All We Imagine as Light

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Robin C “All We Imagine As Light” Set in modern day Mumbai, Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and younger Anu (Divya Prabha) are hard working nurses trying to get by. Prabha receives a gift from her long-estranged husband, while Anu, a Hindi, tries to find places to be intimate with her Muslim boyfriend in “All We Imagine As Light.” Sophomore feature director Payal Kapadia brings us a story that could have taken place in any large city in the world. This is a pretty mean feat when you figure that Mumbai is one of the most densely populated cities on earth. Somehow, in the jam and hubbub of Mumbai, an intimate pair of stories takes place. Prahba’s best friend Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam) is being evicted from her apartment because she has no documentation. The nurse tries to help but the facts are her friend must leave the city for whence she came. Anu, deeply in love, must keep that love, with Shiaz (Hridhu Haroon), a secret from her friends and family – especially her Hindi family. For Paha, things get mysterious when she receives a parcel sent from Germany – a fence rice cooker. She assumes it is from her estranged husband and memories flood back in for her. Meanwhile she helps Parvaty pack up and move back home. She and Anu accompany their friend on the trip back to the countryside. (This represents a huge contrast as we go from the packed-together humans in Mumbai to the relatively sparsely populated coastal town.) This very femme-centered film is a decent character study of life in India from the viewpoint of the women. There are men in the cast, like Shiaz and a young doctor who has a crush on Prabha, but they are incidental to the story. There is a fantasy element involved when, at Parvaty’s town, a drowning man is dragged ashore and the nurse renders CPR and saves the man. There is a cosmopolitan feel to the story amidst the bustle of the big city but also one of intimacy, needed to cope with the crush of people always around you. I am the kind of person that needs his space and I think that would be in short supply in Mumbai. Some may complain that this is not an “Indian” film but an international one. That may be true but I felt immersed in these women’s lives and that feels Indian. B+ Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 11/22/24 Full Review Read all reviews

All We Imagine as Light

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