EFL University

Prof. Hariprasad Athanickal

Department

Film Studies

School

Interdisciplinary Studies

Contact Details

: hariprasadathanickal@efluniversity.ac.in

Academic Details

Academic qualifications: S.No.

Degree/Diploma

University

1

PhD

2

PGCTE

3

MPhil

4

MA
Brief bio note: Hariprasad Athanickal is a Professor in the Department of Film Studies, The English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, India. He had other teaching positions at Kannur University and Technical University, Dresden, Germany. His main interest is South Asian film history, and has accordingly carried out research on South Indian cinemas, in particular Malayalam and Tamil film industries.

Prof. Athanickal holds a Master’s and MPhil from Pondicherry University and a PhD from CIEFL, Hyderabad. He also pursued his postdoctoral research on the topic “Search for an Authentic Space in South Indian Cinema.”

In his academic articles Prof. Athanickal engages with cinema and its political manifestations. His publications include journals, both Malayalam and English, as well as various edited collections in English; most recently in Transregional Archives, Cinematic Encounters: Crossing South Asia (The University of Washington Press) and in Journal of Literature and Aesthetics. His co-edited volume titled South Asia in Alternate Cinema(s) was published by Routledge in May, 2025.

He is the recipient of UGC Research Award (Post-doc fellowship, 2014) and DAAD fellowship (German Academic Exchange Programme, 2011). Recently he was awarded two research fellowships: (i) Kerala Chalachithra Academy (2020) and (ii) National Film Archives of India (NFAI-2020).
Thrust areas of interest and research: ⚽ Film Theory and Philosophy of Cinema

⚽ History of Cinema, South Asian Cinemas
Research articles published in peer reviewed journals with ISSN no.: ⚽ സിനിമയും ദേശീയതയും” (Cinema and Nationalism) in Chalachitra Sameeksha (UGC Care listed Journal), Vol 5 Issue 57 May 2023 (06-18)

⚽ “Cinema, Space and Realism: Certain Historical and Theoretical Considerations”, Journal of Literature & Aesthetics (ISSN 2278-523X), Jan-June 2018.

⚽ “Two Versions of Modernity: Nationalism and the Representation of America in Malayalam Short Stories”, Malayalam Literary Survey (ISSN 2319-3271), 2008.

⚽ “Modernity as Absence: Working Women in the Local Sphere”, Irish (ISSN 0973-3353), 2008.

⚽ “Ethnicity an Unfinished Project: Ethnic Minorities and Their Struggle in American Fiction”, Conspectus (ISSN 0973-0990), 2006.
Books authored, edited, chapters in books with ISBN no.: Book

⚽ South Asia in Alternate Cinema(s). Co-edited with Vivek Sachdeva and Chadrakant Langare. London and New York: Routledge, 2025. ISBN 9781032454603

Articles in the Edited Books/Anthologies

⚽ "Minor Avant-Gardists in the 1970s–1980s: History of an Alternate Cinema Movement in Kerala" in South Asia in Alternate Cinema(s). Co-edited by Vivek Sachdeva, Hariprasad Athanickal and Chadrakant Langare. London and New York: Routledge, 2025. ISBN 9781032454603

⚽ “ദെലൂസിന്റെ സിനിമ: തത്വശാസ്ത്രവും വർഗീകരണവും” (Deleuze’s Cinema: Philosophy and Taxonomy) in ദെലൂസും ഗൊത്താരിയും: സങ്കല്പനങ്ങളും സാധ്യതകളും (Deleuze and Guattari: Imaginaries and Possibilities), Conference proceedings, Department of Malayalam, University of Kerala, 2022 (92-103). ISBN 978936318.

⚽ “Realism and Region in South Indian Cinemas, 1947-77” in Transregional Archives, Cinematic Encounters: Crossing South Asia, edited by Elora Halim Chowdhury and Esha Niyogi De. The University of Washington Press, 2020, 180-196, 978-0-295-74784-2 (hardcover)/978-0-295-74789-9 (paperback)/978-0-295-74786-6 (ebook).

⚽ “Popular Cultural Studies: Approaches in Film Studies” (ജനപ്രിയ സംസ്കാരപഠനം: സിനിമാപഠന സമീപനങ്ങൾ). In New Approaches to Cultural Studies (സംസ്കാര പഠനത്തിന്റെ പുതുവഴികൾ ). Ed Dr Sheeba M Kurian. Department of Publications, University of Kerala, 2018, 254-271. ISBN: 9788193918906.

