All We Imagine As Light is one of the rare films that make you uncomfortable while giving a deeper and more concerning look into your own lives. The subtext in the film and the character stories run hand in hand but the film also has much more to offer. Directed by Payal Kapadia and led by Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha the film has been a star at many film festival and is set to shine on India’s big screen. The film does offer a bleak look at Mumbai, but it isn’t just the one city but the way of life that makes you bleak in a hopeful city.
The film follows the story of two nurses working in Mumbai away from home looking for love and affection in the ways they can find. Prabha is married for years but has never had the privilege to experience that. She is more old school, about society, loyalty and perseverance meanwhile her roommate Annu is more freer in spirit and open to life. Annu is enjoying life in her own way, in a way that is in her control through love. She does have the most relatable relationship with her parents and the society and she finds her way to rebel, like the city.
The film can be looked at as two generations coming together, finding themselves in one another in a city like Mumbai. The city of dreams also plays an important character in the film. It begins with different people of different backgrounds and experiences talking about what the city is for them and the same can be seen when Prabha and Annu’s story is explored.
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Their everyday routine remains basic and as normal as life can get with little to look forward to. Good at heart the two remain close to their work with fleeting moments of fun. For Prabha they come in ways of conversation with a colleague doctor. And for Annu it comes with her secret relationship with her boyfriend of another cast.
But the routine is broken when Prabha’s estranged husband makes his way back into her life through a gift. The idea of a better future begins to brew tension in her mind, the hidden hope of a normal married life resurfacing. But it also brings tenses in her relationship with Annu who more carefree life seems easier. But Annu also has to begin grappling with the reality of her future. Amid the hurried life of the city they hardly find time to convolute their thoughts.
It is only after their step out of the city, that their minds become freer to accept the state of their minds and lives making it easier to accept others too. The film has a deeper sense of human behaviour and tries to share it with its director and the locations of the film. The sombre but strong performances by the leads Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha and the supporting characters add a different tune to the screenplay with every passing scene.
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Overall, the film isn’t hopeful for most of its runtime and will make you feel suffocated but that’s the life in the city and the makers deeply understand it. Hats of to the production team and the director for bring it off the paper and the screen with the same intensity as intended.
Cover artwork by Patrick Gawande/Mashable India
