Sentenced to live

Bhangaar slowly draws you into the world of the Lavates and slowly and painfully, day by day, month after month, season by season and even ironically, festival after celebrated festival, pulls you into a world of ennui laced with despair but also paradoxically, with righteousness.

A fan whirrs. Slowly and deliberately. Almost as if it doesn’t know what it is supposed to do but whirr. And it whirrs. Each blade determined to churn the air. Slowly. And. Deliberately.

I got an opportunity to watch Sumira Roy’s heartrending film Bhangaar (Obsolete). I also had the fortune of having a conversation around it. And to me it was a request for death by those sentenced to live.

It’s taken me some time to write this but in my mind the fan is still whirring.

The account below is not a review. Just my way of processing the film I saw. Just my point of view.

Bhangaar follows the life of a couple, Ira and Narayan Lavate, living in a chawl in Charni Road, and their battle to not just lead a life of dignity but also bring dignity into death. Euthanasia is not an option in India. End-of-life choices are difficult for everyone and the head-in-the-sand attitude we have towards death comes starkly to mind here.

Euthanasia, the word whirrs in your head as you watch.

Talented writer, advertising professional and a sensitive filmmaker, Sumira Roy states clearly, in her words as well as her work, “Bhangaar is a labour of love”. Inspired by her conversation with her mother, before she passed on, Sumira spent four painstaking years making the film: spending day after day bringing to light a moment-by-moment view of a dignified life that wants to meet a dignified end.

What is admirable is how Sumira has taken on this challenge and stayed in a detached mode, bringing to us what she calls a film in the ‘observational’ genre. How difficult it must have been to shoot – considering that it was difficult for me to watch and difficult for me to digest as varied thoughts kept whirring in my mind, during the film and long after the film ended!

Yes, the fan whirrs on.  

The ask, the Lavates have, is simple. Life has run its course. Can they, in their unison as a couple that has withstood the challenges of time and the ravages of circumstances, now bid adieu in a dignified way? What is commendable, you think, as the film goes through the seasons, the celebrations, the hubbub of life around them, is that they want to do it with the righteousness with which they have lived.

The thought trains start again. You circle around this dance of life and this dance of death. One that you complain about going through and the other one that you refuse to look at.

It’s a 12-feet-by-12-feet room that pretty much covers the square yards of the existence of the Lavates. A day that revolves around the discipline of going through the loud monotony of chores, of sitting for hours by the bars of the window or standing motionless outside the room leaning on the rickety wooden banister watching a world quickly pass by.

The starkness of the contrast hits hard. On one hand is that of life not moving and slowly, ever-so-slowly and painfully chugging into a determined halt that seems to never come, and on the other hand is the noisy bustle of life passing by, children off to school, people going about their daily lives, everyone engrossed in their day, their hours, their moments, themselves. Even the stray cat and crow seem to have a purpose. And these old eyes watch them, uncomplaining. Festivals come and go. The Ganesh festival especially adds to the irony. This is where the Elephant God, welcomed as a community (Sarvajanik), by the community, heralds a 10-day long celebration and even when He, the Lord, is bid farewell, the public outcry in unison is “Pudhchya varshi laukar yaa” (‘Come back quickly next year’). We watch this through Sumira’s eyes, and that of the talented cinematographer and we realise that ‘next year’ is not looked forward to, it’s not awaited… it’s not worth waiting for.

We don’t want to be here ‘pudhchya varshi’. And yet here we are.

Several shots in the film brought the starkness of the listless existence within shouting distance of my mind and firmly lodged themselves there. The top-angle shot taken through the blades of the fan. (The fan again!) The shot of Mr Lavate through the window grill. (Who’s behind bars here? Him. Or you?) The loud celebrations of festivals. (And the increasing silence within.) The Diwali lights. (Contrasted with dark thoughts). Sumira has wanted this to be an observational film, and I think I have observed enough.

Without saying anything, without a rabble-rousing, slogan-waving, get-up-and-do-something wave, without an outcry to action, Sumira compels us to watch the Lavates, be the Lavates and look at life from their point of view. And you learn to respect their ask, their demand and bow to the fact that in death, as in life, all they want is to remain relevant, to not be sidelined, to remain upright, to leave this world with as much dignity and respect as they have garnered through life.
Tall ask? No. But their demand was thwarted.

Can death be a choice as much as life?
Does the choice for that matter even where life is concerned ours?
Can death give us our ultimate grasp at dignity?

Are we sentenced to live our ungracious and ungrateful lives?

Where do we go from here?

These thoughts continue to rule long after the lights come on. There’s much to think about. If you do get a chance to view* this labour of love, please do. And do let me know what you think in the comments below.

Because as we speak, as you read this, we are moment by moment, slowly and surely heading towards obsolescence. Bhangaar.

Yes. The fan whirrs on.

---

No work of this stature is done alone. And credits go deservedly to each one – each individual’s contribution is quite obvious.

And sometimes a quiet statement can make a lot of waves. Here are the accolades received. And more keep pouring in.

*From time to time I’ll update screenings of this film across the globe. Stay tuned.

And here’s the latest!

BHANGAAR/OBSOLETE won Best Documentary Feature at 19th Tasveer Film Festival & Market 2024-the world’s only South Asian Oscar Qualifying Festival!

Congratulations @Sumiraroy once again!
Follow Sumira on Insta here:
https://www.instagram.com/sumiraroy/