(***) 

Two women. Two stories. Both being pulled in different directions. Away from traditional roles. Into the new India. 

The younger and single Anu (Divya Prabha) is trying to break with tradition: “My parents are looking for someone for me to marry. But I don’t want to.” Her older, wiser and married roommate Prabha (Kani Kusruti) responds, “You can’t escape your fate.” Yet neither should expect their lives to be predictable over the course of this every subtle, 1h 58 feminist tale. A voyage of self-discovery thoughtfully created by documentarian turned writer/feature film director Payal Kapadia (A Night of Knowing Nothing).

Both women are nurses working in a Mumbai hospital. Prabha feels secure with her life, though her husband lives abroad and she hasn’t seen him in years. Anu is the more unsettled one. Questioning her destiny and having a steamy affair with the young man Shiaz (Hridu Haroon), which doesn’t go unnoticed by her colleagues. When a fellow worker, Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), is evicted from her apartment and returns to her native coastal village, all three women make that journey.  

Audiences looking for high-peaked emotions and traumatic drama, will be disappointed by what’s to come. This character-study and slice-of-life fable shows simple people trying to make a life in a large city where they’re just faces in a crowd. Within this personal framework, Kapadia delicately builds a story about lost souls looking for a foundation. Unbeknownst to them, the stability they seek rests with them.  

Cinematographer Ranabir Das helps the director tell the story with engaging visuals. Low lighting. No fancy camerawork. Hospital rooms, apartments and shacks all look real because production designers Piyusha Chalke, Yashasvi Sabharwal and Shamim Khan downplay the sets and locations. The clothes the cast wears never intrude and exemplify working class life (costume designer Maxima Basu). The music is toned down too (original score Dhritiman Das), which helps create a natural atmosphere. 

Kusruti as Prabha is the glue that binds. She’s a mentor to her younger friend in the most stable ways. Yet she’s going through changes too. Her big eyes, long black hair and beautifully toned skin steal every frame she’s in. Prabha’s Anu rebels by attempting to be promiscuous. She’s tame by American standards, wild by Indian ones. A Doctor Manoj (Azeez Nedumangad) courts Prabha, and that adds a grown-up romance to the mix. This may be a touching woman’s allegory, but refreshingly the men are not demonized in the process.  

The beautiful cinematography, gorgeous faces and delicate, sensitive storytelling are as powerful in hindsight as they are when watching the film on screen. There are no fireworks. Just a slow burning desire to find a new life.  

That’s what viewers will take away. Two life stories backdropped by the very bustling city of Mumbai with its 21.6M people. Two disparate souls finding family among themselves. Told with a simplicity that’s hypnotic. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mgQcpmYr_A
For more information about the New York Film Festival go to https://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2024/guide/. 
Visit Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.