All We Imagine As Light is Magical
2 min read
In a densely populated “mahanagar” like Mumbai people long for closure. Everything we see or imagine is blue. Perhaps the external blues of the film mirrors the internal blues in the minds and hearts of the two Malayalee nurses Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha). The cook in the hospital Chhaya Kadam joins this kinship. Each has a story to tell. Prabha who hasn’t heard from her husband in Germany and longs for him. And won’t reciprocate to a gentle doctor at work. Anu in a furtive affair with a soft hearted Muslim boy Shiaz steals kisses in a parking lot with him. While Chhaya’s troubled by land sharks and builders force her to vacate her home. In coping with the harsh realities of living there may be moments of lyricism. The cinematography deftly captures the claustrophobia and poetry of the maximum city.
In a mix of magical realism and epiphanies, the three women find closure by the sea side. The magical Kani Kusruti with her haunting eyes and fire within on low simmer is in top form again. Divya Prabha is terrific, while Chhaya Kadam is her resilient superb self. Hridhu Haroon too has a gentle self-assured presence.
There are some kick ass motifs, when the two women pelt stones at a poster that ironically reads – ‘class is a privilege that can be enjoyed by the privileged’. There is also a tenderly picturised love making scene and you can see the feminine gaze at work beautifully.
This is not the gangsta Bombay of Ram Gopal Varma, this is not Basu Chatterjee’s Bombay. This is the Mumbai where nurses fill up their loneliness in blue train compartments, where loaders load their stuff in the wee hours. It’s where the rain plays havoc, and sarees sway in the breeze.
See Also: EXCLUSIVE: Payal Kapadia on Intimate Scenes in All We Imagine As Light
Director Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light is the sensual act of letting go. It’s the art of finding a city within yourself. It’s the final act of consummation, of your yearnings and desires. The act of giving up is also finding yourself.Kani Kusruti and Divya Prabha shine in Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light. Continue reading …Read More