⚽ “Theoretical Legacies of Film Studies” (സിനിമാ പഠനത്തിന്റെ സിദ്ധാന്ത പരിസരങ്ങൾ). In Cinema: Technology and Culture (സിനിമ സാങ്കേതികതയും സംസ്കാരവും). Ed. Dr Sheeba M Kurian. Department of Publications, University of Kerala, 2016, 27-39. ISBN: 9788193297131.

⚽ “What do the Villains Have: Indian Cinema's Villains in the 1970s”. in Salaam Bollywood: Representations and Interpretations. Vikrant Kishore, Amit Sarwal and Parichay Patra (Eds.) New Delhi: Routledge India. 2016. 62-79. ISBN: 9781138649620, 9781138220133.

⚽ “Home and thereabouts: Notes on Dalit Interiority in Malayalam Cinema”. in Subaltern Speak: Perspectives on Malayalam Dalit Representations. Ed. Dr Binu K D. Publication Division, Govt. College, Tripunithura, 2016. 47-58. ISBN: 9789352582839.

⚽ “American Nation and Early Fiction” in Rethinking Multiculturalism. Ed. M Dasan. Chennai: Emerald, 2005. ISBN: 9788179661727.

⚽ “Women, Civil Society and the Popular Magazines” in Perspectives on Comparative Literature and Culture. CUSAT, Kochi: Directorate of Publication for Centre for Comparative Literature, Department of Culture and Heritage, 2004.

⚽ “Rethinking Folk Music in the Age of MTV” in Perspectives on Comparative Literature and Culture. CUSAT, Kochi: Directorate of Publication for Centre for Comparative Literature, Department of Culture and Heritage, 2004.

⚽ “Nation within the Nation: M. G. Vasanji’s Amriika” in Politics of Location in the Multi-ethnic Literatures of the Americas. Eds. Anil Raina & Manju Jaidka. Chandigarh: Arun Publishing House, 2003. ISBN: 9788180480140.

⚽ “Filming the Unthinkable” in Film and Philosophy. Ed. K Gopinathan. Calicut University: Publication Division, 2003. ISBN: 9788177480573.

Short Articles

⚽ “Sorry Ghulam Ali…” Hoot (http://www.thehoot.org/free-speech/censorship/sorry-ghulam-ali-8975), 20 October 2015.
Research projects (ongoing and completed): ⚽ Project Director for the ICSSR sponsored “Short-term Empirical Research Project”, 2023 with the title Strategising, Implementation and the Impact of NEP 2020 on Higher Education in Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana submitted in 2024.
Administrative responsibilities: ⚽ Deputy Dean (Foreign Students): 2008-2011

⚽ Head of the Department: 2018-2021
Professional affiliations (membership, editorial board, etc.,): ⚽ Member, Board of Studies, Centre for Regional Studies, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad (2025-Present)

⚽ Member, Board of Studies (PG Film Studies), Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University, Kerala (2024-Present)

⚽ Member, Centre’s Committee, Centre for Folk Culture Studies, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad (2023-Present)

⚽ Vice-President, Association of Film Studies in South Asia (2019-Present)

⚽ Member, Board of Studies (PG English), Kannur University, Kerala (2008-2010)
Awards and recognitions: ⚽ Research Fellowship under Archive Fellowship Scheme by National Film Archive of India (NFAI) to work on “The Alternative Filmmakers of the 1970s-1980s: An Intellectual History of South Indian Cinema” from November, 2020-November, 2021.

⚽ Research Fellowship by Kerala State Chalachithra Academy (KSCA) to work on “Alternate Cinema movements in Malayalam” from October, 2020-April, 2021.

⚽ UGC Research Award. Postdoctoral research grant for a period of two years. University Grants Commission Govt. of India from February 2014-February 2016 to work on the topic “Search for an Authentic Space in South Indian Cinema”.

⚽ DAAD (German Academic Exchange Programme) fellowship for teachers, May-July, 2011

⚽ Study grant by Indo-American Centre for International Studies (IACIS), Hyderabad for one month (2001)