Short films on Telugu culture

Hyderabad, September 19: భాష మందాకిని (Bhasha Mandakini), an initiative to build an archive of video documentaries on Telugu language, literature, culture, history and arts, will be launched by Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University with the objectives of spreading Telugu consciousness among students in India and abroad and preserving culture for posterity.

Role for 50 firms

About 1,000 documentaries in English, each of 28 minutes duration, will be produced by 50 different production companies with funding and technical support from the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Vice-Chancellor of the University, Avula Manjulata, said in a press meet on Monday.

March 2008 has been set as the deadline for ten documentaries on different subjects such as the origin of Telugu language, its script, sister languages, legacy of Telugu painting and handicrafts and early Telugu scriptures and the social and political history therein.

The subjects for the documentaries were zeroed in after a meeting organised by the university on July 26 and 27 with well-known researchers, media experts and academicians, the VC said.

New courses

Eight new courses, predominantly in languages, arts and contemporary subjects, will be launched from this academic year, a press release from the University said. B.F.A Graphics (Print making) with a duration of four years can be pursued by students who passed Intermediate in or after March 2005.

M.Phil in Journalism, Music, Sanskrit and English, Ph.D./Integrated Course in Stage Arts, and P.G.Diploma in Travel and Tourism (Self-finance) are a few other courses being offered.

All M.Phil courses will be of a year’s duration and require a minimum of 50 per cent marks in post graduation with the corresponding subject, though for Music, the yardstick is raised up to 55 per cent.

For the Ph.D. programme, the candidate should have attained 55 per cent marks in the Post graduation or M.Phil or JRF with considerable experience in stage arts.

Five articles by the candidates should have already been published in well-known dailies or magazines. The qualification for the Integrated Course, however, is just Intermediate. The P.G.Diploma is open for all graduates.

Courtesy: Siasat