A Review by K. Phaniraj*
Source: BIFFES https://biffes.org/project/photo/
Name of Film: Photo (2023)
Language: Kannada
Director: Utsav Gonwar
Post the Covid pandemic, Indian audiences were treated with a host of anthology films as well as feature length films with the theme of life in society under ‘lock down’. Anthology films dealt majorly with middle and upper middle class traumas, adding one subaltern tale to show a semblance of representation. It was left to documentaries like “1232 km” to chronicle the spirit and sufferings of poor migrant workers across India. Films on the overarching impact of lock down and the way the state dealt with it may not end. There are layers in the tragedy experienced by human society which are waiting to be revealed. The Kannada film Photo by debutante film director Utsav Gonwar, is one such revelation.
Set in the period of the first lock down, the film remarkably weaves the irrepressible desire of a rural kid Durgya, to be photographed in front of ‘Vidhana Soudha’ (Legislative House of Karnataka in capital Bengaluru), with the tragic travails he and his family experience due to the abruptly clamped lock down and the larger socio-politics which is at the root of both the ‘desire’ and it’s consequence. Director (Utsav Gonwar), DOP (Dinesh Diwakaran) and Editor (Shivaraj Mehu) keep things simple to produce a complex impact.
The team doesn’t waste time to establish Durgya’s ‘desire’, the seed of such desires and the sociopolitical reality which compels him to pursue it. Minimalism of introductory shots slowly reveal their meaning as the locale shifts to ‘the destination of desire’.
Bengaluru that the audience get to see in the mise-en-scene of the film is confined to: a clumsy crowded street, site of an under-construction building, the shed which is the abode of Durgya’s father, the interior of a middle class house of the construction contractor who has hired him, and a narrow lane lined with middle class dwellings. The news of lock down is pompously conveyed through the idiot’s box to the appreciative minds of the contractor and his wife. In turn the contractor communicates to Durgya’s father that he need not attend his assigned work on Sunday; the father-son duo’s pleasure of a Sunday picnic to the photo spot is thwarted by threatening police constables; the diegetic sound of beating of plates and the refrain of ‘Go corona’ attain the shape of an intimidating procession before the eyes of the father and son; a tempo traveler on the highway on the outskirts of the city takes a group of migrant workers including Durgya and his father back to their village. What more Bengaluru the audience need to see to understand how Durgya’s desire is shattered at the ‘the destination of desire’? The audience see that Bengaluru which Durgya sees: the locations where his desires are mocked and shattered, the van on an empty highway and Durgya’s searching gaze for the object of his desire seen through the opening of a torn tarpaulin side cover of the van. With that gaze looking at the fourth wall ends Bengaluru- the destination of his desire. What more Bengaluru has to be shown! Both Durgya and the audience are blocked from seeing the destination of desire! In the genuineness of visual construction to simultaneously show the intimately personal anguish of Durgya, the haplessness of his father and the larger inhumanity of unseen socio-political powers, lies the political sensibility of the film.
The most difficult part of the script is to deal with the long march of migrant workers. Facts and figures of migrant workers walking thousands of kilometers of torturous terrain has already ripped the facile cover of the state’s alibi, and vocal criticism has been expressed in the public arena. Film makers tend to get worked up while dealing with them in their work. They tend to reinforce them by either rolling figures on screen with heavy voice-over or resort to constructing over stated, melodramatic mise-en-scene intended to squeeze the emotions of their audience. It is remarkable to see how Photo restrains itself from such traps and rolls out poignant images of Durgya and his father’s tragic journey back home. The tormenting police check posts, scarcity of food and water, long and rough road to tread, shades of human concern mixed with apathy and show off attitudes…nothing is missed out but everything is communicated with humanizing sensibility, thanks to shot sizes, simple but effective editing and frames vibrating with diegetic atmospheric sounds. The father does not overplay his concern for Durgya, the physically drained feverish Durgya does not forcibly attract his father’s attention- their emotional transactions are maintained in the same tone and tenor as it was shown before the journey. In a shot, which potentially serves as an indicator for what is forthcoming, on a pitch dark chilly night, Durgya tells his father to concoct to his mother that ‘they did go to Vidhana Soudha’- that’s the last words we hear from him in the rest of the screen time.
To convey the sociopolitical circumstances, there are a few overt shots like- the television airing PM’s lock down speech, chants of ‘go corona’ with beating of plates, putting up thorny obstacles at the entrance roads of village to prevent entry of people coming from places outside, lighting of lamps to scare away the virus- but each one is placed deftly to knit the narrative of travails of Durgya’s family. If one keenly sees the details contained within frames of majority of the mise-en-scenes, one realizes that there is much wider sociopolitical commentary laced with ease- that’s not ordinary for a debutante director. The film also makes significant contributions as to the ways of innately ‘representing’ caste, class and gender relations by organically rooting the story in a North Karnataka village.
The contribution of the cast to the making of this film as one of fine sensibility is there for all to see. Mahadev Hadapad (Father), Sandhya Arikere (Mother), Jahangir (Uncle), Uma (Aunt)-all are seasoned theater actors who have mastered the art of acting before the camera; the film owes a lot to their presence and support to this debut project . Veeresh (Durgya) and other actors playing supporting roles are all from Gonwara village where the film is shot.
*K. Phaniraj taught Civil Engineering for over 33 years at MIT Manipal, and has now retired. He now teaches Drama, Cinema and Humanistic Sciences at the Gandhi Center for Philosophical Arts and Sciences in Manipal.
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