Radhika Mehta

Watching, Being Watched: Surveillance, Spectatorship, and Ideology in Mercy (2016)   Introduction Mercy (2016) is a science-fiction thriller set in a futuristic Los Angeles where artificial intelligence, digital surveillance, and smart technologies play a central role in the justice system. The film tells the story of a man who must prove his innocence within ninety minutes before an AI judge sentences him to death. Through webcams, Ring cameras, surveillance footage, cloud archives, and digital interfaces, the film explores important themes such as spectatorship, privacy, surveillance capitalism, and the growing power of technology. By combining cinematic techniques with digital media, Mercy encourages viewers to question not only how they watch films but also how surveillance shapes everyday life. 1. Breaking the Traditional Voyeuristic Distance Traditional cinema places the audience in the role of passive observers. In Mercy, characters frequently look directly into webcams and ...

The Power of One-Shot Filmmaking: A Study of Adolescence Introduction Cinema usually tells a story through multiple camera shots and editing. Different scenes are filmed separately and later joined together to create a smooth narrative. However, one-shot filmmaking follows a different approach. In this technique, an entire scene or sometimes an entire film or episode is captured in a single continuous take without visible cuts. This method creates a strong sense of realism and allows the audience to experience the events as if they are happening in real time. The Netflix series Adolescence (2025) is one of the best recent examples of this technique. Each episode is filmed as a continuous one-shot, making the audience feel emotionally connected to the characters and their experiences. This blog explains the concept of one-shot filmmaking and discusses Adolescence as a case study. What is a One-Shot Film? A one-shot film is a film or episode that appears to be recorded in one uninterr...

Between Laughter and Liberation: Critical Readings of Contemporary Indian Poems   1. What are the factors causing and affecting laughter according to Henri Bergson? How can we read Buddha's laughter in Pravin Gadhvi's Laughing Buddha? Introduction Henri Bergson, the famous French philosopher, explains the theory of laughter in his essay Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic. According to him, laughter is not simply an expression of happiness. It is a social act that helps people recognize and correct foolish or mechanical behaviour. Pravin Gadhvi's poem Laughing Buddha can be understood through Bergson's theory because Buddha's laughter is symbolic rather than joyful. It exposes human greed, hypocrisy, and attachment to material life. Factors Causing and Affecting Laughter According to Henri Bergson 1. Mechanical Behaviour Bergson believes that people laugh when human beings behave like machines. When a person repeats actions without awareness or flexibilit...