Dir: Payal Kapadia. With: Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam. France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg 2024. 115 mins. Malayalam, Hindi with English subtitles
The lives of three nurses – Prabha, Anu and Parvaty – are at the heart of this luminous Mumbai-set drama. Winner of the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes, the first Indian film to screen there in competition for 30 years, All We Imagine as Light is a beautiful, sweeping, emotional film exploring the complexities of female friendship.
Nurse Prabha’s routine is troubled when she receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. Her younger roommate, Anu, tries in vain to find a spot in the city to be intimate with her boyfriend. A sensuous and romantic tale, that brilliantly captures the frantic pace, vibrant colours and heady atmosphere of modern Mumbai.
This dreamlike and gentle modern Mumbai tale is a triumph – The Guardian
Few films have ever so beautifully captured the lonesome romance of Mumbai after dark. Jessica Kiang, Variety
