Films About India That Inspire Hope
As state-backed propaganda films become increasingly prevalent in India, women filmmakers addressing critical national issues are gaining global recognition
The director and cast of All we Imagine as Light at the Cannes Film Festival
An Indian film 'All we imagine as Light' by debutant director Payal Kapadia, a former student of the Film and Television Institute of India is making waves around the world. Most Indians only woke up to the sublime film when news broke that it became the first Indian film to win the Grand Prix at the 77th Cannes Film Festival. Who was Payal Kapadia and what is this film that moved the jury and the audience nominating it for the Palme d’Or, the most prestigious award at the Cannes festival?
When CNN news anchor Christiane Amanpour asked Payal Kapadia to explain the film, she said it was about exploring the idea of love because love is political in India. Love, she said, is not just about two individuals and their choices; it is viewed mostly through the lens of marriage, which, by extension, is a function of caste and religion.
(https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/12/Tv/video/amanpour-payal-kapadia-film-all-we-imagine-as-light)
The film 'All We Imagine as Light' explores the life of three women working in a hospital in Mumbai, the financial capital of India, and how they explore their love and longing in what is a 'city of dreams and Bollywood' but claustrophobic and merciless in equal measure. Using aspects of documentary style filmmaking, Payal gives the world a window into the fast-paced life of Mumbai with its migrant workers, their struggles, the life of the working class traveling in overcrowded trains, their desire to have a roof over their head as big business houses monopolise the housing sector.
Through the eyes of the protagonists, it explores the ideas of female sexuality, desire, the theme of marriage, the essential freedoms of a woman largely viewed through the prism of a moralistic and patriarchal setup. While one of the protagonists, Prabha (Kani Kusruti) leads a lonely life as a head nurse, abandoned by her husband who lives in Germany, the other nurse Anu (Divya Prabha) is jeered at for being a 'over-friendly' woman, scandalously dating a Muslim man. In a country like India, where laws are being framed against inter religious marriage, Anu's love is an act of rebellion.
And then there is Parvaty, the third of the protagonists, a cook in the hospital, fighting to save her land, the place she calls home, fighting for her independence. A storytelling so humane, seen through the lens of a woman, written by women, and performed with great finesse by three actresses who have put their souls into the performance making you root for their freedoms. They do not seek your sympathy, they traverse life on their terms and make their own choices. The film is in no rush, often times there are no dialogues, we are just left with a haunting frame of a woman hugging a rice cooker in a dark room, it has purportedly been sent by her husband who lives in Germany. The poignant visual of love and longing tell the story of a loneliness so profound contrasted with an overpopulated city, bursting at its seams.
All we imagine as Light, an Indo-French production released a month ago on digital platforms in India is the first Indian film nominated for two Golden Globes this year. Earlier this month, the film won the New York film critics award for best international feature. It has just secured a nomination for the Directors Guild of America Awards. Kapadia also scripted history for being the first Indian filmmaker to receive two nominations this year at the Golden globes. It has secured itself two BAFTA nominations, awarded the best international feature at the Gotham awards, best foreign language film by film critics organisation in the US and Canada among others (Here is the full list ) https://www.lifestyleasia.com/ind/entertainment/movies/all-we-imagine-as-light-awards-honours-complete-list-payal-kapadia/
You would imagine that a film from India, a country that is in the news for patriarchy and violence against women would celebrate this film that centres women and feminism. But that is not to be. Astonishingly India did not send the film as its official entry to the Oscars citing technical inadequacies, receiving severe backlash from film critics and connoisseurs of cinema. As a student of the celebrated Film and Television Institute of India, Payal was at the forefront of a four month protest after the Modi government installed a controversial figure as the head of FTII. Labeled an anti-national by many in the country for opposing the move, Payal was booked in a case where she continues to make court appearances (https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/bollywood/when-all-we-imagine-as-light-director-payal-kapadia-protested-against-ftii-chairman-gajendra-chauhan-9352762/)
When Payal was asked about the Oscar snub from India, she said "My entire movie was made by applying to grants, and we didn’t get many, and we got some, and we made the film finally, so it’s just part of the process. You have to take things as they come.” (https://variety.com/2025/film/awards/payal-kapadia-mumbai-trilogy-all-we-imagine-as-light-1236269506/)
It is not just Payal Kapadia's 'All we imagine as Light' that is making news for taking Indian films on an international platform and getting the due recognition for telling stories that do not see the light of the day. This has been the year of Women telling the stories of women from India, women telling the stories still considered taboo, women telling stories that do not conform to the propaganda machinery of the state, women telling story of casteism, misogyny and Islamophobia, subjects that mainstream filmmakers and filmstars would not touch for fear of losing access and stardom.
Another film that has yet to clear the censor board in India that premiered at the Cannes film festival is 'Santosh' made by British Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri with an all Indian cast and partly Indian crew and writers shot in northern India. The film was the UK's official entry to the Oscar in the international feature category. Set in a fictional village in North India, the film starring two stellar women actors Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar explores the underbelly of policing in India seen through the eyes of two women police officers . The film also takes on the issue of corruption, casteism and Islamophobia in the forces that lead to discrimination and injustice.
