2024 Rewind: A Recognition of Indie Cinema in India

The intertwining relationship that all the art forms have find a beautiful collaboration in films.
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“Movies touch our hearts and awaken our vision, and change the way we see things. They take us to other places, they open doors and minds. Movies are the memories of our life time, we need to keep them alive” – Martin Scorsese

Cinema has been one of the most important sources of inspiration in my life. The intertwining relationship that all the art forms have, find a beautiful collaboration in films. The intriguing literature that finds a novel expression through the visualizations of this metaphor plays an essential role in the films. Moreover, the other aspects of light, sound and other technicalities are important for the successful exhibition of a concept through the visual medium.

There have been a number of films that have caught my attention throughout this year. But I would like to talk about the ones I found intriguing enough to call one of the “best” films that released in 2024.

The debutante director Abhinandan Banerjee swept the crowds through his innovation in film techniques that Tollywood witnessed with his Manikbabur Megh (The Cloud and the Man). Manikbabur Megh, in my view, follows an intrinsic use of Surrealism that we have not seen much in Tollywood. The silence that pervades through the film actually speaks volumes. The silence seems to signify the loneliness that he endures in his life.

Filmmaker Abhinandan Banerjee

Manik Babu is visualised as a middle-aged man who seems to be content with the ordinary dealings of everyday life. The silence stands in sharp contrast to the hustle-and-bustle on the streets of Kolkata, a metro city that seems to have joined the rat race. While all the people residing in the city seem to aspire to join the fast-moving world, the relaxed time frames that adorn the film give us a feeling of calmness that seems to consequently resonate with the main character. The almost mute protagonist seems to be engulfed in his own solitude as he moves around the city and his home. The silence also seems to reflect the simple living that was once prevalent in the city of Kolkata.

Film Poster of Manik Babu’s Megh

Chandan Sen’s fabulous acting chops has once again reminded the audience of how extremely talented he is in expressing his art. He has accomplished the expectations of his role in the most beautiful manner with minimal dialogues that were craftily scripted by the director. Abinandan Banerjee further has been really skillful in producing a film in monochrome in this day and age. It brings back the cultural riches as well as serves as a metaphor that impregnates his entire film.

Actor Chandan Sen

We find the protagonist entering an intimate relationship with the cloud that follows him everywhere, despite being initially threatened by it. The protagonist personifies the cloud as a woman with whom he seems to grow his relationship. This use of magic-realism in a Tollywood cinema has been path breaking for a director, that too in his very first film.  Manik Babu flies a kite that symbolises a love letter that he sends to his beloved cloud. They also emotionally connect with the showers of rain and the rumbling of the cloud. The cloud, a true companion of Manik Babu, seems to be the only person who truly understands him.

The very last scene is absolutely awe-striking as the silence that moves through the entire film and the sense of slow-moving pictures suddenly meet a dramatic end. However, the director did provide enough visual cues such that I was able to identify this culmination. But still, the noise seemed to suddenly bring a horrific feeling in the mind of the audience. While the director does not completely reveal what happened to Manik Babu, but the use of blood trickling down the bathroom walls and the broken floor of the terrace evidently points to  his demise. This feeling of emptiness at the end with a relatively happy living before the protagonist’s death  ties up the narrative very nicely.

Also Read: A Look at the 30th Kolkata International Film Festival 2024

Another film that stole the show for its unconventionality in the crowded arena of mainstream cinema was All We Imagine As Light by Payal Kapadia. The first and foremost aspect that has drawn my attention and I feel everyone else feels the same, is the rawness of the film. The pictures that the camera captures and the story it unfolds with its three women characters presents an unrefined visual that is one of a kind. It gives voice to the ordinary people who go through the daily drudgery of life. Located in a metro city like Mumbai, we hear the voice of those who stay “hidden from the light”.

Film Poster of All We Imagine as Light

The film exposes the visual to include the unkemptness of its characters and their daily struggles with a bluish tone of the moving pictures that resemble the emotional state of the characters. Such a crude portrayal, so close to reality, is almost in contrast with its title “All We Imagine As Light”. It might also be that the protagonists are engulfed in this grey life where they dream to see the light someday. At the end of the film, the three women are seen to move to a sun-lit landscape by a seaside in a Maharashtrian village where they finally reach certain answers and live their aspirations and desires that they have held so deeply in their hearts.

Payal Kapadia directs the film in almost a documentary-like cinematography. The camera seems to be a silent observer of the monotonous life filled with problems and confusions of its characters. Sometimes, the pictures show very crude visualizations, like the sitting positions of Prabha when she washes clothes or opens the package that is supposedly from her husband to the extent that it might make people feel uncomfortable with its rawness. But that is what might be the most beautiful feature of the film.

Film Maker Payal Kapadia

It captures the absolute reality that we might show in a sophisticated way when expressing in such visual mediums or even in real life when surrounded by outsiders. The ever-changing Mumbai that Kapadia keeps as the location for her film actually resonates the later wish-fulfilments that take place at the denouement of the film. The nursing profession that Kapadia chooses also is eminent as the uniformed nurses provide metaphors how these human beings appear rigid in front of others while a range of emotions remain embedded in them completely opposite to what they show.

It is almost a newfound courage that we experience when the director allows us to perceive the desires that often remain hidden in this structured society of which women are a part. These women do not protest loudly against any incorrectness, they simply find peace and support in each other and in themselves. Prabha, finally, gets a wish fulfilment through an encounter that is somewhat presented as a dream as she saves and makes the man suffering memory-loss to believe that he is her husband and finding an outlet to her repressed emotions.

On the other hand, Anu seems to move forward and live her free life like a bird that flies and Parvati moving into tranquility in life through her migration from the city to the village. Furthermore, Payal Kapadia’s choice to use jazz music  is an absolutely delightful choice. She describes “the piano theme was like a leitmotif that was played by a nun, Emahoy Tsege Mariam Gebru” that influenced and almost made her obsessive enough to use it in her film, that maintained a certain continuity in the film.

Films like these become a source of encouragement for young artists like us and they have been very instrumental in forming a “vision” that would enable us to have a better understanding in the future.

Image Courtesy: The South First, Wikipedia, North East Film Journal, iMDb

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Didhiti Paul is a postgraduate student at the Department of English, Jadavpur University. Didhiti has a profound love for books that delve into feminism and post-colonialism, appreciating their rich, thought-provoking narratives. As a dancer, her dance enables a profound understanding of emotions. A cineaste with a particular focus on scriptwriting, she holds a Film Appreciation Certificate from the Information and Cultural Affairs Department, Government of West Bengal. Her love for literature allows her to craft insightful and genuine literary works.

Didhiti Paul is a postgraduate student at the Department of English, Jadavpur University. Didhiti has a profound love for books that delve into feminism and post-colonialism, appreciating their rich, thought-provoking narratives. As a dancer, her dance enables a profound understanding of emotions. A cineaste with a particular focus on scriptwriting, she holds a Film Appreciation Certificate from the Information and Cultural Affairs Department, Government of West Bengal. Her love for literature allows her to craft insightful and genuine literary works.

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