Alienation, sisterhood & shining light

‘All We Imagine as Light’ is an artistic narrative feature about three women struggling to make things work, in a city that never sleeps. Mumbai, the city of dreams and nightmares, is one of the subjects here.

The film opens before sunrise with a lengthy pan of people setting up their little stalls, goods being loaded and offloaded, people busily going about their business in haste. There is so much movement that there does not seem to be time to be idle, stand and stare. People have come from different corners of India to live and work here, leaving family and loved ones behind. There’s impermanence, but there’s also work and money to survive and an aching loneliness that could get to you if you fail to keep your imagination ticking. That documentary-like opening ends with a shot of Nurse Prabha (Kani Kusruti) standing still in the train on her way to work. It’s a haunting lead-up to what is to transpire further along in the story.

Prabha keeps to herself mostly. Her colleagues invite her to their outings but she stays away. She had an arranged marriage, and soon after, her husband left for Germany. She has heard nothing from him since. When she receives a rice cooker postmarked from Germany, Prabha sits on the floor and embraces it. Prabha’s pain and longing is evident from that one act.

Her roommate Anu (Divya Prabha) is young and eager to experience life and is in love with her Muslim boyfriend Shiaz (Hridhu Haroon). Anu doesn’t care that she is being gossiped about at the hospital.

Prabha’s friend Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), a widow who works as a cook at the hospital, is being evicted from the apartment she has lived in for decades. Prabha helps her find a lawyer to fight her case. Their one act of rebellion is throwing stones at a billboard announcing the new development with the tagline “Class is a Privilege Reserved for the Privileged”.

The situation with all three women gets more complicated. It’s only when Parvaty decides to move back to her seaside village that the final chapter plays out — a revelation in magic realism. It becomes a moment of self-realisation for all three women as they go back from the city to the small town and find sisterhood and contentment in being at home. Suddenly, they feel freer than before. They let loose their inhibitions and confide in each other like never before.

Kapadia’s vision for every sequence is brought to life by DP Ranabir Das’ captures. When the women leave the city, we see the ‘light’ transform from city neons to soothing sunlight. It’s a highly evocative and poetic depiction of finding peace — that stays with you much after the movie is done.

Kani Kusruti has been brilliant in every project she has been seen in of late. This one is no different. She lends a certain luminosity to the characters she takes on. Prabha is one such and she is unforgettable. Divya Prabha and Chhaya Kadam also do well to be one with the scenario and characters they play.

Kapadia’s narrative makes you care about what happens to each and everyone in the story. The use of music, lights and mundane effects makes the experience that much richer and beguiling.

Kapadia manages to capture the essence of urban life through an evocative cinema lens that encompasses loneliness, sadness and hope in a hair’s breadth.

This is a must-see film that should undoubtedly see an Oscar nomination coming its way!