Writings

Amit Dutta writes primarily in Hindi. His work has also been published in English and Dogri, with several texts available in translation. The books include a Hindi novel, a film-school diary, books for children, essays on art history, a study of Kangra’s traditional water systems, poetry in Dogri, as well as cinematic exercises. His books have received the Krishna Baldev Vaid Award for experimental fiction in Hindi, appeared in the Tata Trusts’ Parag Honours List as one of the best books for children in India, and been shortlisted for awards in various categories, including the Armory Square Prize for South Asian Literature in Translation. He also contributes regularly to Hindi literary and children’s journals.

Books by Amit Dutta:

Fiction

  • Kaljayi Kambakht — A precocious schoolboy and his alter ego roam their hill village, gathering fragments of knowledge to make sense of the world. As their private theories begin to reshape reality, they become trapped in a world of their own invention. (Hindi, 2016).
  • Mukt Sthaan — An experimental novelette told through twenty-one telegrams, exploring how imagination creates a free space within structures of confinement. (Hindi, 2026).

Poetry

Cinema

Art and Cultural Inquiry

Books for Children

Manuscripts, Studies & Projects

These works have developed over many years, often alongside related films, archival research and independent reading. Some are completed manuscripts, while others remain continuing enquiries.

[View Manuscripts, Studies & Projects]

Contributions to other Publications:

  • Essay on Satyajit Ray in Satyajit Ray: Ce que j’ai toujours su, c’est dessiner, edited by Amandine D’Azevedo and Eva Markovits, Éditions de l’Œil.
  • “In Memory of Professor B. N. Goswamy,” Artibus Asiae, Vol. 85, No. 2, Museum Rietberg, Zurich.
  • Dogri poems in The Dragon’s Heart: World Poetry in Translation, Poetry at Sangam, edited by Priya Sarukkai Chabria and Mrinalini Harchandrai. Translated into English by Ayswarya S. Dutta.
  • Swadhyay ke Supt Swar, published in Samas, Issue 27, brings together twenty-eight short essays drawn from notebooks kept over many years. The pieces move from the geography of Dogri language and Indian musical thought to literature, philosophy, painting and chess, tracing a long practice of self-study guided by curiosity.
  • “Marie-Pierre Duhamel: In Memoriam and Gratitude,” Cahiers du Réel #5, Cinéma du Réel. A personal tribute to Marie-Pierre Duhamel-Müller.
  • Mukt-Sthan, novel excerpt, Samas.
  • “Extraordinary in the Ordinary: Tribute to Writer Vinod Kumar Shukla,” The Tribune, 4 January 2026. A reflection on Vinod Kumar Shukla’s writing, cinema and perception.
  • “Morning Procession,” Words Without Borders, 24 May 2023. An excerpt from Kaljayi Kambakht, translated from Hindi by Vaibhav Sharma.
  • “A Detached Quietude,” a reflection on films and filmmaking written at the request of Shinjiro Kinugasa for the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Japan.
  • An excerpt from a historical novel about chess in colonial India, published in Samas, Issue 20.
  • Conversation with International Master Venkatachalam Saravanan, BOMB Magazine, Issue 148, 17 September 2019. The conversation was accompanied by a game of correspondence chess.
  • Diary and notebook contribution to Lensight, the Film and Television Institute of India’s quarterly academic journal, October–December 2017 special issue.
  • “Amit Dutta by Shambhavi Kaul,” BOMB Magazine, Issue 141, 18 September 2017. An extended conversation on cinema, research, miniature painting and artistic practice.
  • “Dialogue, Monologue, Dia-Mono-Logue with Amit Dutta,” a conversation with Amrit Gangar in Cinema of Prayoga: Indian Experimental Film & Video, 1913–2006, edited by Brad Butler and Karen Mirza, no.w.here, London.

Lectures

  • Janpadiya Cinema Ki Aur (2018) — The Mani Kaul Memorial Lecture, delivered in Hindi, explores the post-Independence idea of Janpadiya as a path toward cinema rooted in India’s living folk traditions.
  • Less Is Not Less (2021) — An introductory address delivered in English at the Copenhagen Architecture Festival on cinema as a practice of learning and listening, drawing on traditional water systems to reconsider modern ideas of wealth and progress.
  • The Person I Was Looking At (2026) — Opening statement at the Critical Media Lab, McGill University, reflecting on archival filmmaking and the reversal between looking and being looked at.

Books on Amit Dutta’s work: