2002, English (with subtitles), 56 min

Direction: Gargi Sen

Beyond Monarchs and Merchants engages with different television audiences to explore the concept, need, possibilities and constraints of public television in India. Using an animated character of a frog as sutradhar (story teller), the documentary introduces a wide range of television audiences in an attempt to understand their involvement with television. The documentary reflects on the vision with which television began in India, locates its present situation and explores the different visions that have been articulated for public television.

Beyond Monarchs and Merchants was awarded a Silver Prize at the WorldFest Houston in 2003 in the category of Film and Video Production, Public Service.

Camera: R. V. Ramani, Sound: Vipin Bhati, Asheesh Pandya, Music: Somnath Banerjee, Animation: Amit Kapoor, Editing: Ranjan De

Produced by Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT)