Conversations on Indian Science Fiction

NT Correspondent

If someone asked you to name five Indian Sci-Fi stories or films you would really be hard pressed for the knowledge. And if you were asked to mention good ones, then the number would be even fewer. Despite it being one of the most popular genres in the world for the last century, Sci-Fi has not taken off in India despite being a genre perfect to tackle social issues of our times.

It is mostly restricted to novels and never translates well to cinema owing to budgetary constraints. But that hasn’t stopped people from creating SciFi stories. The Legendary Satyajit Ray wrote The Alien, which eventually became E.T. and there have been many laudable attempts along the way more recently with the advent of streaming platforms, Super Deluxe and Dobaara to name a few.

But what place does Indian Sci-Fi hold in the world? That will be focus of the talk at the BIC titled At Home and in the (Speculative) World. Gautam Bhatia, the author of the science fiction duology The Wall and The Horizon, will join Lavanya Lakshminarayan, the author of The Ten Percent Thief, and columnist TG Shenoy to talk about the themes of Indian Sci-Fi and how authors are engaging a contemporary audience in the discussion moderated by Shrabonti Bagchi.

Anyone who is a fan of science fiction, fantasy or speculative fiction wouldn’t want to miss this talk, which will shed light on Indian Sci-Fi and where it is going.

Where: BIC, Domlur

When: Nov 7, 6:30

Entry: Free