald and Orissa Post. Browse the full archive.

The Cinema of ‘Apnapan’ · Millennium Post
The Licensed Man: How O Romeo Rewrites the Gangster · Free Press Journal
Measured Violence: How Assi Turns Rape Into a System
Thaai Kizhavi: She Gave Them the Gold. Not the Game
The Week India Accidentally Programmed a Film Festival
Mayasabha: The 35mm Isolation Ward
Mayasabha: Living in the Projection Light
Assi: Counting Without Looking
Bura Na Mano, It’s Cinema
Lights Out
Wuthering Heights
When Sarvam Maya Finally Sits Down
Cheekatilo: A Film Built on Restraint
When Cinema Pauses, Gandhi Enters

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