Curated by Ashish Rajadhyaksha
Duniya Parchhaiyon Ki is a multilayered exhibition that explores perhaps the most defining trait of Hindi cinema: its elusiveness. Always present, always just beyond grasp, it speaks in images and sounds that are intimately familiar yet impossible to fully hold. This exhibition invites you into that shifting space — not to resolve its mysteries, but to inhabit them.

Hindi cinema is more than narrative; it is a shared cultural memory. A glance, a line of dialogue, a haunting tune — these fragments move through the everyday life of modern India, shaping how we feel, remember, and imagine. This intangible aura — the cinematic trace — is what the exhibition seeks to evoke.

At its heart are over 120 artifacts from Arthshila’s collection — posters, lobby cards, song booklets, and film ephemera — each carrying layers of affect and history. Interwoven with these is a sensory experience of sound and moving images, drifting across multiple monitors and echoing throughout the space, mimicking the way cinema filters into streets, markets, and memories.

Featuring Arbab Ahmad (Artist/ Filmmaker), Neelansh Mittra (Filmmaker/Sound Artist), Yashaswini Raghunandan (Artist/ Filmmaker), Goji (New Media Artist), Kinshuk (Designer/ Media Artist) and Shiraz Husain (Visual Artist) , Khwaab Tanha Collective.

Exhibition Design: Sourav Sil

Production Coordinator: Nihal Kardam

Production Support: Zanskar Chaudhari

Creative Partner: Centre for the Study of Culture and Society (CSCS)

Posters drawn from the Takshila Art Collection 

Duniya Parchhaiyon Ki is not just about films; it’s about the shadows they leave behind — shadows that continue to shape our public and emotional worlds. Through image and sound, it recalls how cinema creates fleeting, yet binding moments of civility, connection, and joy.