Kamal Swaroop’s Om Dar-B-Dar (1988/2014) and Anamika Haksar’s Ghode Ko Jalebi Khilane Le Ja Riya Hu (2018) represent a fusion of various modes, methodologies and mediums. While scholars have explored these films in relation to digital, avant-garde, documentary, post-communist aesthetics (or, end of Indian New Wave, in case of Om Dar-B-Dar), their magic realist aspect has received less attention. Recently, the term ‘magic realism’ has become diluted, often used as a trite shorthand for non-realist tropes. Both Swaroop’s and Haksar’s films, however, align closely with exemplary works highlighted in major studies on global magic realist films by Felicity Gee and Aga Skrodzka, while also offering a unique perspective within the Indian context. This article revisits the radical spirit of past eras by examining lesser-known incidents and the obscure vernacular history of magic realism’s circulation in India, which constitutes the affective communities that shaped the milieu. This study seeks to probe new entry points into the topic. Anchored in postcolonial scholarship, particularly the writings of Fredric Jameson and Christopher Pinney, this study formulates a theoretical framework that, like its global counterparts, finds resonances in the practices of avant-garde and prayoga filmmakers. The article explores the significance of semiotic guerrilla tactics in Indian cinema, alongside other definitional parameters, with respect to the two films mentioned before.
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