A still from ‘Dhooin’ | Photo Credit: MUBI India
Fog Dreams. desires. Morning. Cold… the frame with which indie filmmaker Achal Mishra invites us tune are gentle, but the story that follows is about as harsh as it can get. After a great start to 2019 Gamak Gharbrings real tune, a charmingly subtle and poignant story about an aspiring actor’s dream and a deeply-painful struggle with reality. The 50-minute indie film is immersive in size and measured in its narration, it feels like a polaroid capturing everyday suffering.
Dhun (Maithili)
Director: Achal Mishra
mould: Abhinav Jha, Satyendra Jha, Prashant Rana, Ankush Prasad, Bijay Kumar Shah
runtime: 50 minutes
Story: Pankaj, an aspiring actor from a small town, wants to move to Mumbai to fulfill his dreams. However, he needs to measure his goals against his responsibilities towards his family.
With hazy visions of a mundane, sleepy city, tune Tells the story of a young man’s silent battle with reality. Pankaj (Abhinav Jha) dreams of becoming a big film star, but like most dreamers from underprivileged backgrounds, he lacks the means to do so. He spends his time performing in local theater plays, taking selfies near the airport and in vain Add as With fellow actors and filmmakers who keep her dreams comfortable and safe. Pankaj’s only known way out is to get a train to Bombay, the dreamland of Indian cinema.
Yet, it seems that Pankaj’s yearning stems not from the will to chase his dreams, but to escape from his life in Darbhanga. He spends most of his time in the hazy dawn until late at night, as if looking away from everything his elderly parents do and being reminded of their bleak financial situation. Even his quietest moments seem to be tormented. A YouTuber’s acting tip to cry on command comes in handy for Pankaj, but with grief so deep, only the actor in him easily sheds tears. Achal marks the rush of anxiety in Pankaj’s mind with the sound of an oncoming train on the railway track outside his house. Achal also underlines Pankaj’s struggles by setting the story in post-COVID rural India, taking it further from reality. From planes flying over Darbhanga to watching films by Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, everything seems distant to Pankaj.
tune A minimal but immersive visual language. in the case of Gamak GharWhere the memories of the past life in the village were dual shades of hot and cold, tuneThe scenes are also featured for a reason. The bleak visuals depict the fog covering Pankaj’s dreams and the path to achieving them. A poignant moment in the film, the narrative moves forward through a simple but also allegory on a dark highway. It is also carefully measured in description, as is the case with Gamak Ghar, It seems less time is needed to sustain life in the Darbhanga of 2022, and Achal gets enough time to tell his story, but there is no need to lengthen his shots.
However, the most influential aspect of tune It has self-awareness and how it sees itself. For instance, Pankaj feels alienated when a group of budding filmmakers plan to make a docu-fiction, leaving no scope for actors like Pankaj. why do they talk about the wind will carry us Kiarostami’s first film in which he introduced his visual poetry, and it all goes over Pankaj’s head. The sudden condescension of one of them strikes the wrong chord with Pankaj. This is an important moment in the story, but it also shows that we, the audience watching this docu-fiction, are also far away from the real world Pankaj. As these newcomers talk about the blending of non-actors and actors in Kiarostomi’s films, it’s very much a docu-fiction film, tuneActors like Abhinav Jha have blended in with non-actors with ease. Here too, Achal finds a way to bring in a metaphor and the swarm of mosquitoes hovering over Pankaj’s head shows how he feels inside.
Music is used to match the minimal mise en scene. The title theme of Tajdar Junaid is a poignant piece that tugs at our heartstrings; Its emotional weight reminds one of his 2013 album’ what color is your rainbow,
In the end, what sticks in one’s mind is the film’s casual handling of the subject matter and how it doesn’t cross its T. Maybe Pankaj will become Pankaj Tripathi in the future – a hat-tip to the film. Or maybe he’ll fail. tune tells an everyday tale of every man’s burden and clearly shows what the cost of dreaming can be in our world. It is not only the dreams that have a sad ending, there is a cost to dreaming too.
Dhuine is currently streaming on MUBI