Summary
A meditative experience about the isolation of the city, desire and expectation versus reality.
There’s a moment at the start of Payal Kapadia’s film that features overlapping voices over shots of an active Mumbai nightlife. As we see the activity surrounding night markets, the unidentified voices speak of the transient nature of the city and how it takes time away from you.
Yet what’s most striking is just how powerfully this casts Mumbai as a contemplative place, which is perhaps at contrast with what outsiders might think of a big city. It’s probably not a surprising approach from a filmmaker who won the L’Œil d’or (or Golden Eye) for Best Documentary at Cannes in 2021 for her hybrid film, A Night of Knowing Nothing. On reflection, I was reminded of Yuya Ishii’s The Tokyo Night Sky Is Always The Densest Shade Of Blue and the “meaningless miracle” of the connections found amongst the millions who inhabit the city.
Kapadia also focuses on two people in search of that connection, but not necessarily with each other. Nurse Prabha (Kani Kusruti) is confused when she receives a rice cooker in the mail from her estranged husband, who has been living and working overseas. Her roommate Anu (Divya Prabha) has started secretly dating a Muslim man in defiance of her parents wishes, and the pair are constantly looking for private spaces to spend time together.
Beautifully shot by cinematographer Ranabir Das, who worked on Kapadia’s previous film as well, here is a movie that just kind of lets you bathe in it for a few hours. Backed by an almost discordant little jazzy motif from composer and musician Topshe, we see evidence of broader social movements. There’s reference to class divides, working poverty and protest at various points, but the characters remain the laser focus of Kapadia’s narrative.
Kusruti’s prize-worthy performance is the lightning rod at the centre of this story, and her unspoken desires and longing simmer just below the surface at all times. On the surface, Anu’s character seems like a complete contrast, constantly rejecting expectations and wholeheartedly embracing her desires openly. Later in the film, when they travel to a beachside village outside of the city, we watch them both allow themselves to explore these wants.
The almost dreamlike denouement doesn’t offer any conclusions for this duo. It’s almost as if we have been witness to these characters manifesting the outcomes. The introduction of a hitherto unseen element almost breaks the spell for Prabha. Or, as one character puts it, “You have to believe the illusion or you’ll go mad.”
2024 | India, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Italy | DIRECTOR: Payal Kapadia | WRITERS: Payal Kapadia | CAST: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon | DISTRIBUTOR: Sydney Film Festival 2024, Condor Entertainment | RUNNING TIME: 115 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 5-16 June 2024 (SFF 2024)
