India | France | Netherlands | Luxembourg | Italy | Switzerland | USA | Belgium 2024
Opening December 19, 2024
Directed by: Payal Kapadia
Writing credits: Payal Kapadia
Principal actors: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Hridhu Haroon, Chhaya Kadam, Azees Nedumangad
This the first film from India since 1994 to compete and win the Grand Prix at Cannes Film Festival 2024. The film opens with little vignettes of the kind of people who move to Mumbai. They reflect on their choices and motivations as well as the end result. Then the storyline begins with a middle-aged nurse Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and a young nurse Anu (Divya Prabha) both coming from the countryside, now rooming together. Prabha struggles emotionally trying to survive without her husband who moved some years ago to Germany for a job. She lingers on wondering how she should act especially when a doctor suddenly takes interest in her. Anu on the other hand has found a forbidden love with a young Muslim man Shiaz (Hridhu Haroon). The fourth character is Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), a woman who works in the kitchen and is about to lose her home due to the never-ending developmental project in the city.
It is such a beautifully made film that it is hard to describe all the nuances. Each scene creates a setting of many possibilities. We see the inner souls and struggles of each character and wonder if they will come to terms with who they will become. Can they accept each other as they are? Will they be able to fight a system that has strong cultural rules to observe? The film has many themes, many questions, and many possibilities of answers. I love this film. It is like looking up into the sky and trying to understand the universe of each star. It seems complicated and yet so simple. (Shelly S.)