The film journal Cinemaya: The Asian Film Quarterly had found favour with a lot of cinebuffs across the world.
Asian Film Journeys, which compiles the best pieces on Asian cinema published over the years in Cinemaya, brings back the flavour of insightful articles on Asian films. Published by Wisdom Tree, it was released by author and former minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor at the Park hotel on Thursday evening.
Mr Tharoor said that it was the notion of Asianness that made the journal fascinating. He said that in her idea of Asia, Aruna Vasudev, who conceived Cinemaya, reflected the vision of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Asian Film Journeys has been edited by Rashmi Doraiswamy and Latika Padgaonkar.
Speaking about the selection of articles, Padgaonkar said Asian Film Journeys brings together the pieces by the finest and well-established experts on South Asian cinema, like Donald Richie and Chris Berry.
Padgaonkar said the articles, which talk about films from about 26 countries, have not been updated as editing would have killed their moments of truth. She said that the preference was given to the articles which focused on the bigger picture, delving into cinemas of countries in the throes of political, economic and social change. Reminiscing her Cinemaya days, Vasudev said: "We worked on a shoestring. But never with stress."