Maithili Rao is an Indian freelance film critic, writer, journalist and former English lecturer based in Mumbai.[1][2][3] She has worked for several publications, including The Hindu, Frontline, Film Comment, the Sunday Observer, Gentleman, The Independent, and Screen.[citation needed]

Maithali Rao
Born1943
Secunderabad, Hyderabad State, India
Occupation
  • Author
  • Journalist
  • Film Critic
  • Lecturer
  • Subtitlist
LanguageEnglish, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu
NationalityIndian
Spouse
Shyam Rao
(m. 1967)
Children
  • Shamita Dewan

Career

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Rao worked as a journalist for The Hindu, Frontline, Film Comment, Gentleman, Man's World, Cinema in India, and South Asian Cinema; the latter two were published by the National Film Development Corporation of India and South Asian Cinema Foundation, which was based in London.[4][5] She wrote the column "Image of Women" in the newspaper Eye's Weekly for ten years. She is also a film critic for the Sunday Observer, The Independent, Screen, The Free Press Journal, Bombay, and Zee Premiere.[4][6] In 2003, she contributed to the Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema, an encyclopaedia book about Hindi cinema that was published by Popular Prakashan.[4]

Rao served as a jury at The Golden Elephant (also known as International Children's Film Festival India) and the Mumbai International Film Festival.[5] She has authored one books, titled Smita Patil: A Brief Incandescence, a biographical book on the Indian actress Smita Patil published by HarperCollins. According to the Indo-Asian News Service, "The book is not only a long-pending due to this accomplished but instinctive actress but also an invaluable distillation of some of the best of Indian cinema, which could easily rise above mindless escapism to sensitively portray society and its inequities and injustices—especially towards women, whose plight Smita can so touchingly render."[7] The Times of India listed it amongst the "top 25 good reads" of 2015.[8]

Bibliography

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  • Rao, Maithili (2015). Smita Patil: A Brief Incandescence. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-93-51775-12-6.
  • Rao, Maithili; Bhattacharya, Rinki Roy (2022). The Oldest Love Story : A Motherhood Anthology. Om Books International. ISBN 978-93-92834-36-3.

References

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  1. ^ "Maithili Rao". Mumbai International Film Festival. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  2. ^ Rao, Maithili (2002). "And Now We Speak English". Cinemaya. No. 56–62. p. 3. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  3. ^ Indian Horizons. Vol. 44. Indian Council for Cultural Relations. 1995. p. 287. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b c Gulzar; Nihalani, Govind; Chatterjee, Saibal (2003). Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema. Popular Prakashan. p. xix. ISBN 978-81-7991-066-5. Archived from the original on 5 April 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  5. ^ a b "India: Maithili Rao". Asia Pacific Screen Awards. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  6. ^ The New Generation, 1960-1980. Directorate of Film Festivals. 1981. p. 183.
  7. ^ "An intense performance: Smita Patil's life and films (Book Review)". Business Standard. Indo-Asian News Service. 6 November 2015. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  8. ^ "Top 25 Good Reads of 2015". The Times of India. 22 December 2015. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.