ABSTRACT As part of the recent worldwide cinematographic trend in adapting children’s fantasy and adventure stories into films, this article offers critical insight into contemporary West Bengali film industry’s reworking of this trend in its 2013 cinematic adaptation of Chander Pahar (1937) by the Bengali novelist Bibhutibhusan Bandapadhyay (1894–1950). I argue that in this adaptation the filmmaker deliberately expands on the author’s original vision of the intricacies of race relations. The film’s staging of the fateful encounter of Bengal with Africa is grounded on a common history of the past between India and Africa linked by migration and settlement and of more contemporary large-scale ventures in commerce and investment. A comparative analysis of Chander Pahar from fiction to film will shed light on the strategic shifts in Indian-African relations. The film’s updated vision of the growing affiliations between Africa and India is not only influenced by the impact of the Indian diaspora on the Indian economy but also by India’s changing role as an aspiring economic and political powerhouse.

中文翻译：

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孟加拉文学和电影想象中的非洲：Kamaleshwar Mukherjee 2013 年改编自 Bibhutibhusan Bandapadhyay 的非洲冒险小说 Chander Pahar (1937) 的电影

摘要 作为最近将儿童奇幻和冒险故事改编成电影的全球电影趋势的一部分，本文提供了对当代西孟加拉电影业在 2013 年由孟加拉小说家 Bibhutibhusan 改编的 Chander Pahar（1937 年）电影中对这一趋势的改造的重要见解。班达帕迪亚 (1894–1950)。我认为，在这部改编作品中，电影制片人有意扩展了作者对种族关系错综复杂的原始看法。这部电影讲述了孟加拉与非洲的命运相遇，以印度和非洲之间由移民和定居以及更现代的大型商业和投资企业联系在一起的过去共同历史为基础。对 Chander Pahar 从小说到电影的比较分析将揭示印非关系的战略转变。这部电影对非洲和印度之间日益密切的联系的最新看法不仅受到印度侨民对印度经济的影响，而且还受到印度作为一个有抱负的经济和政治强国的角色不断变化的影响。