The big cinematic splash from India this year explores the struggle to pursue joy when the world is trying to take what you love away. Ultimately, finding solace and grace with change in the company of those that matter most is what makes Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light the runaway hit this year. This film takes place in Mumbai, a large city with an even denser population, yet tightens the lens on a small core of women who have all lost something important, allowing the intimate details to be on full display.

 

Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha) are two nurses working in Mumbai; they are roommates, and they do not share much in common besides their profession. Prabha is more shy, reserved, and uptight, contrasting with Anu’s free spirit. This dichotomy often leads to the pair conflicting, akin to the odd-couple trope. These two actresses work well off one another, and the complications of their lives, their finances, and their professional hardships are believable. 

 

Prabha is critical and harsh, speaking bluntly. Anu is carefree and is habitually broke. In a certain way, these women are raising each other. Friendships grow and twist, shedding old skin to fit the changing dynamics. These two women have the compatibility of sisters, and their relationship is an authentic anchor. 

 

Prabha has an estranged husband who was whisked away to Germany ostensibly on a work program. Anu secretly pursues a relationship with a young man, Shiaz (Hridhu Haroon). Both women temper their connection challenges in their own way. Prabha feels adrift, longing for her husband to return one day. Anu must exercise caution with Shiaz, as he is a Muslim, adding cultural complications to their relationship. She shields this information from Prabha but still feels compelled to comfort Prabha when a mysterious package arrives at their doorstep. Presumably, it is from Prabha’s husband. 

 

All the while, hospital cook Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), a friend of the girls, is being evicted from her home of twenty-plus years due to legal and administrative technicalities. Parvaty’s building is being marked for demolition due to a capitalist builder, and soon, Parvaty elects to leave Mumbai behind and return to her village. Prabha and Anu agree to assist with Parvaty’s move. 

 

Chasing resolution is the arc of the dramatic narrative, and each woman completes their quest in different manners. The axiom of the story arc in this film reflects that our resolutions do come, even if they do not manifest in the way we were expecting. 

This film is simple in its ingredients yet explosive in its punch. Its story is small yet manages to land critical human points as these three women wade through life chasing peace and happiness. Kapadia’s direction is rich with cultural beats that don’t push the story onto the viewer but rather intimately draw the audience in. Kapadia does not bother with melodramatic scenes but slow processes. All We Imagine as Light is quiet and unassuming, which is why it works so well.