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Kashmir has never been captured on celluloid so magnificently. What’s new in that, when Santosh Sivan is the cinematographer, you might ask. Sivan has this innate capacity to capture the character of the locations he shoots his or others films in. But you have to watch Tahaan to find out what I mean.

So many films have been shot in Kashmir over the years, from those Shammi Kapoor hits to their substandard clones to recent films like Yahan, Agni Pankh and Mission Kashmir. But mostly, it has been the picture postcard image of Kashmir that has come through in most of these films. You actually cannot blame any filmmaker for following that predictable path. If I or you were to land up at such a beautiful place, we too would go berserk doing the same. Tahaan too has lots of these picture postcard moments, but then, to capture that beauty …

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Sarika Joshi
(Indianapolis, Indiana, USA)

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WITHHELD

Resonance; to resonate; to strike a chord; the coming together of harmonies

I watched this Bengali movie recently by debutant director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury.

It did not matter that I did not understand Bengali. The body language of the actors alone could have carried the movie. Yet, the words made it fly. I found resonance in this movie, in its simplistic way of accepting relationships, of allowing it to be left undefined. It left so much to interpretation and individual perception with an honesty that’s missing in the black and white portrayal of characters in mainstream cinema.

I found the relationship between Rahul and Preeti that of enablement. Rahul unintentionally enabling Preeti to fly further than the prisoned life her mind has had her leading. I say unintentionally as Rahul never set out to save Preeti, he was the …