We are back with another one of the 2024’s most loved movies, the award-winning ‘All We Imagine as Light’ on Thursday February 27th at 7 p.m. at the Paradise Cinemas.
Writer/director Payal Kapadia’s first fictional film is a gorgeous inter-generational tale of friendship, love and sisterhood set against the ebbs and flows of the restless metropolis of Mumbai. It’s the first Indian film in 30 years to compete at the main competition in Cannes, where it was awarded the Grand Prix (the second highest prize) and received an eight-minute standing ovation.
There are over 20 million people living in Mumbai and people travel from all over India to work there, including the three characters in this narrative. Prabha, Anu and Pavraty all work at the same large city hospital and each are at various stages in life. On the maternity ward, the main character Prabha (Kani Kusruti) is a senior nurse. Now in middle age, she has a serious, reserved demeanour and she keeps her heart hidden. She lives in a small apartment and to make ends meet she shares her home with, Anu (Divya Prahha), a younger nurse at the hospital. Compared to Prabha’s cautiously responsible approach to life, Anu is spirited, fun, feisty, and a little fearless. Full of youthful dreams and a spark of rebellion, she is nonetheless goodhearted. While Prabha disapproves of some of Anu’s carefree ways, she looks out for her in ways that are both motherly and sisterly. Pavraty (Chhaya Kadam), closer to the age of retirement, works as a cook at the same hospital. She has a straightforward and unreserved approach to life.
In the first half of the film, we learn that each woman is facing a complicated personal crossroads of sorts. Prabha is married to a husband who left for Germany to work years ago and who she barely knows. It’s been at least a year since they’ve talked, leaving Prabha in a state of limbo. Her loneliness is palpable. When a rice cooker arrives from Germany without explanation, Prabhu is thrust into a state of uncertainty – is this a parting gift from her husband or a sign of commitment? Meanwhile, Anu is desperately and hopelessly in love. The man she’s in love with, however, is Muslim, something her family disapproves of. They have to meet clandestinely and the relationship is tarnishing her reputation with co-workers. For Pavraty, she’s recently been evicted from her home of 22 years, and without the documents from her deceased husband to prove ownership, there is nothing she can legally do to fight back.
When Pavraty decides her only option is to return to her coastal village of Ratnagiri, Prabha and Anu accompany her to help with the move. Without giving away spoilers, this is where Kapadia steers the film towards an inspirational journey of self-discovery. The change in setting brings about a type of catharsis for each character. One of the great joys of this movie is how deeply immersed we are in the characters and the city they inhabit. By the time we leave Mumbai with them, a city thrumming with constant activity and commotion, we can feel the same peace and possibility wash over us that they do, taking in waves rolling along the shores and infinite skylines. With a bit of distance, dreams can come true, differences can be reconciled, maybe we can let go of our grasp to the past.
This is a brilliant film that will stay with you. Because of its gentle nature, you might not even realize how deftly Kapadia is working with topics like social and societal norms, economic power imbalances, or political divides. As Peter Travers writes for ABC News, “[d]elicate business is being transacted here and Kapadia arranges each part of the mosaic with a transfixing power that sneaks up and floors you. Barriers of language, culture and politics vanish in the light of our common humanity. Just sit back and behold. “All We Imagine as Light is filmmaking at its finest.”
All We Imagine as Light has a 100 per cent critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Featuring Malayalam, Hindi, and Marathi dialogue. General admission tickets are $10.00 and are on sale now at the Open Book. Remaining tickets will be sold in the cinema lobby prior to the screening. Doors open at 6:30 p.m, and the show starts at 7:00 p.m.