At a time when mainstream Indian filmmakers are making films glorifying the forces that are fighting the threat from 'Muslim' enemies, Santosh, is a brave film, laying bare the endemic discrimination on caste and religious lines. In the film, Santosh played by Shahana Goswami is a newly widowed woman who is offered her husband's job who died as a police constable. She comes across the case of the rape and murder of a dalit woman (lower caste woman ) and when the cops are forced to investigate the murder, the needle of suspicion falls on the easiest candidate who happens to be a Muslim friend of the murdered girl. Santosh is not free of prejudices herself neither is her senior investigating officer, her thought process belongs to the same milieu she was raised in but it is the internal struggles that she goes through to evolve as a police official determined to get justice that forms the crux of the film. For a woman police officer who is mocked by her male colleagues who has to prove her worth and her humanity, who has to respond to the piercing, judgemental male gaze, Santosh is the story of women overcoming the patriarchal expectations and proving her mettle.
The response to the male super cop in this film is not a female super cop with heroic qualities but a vulnerable human who rises above the odds. Indian cinema goers are still waiting for clearance for the film that has won multiple international accolades to be released in Indian cinemas.
https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/art-and-culture/sandhya-suri-santosh-shahana-goswami-cannes-film-festival-sunita-rajwar-11716710467553.html
India might not have sent 'All we imagine as Light' to the Oscar but its official entry to the Oscars 'Laapata Ladies' is easily one of the most heartwarming films on the theme of feminism set in rural India. The film is about two newly wedded brides covered in a long veil who get lost in a train and end up in a series of misadventures. The film translated as 'Lost Ladies' in English is a non-preachy, humorous take on patriarchy, lack of education, the enforced practices of modesty (using the veil as the symbol) and a woman's right to aspirations. Kiran Rao, the director of Laapata Ladies has made a woman centric film, carving out moments of realization and self discovery by two women, one who has never been to school and the other who is self educated and is being forced into marriage with an abusive husband despite her desire to make a career for herself.
The two women find their way back to their respective families but not before a journey where they enlighten themselves and enlighten others of their own individuality. For the longest time, Indian bollywood films have used women as good looking props meant to embellish and lighten the tone of the film. 'Lost Ladies' subverts the plot where the men are not central characters but characters on the sidelines who watch the miasadventures, learn and unlearn from their own mistakes, they are not saviors who are entrusted with saving women but flawed, ignorant characters who need saving themselves but are not essentially the bad guys.
And the year of women in cinema in India does not end with 'Lost Ladies'. Another woman centric film that is now streaming in India is a coming of age film called 'Girls will be Girls' by debutant director Shuchi Talati. The film is produced by two Indian actors Richa Chada and Ali Fazal. I must add a disclaimer here that both Chada and Talati are my classmates from journalism and film school. In Girls will be girls, a mother and daughter share a complex relationship as the daughter, soon to turn an adult, studying in a boarding school discovers her sexual awakening. The entry of a boy, her daughters boyfriend, stirs up complex dynamics with the mother trying to play a role in their equation. Initially the mother tries to police the daughter, setting boundaries for her relationship with the boy but soon finds herself intertwined in their sneaky, adolescent love, trying to find moments of liberation and love missing from her marriage with an indifferent husband. Films like Girls will be Girls are a fresh take on womens sexuality, on a mother-daughter relationship, on the grey areas of life and morality, a film ahead of its time for a country like India
A truly revolutionary year for Indian cinema !!
You would ask why ? In a patriarchal society like India where women are meant to be treated as goddesses, their sexuality controlled by society, the norms of their feminism decided and controlled by men, women are telling their own stories, they are reclaiming the agency over their bodies, their thought processes, their politics, their humanity. Men are not being shown their place in these films but they are gently being reminded of their privilege in a country where a section of girls are still married against their own wishes, where a population of the girl child is still deprived of basic education and schooling. These films have taken a huge leap on behalf of all women in a country increasingly leaning towards majoritarianism, where democracy is turning out to be a farce. A month ago, the Prime Minister of India presided over the screening of a propaganda film in the Indian parliament. He has been promoting some of the most Islamophobic films that project Indian critics and dissenters as anti nationals. The Indian mainstream film industry has become a tool to extend the agenda of the Modi government. (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/20/modi-cinema-muslim-hatred/)
In the critically applauded film 'The Monkey Man', a fictionalised account of a dystopian India, a snippet from the film talks about the American president being upset over the eroding religious freedom in India and the rise of the Hindu nationalist movement. The lines almost eerily similar to the Biden goverment's religious freedom concerns for India. In the film, a godman who runs a flourishing business empire with saffrom flags all around installs a Prime Minister who works at his behest to stoke hatred and divide the country. The plot is not lost on those observing the political situation in India. Unsurprisingly the censor board of India created a situation for the film to not be realeased in India and ironically I saw the film on the entertainment system on a flight to America (https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/censor-board-thwarts-monkey-man-release-even-after-global-cuts-by-universal-studios-toned-down-political-implications/article68324823.ece#:~:text=By%20avoiding%20a%20screening%20for,it%2C%20The%20Hindu%20has%20learnt.)
Payal Kapadia's 'Love is political in India' rings true in these circumstances. Every single film made by and for the women in the last one year making waves across the world is a moment of reckoning for the country made possible by women who stood up for their convictions, their belief in cinema as a reflection of the society and a mirror to its flaws. This is the year India needs to celebrate these women who have given each one of us a reason to smile and be proud of our existence, our beliefs and our convictions. It is the year the women spoke, to be heard and applauded by the world, they refused to be shamed for telling stories that are often considered a taboo. More power to you women
(An edited version of this column first appeared in the Washington Post earlier this week )