The "Indian" Dances in Kali Yug (1963, Italy/France/Germany)

Back in 2011 when I researched for my post series on Indian dances in Western films about India, I found some images from the 1963 Italian film Kali Yug that seemed to depict India and feature an "Indian" dance that looked like it would fit in nicely with the orientalist dances in part three of the series. 

Kali Yug film posters

At that time, I wasn't able to find any clips online or copies of the film for sale and it seemed quite rare. Fast forward three years later and a Google search on a lark reveals the film and its sequel (the German dubs, Kali Yug Die Gottin Der Rache and Aufruhr in Indien) are available at Dailymotion!

According to the Historical Dictionary of Italian Cinema, Kali Yug was one of "two adventure fantasies set in India" directed by Mario Camerini, "one of the foremost directors of Italian cinema in the interwar years." The full name of the film was Kali Yug, La Dea Della Vendetta (Vengeance of Kali), and its sequel released in the same year was Mistero del Tempio Indiano (Mystery of an Indian Temple). While the credits of the films describe them as Italian-French-German coproductions, the films seem to have been shot in Italian and then dubbed into German (Kali Yug Die Gottin Der Rache/Aufruhr in Indien) and French (Kali-Yug Deesse de al Vengeance/Le Mystere Du Temple Hindou) as well as other European languages judging by the titles found online (Kali-Yug Les Revoltes de/de Opstandelingen Van, Kali-Jug Boginja Osvete, etc.)

Continue Reading >>>

4 comments Claudine Auger, Western Films, Zareen Suleman