For a country that has a rich history of filmmaking, India’s movies don’t get nearly as much attention from U.S. audiences as other international darling countries, like France or Japan. The recent breakthrough successes of RRR and this year’s All We Imagine as Light have more people paying attention. And All We Imagine as Light is a wonderful film to get the spotlight, as it unpacks some distinctly Indian stories and social issues that deserve to be highlighted.
The film follows Prabha, a nurse from Mumbai. Prabha had an arranged marriage in her youth, but she barely knows her husband, who lives in Germany and hasn’t written in over a year. When she receives a rice cooker made in Germany in the mail, old feelings resurface.
Prabha is the type of character that films rarely highlight – a middle aged woman going through a complex emotional journey. As such, I desperately wanted to connect with Prabha’s character, but I found it never really happened. Part of it might be that she’s a pretty quiet and reserved person, so much of what the movie is trying to accomplish is under the surface. Still, something about the character still falls a little flat.
An early subplot of romantic interest towards Prabha from a doctor at her hospital in particular felt a little underbaked, and never really went beyond the obvious story beats. However, Prabha’s character arc does round out by the end of the film, starting with her saving a man’s life on a beach and then really resolving her emotional journey in a clever climactic scene. If the movie had done a better job with the setup and stakes for her character, this ending would land even stronger.
Prabha’s younger roommate, Anu, serves as the co-lead of the film, and her storyline is very strong. She is secretly dating a Muslim man, though her parents would forbid her from seeing him if they knew. As their relationship progresses, they encounter logistical concerns, as they can’t find a place to be intimate. But they also encounter societal concerns, as they both wrestle with how their respective communities will react to their relationship and consider what they’re willing to give up to be together.
Anu’s storyline is impressively rendered and the biggest strength of the film. The giddiness of falling in love is balanced out by the toll that keeping this secret is taking on her. The storyline also gives a glimpse of a society that is moving towards acceptance and burying the prejudices of its past, but isn’t quite there yet. Anu has more options than Prabha had in a previous generation but still does not have the option to choose the man she loves.
All We Imagine as Light is exquisitely crafted. We get gorgeous cinematography that finds beauty in the city of Mumbai – even as we pan across piles of garbage bags and discarded crates. When the characters go to a more remote beach in the back half of the film, the natural settings add some variety but keep the same visual tone.
The film also takes its time on sequences that add character depth. In one sequence, Anu plays around with a stethoscope while she is bored at work, and in another, Prabha helps a friend get some petty revenge on a company that forced her out of her home by throwing objects at a billboard. These moments are among the best the film has to offer and give us some space to breathe.
The breathing room we are offered is stretched even further by the ending of the film, where the pace slows down tremendously. This suits the material and gives us time to consider the characters’ predicaments and sit with our feelings, rather than rushing through to a resolution.
To sum it up, All We Imagine as Light is a remarkably assured debut narrative feature from Payal Kapadia. Some of its characters and subplots don’t completely come together, but it more than makes up for that with a strong visual sensibility and a willingness to let us sit and wrestle with the issues it presents to us.
