I was surprised when it was announced that another film — and not writer-director Payal Kapadia’s lush All We Imagine as Light — would be India’s entry to the Oscars. The film’s story spans three generations and it’s a loving, heartwarming ode to the strength of its characters, each of whom lives outside societal norms in some way and struggles to come to terms with their current situations. The drama boasts stellar performances from its cast and allows us to sit in their feelings as they navigate changes affecting their lives while supporting each other.

Director Payal Kapadia Release Date November 15, 2024 Writers Payal Kapadia Cast Kani Kusruti , Divya Prabha , Chhaya Kadam , Hridhu Haroon , Azees Nedumangad , Anand Sami , Lovleen Mishra , Madhu Raja Character(s) Prabha , Anu , Parvaty , Shiaz , Dr. Manoj , Drowned Man , Dr. Supriya , Kaki Runtime 118 Minutes Expand

In Mumbai, Prabha (Kani Kusruti) is a nurse who receives a house gift from her husband, who moved to Germany shortly after they got married. This gift shifts something in her, causing her to examine her life as she knows it. Anu (Divya Prabha), a fellow nurse and Prabha’s younger roommate is secretly seeing Shiaz (Hridhu Haroon) because they belong to different religions. Meanwhile, Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), a cook at the hospital, is ready to return to her village due to her failing health.

All We Imagine As Light Tells A Moving Story
The Characters Support Each Other In Their Unsettledness

All We Imagine as Light is compassionate and tender. Its power comes in its focus on the three women’s multigenerational relationship and the support they provide each other when they need it the most. The three women each encompass different personalities and demeanors, their varied ages and life experiences informing their unique outlooks on life and the actions they take in situations. Prabha is melancholy and yearns for some gesture or care from an absent husband. Her situation leaves her in a limbo she can’t easily get past, but the quiet support from Anu and Parvaty makes a noticeable difference.

Visually, there’s much to enjoy as the backdrop of Mumbai acts as a fourth character. It’s lively and chaotic and easy to get lost in.

In its most gentle moments, All We Imagine as Light is quite beautiful. It’s a slice-of-life story driven by characters and intimacy. The women are trapped in an in-between state; they’re not settled and the changing tapestry of Mumbai doesn’t make it easy to call it home. We get the sense that these characters are passing through, on the way to whatever might be more permanent and stable. In other ways, it’s simultaneously a love letter and an indictment of Mumbai, a city with fissures and a glossy mask to hide behind but that is no less bustling and wondrous.

This all makes for a lovely, moving film that is rhythmic in its allure. Visually, there’s much to enjoy as the backdrop of Mumbai acts as a fourth character. It’s lively and chaotic and easy to get lost in. Ranabir Das’ cinematography is potent and the way the camera moves in on the characters and then pulls back to watch them in their surroundings makes the film all the more engaging. These characters, after all, don’t exist in a bubble, and All We Imagine as Light sees them as individuals and parts of a whole.

All We Imagine As Light Struggles To Fully Explore One Character
But The Film Is Strengthened By Prabha’s Dynamic With Anu

Despite the quiet fortitude of its characters, All We Imagine as Light has a hard time getting inside Prabha’s head. Her world is turned upside down by the gift from her husband, but there are aspects of her interiority that are left unexplored. There’s a moment at the end that, while a bit fantastical, is meant to underscore her coming to terms with moving forward, but it comes a little too late to fully sit with the emotions it brings. She’s the character who’s perhaps most difficult to connect with and it often feels like her role is more reactionary.

Kapadia seems most interested in Anu, who’s more openly brash and curious. She breaks from expectations but keeps to herself while doing the things others — including her and Shiaz’s parents — would frown upon. Anu is deeply compelling and it’s in her relationships with Prabha and Shiaz that the film soars. She is the opposite of Prabha, full of life and not yet filled with sadness or extreme disappointment. There are moments where it’s clear Prabha sees herself in Anu but also sees that Anu could become her without support. It’s what makes their friendship, and mother-daughter-like relationship so magnetic.

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Elsewhere, the pacing is slow and it starts to fall off a bit before picking back up again. Kapadia’s filmmaking is deliberate and observant, certainly, but the drama is a bit weighed down by some of its tediousness. It’s a character study that doesn’t build to anything major, more content to sit in the listlessness of its characters as they wander through life and find their way. Yet such hindrances don’t hold the film back from being a thoughtful, if sometimes wandering, journey. And it’s the little moments and details that turn it into something more profound and lovely.

All We Imagine as Light is now playing in limited theaters and will expand nationwide on November 22. The film is 118 minutes long and not rated.

7/10 In the film All We Imagine as Light, set in Mumbai, Nurse Prabha’s life is disrupted by a gift from her estranged husband. Her roommate Anu struggles to find privacy with her boyfriend, leading to a revealing journey to a coastal town where their desires surface.ProsThe film is moving and strengthened by the women’s relationship with each otherMumbai feels like a fourth character in the filmA tender, intimate character study ConsThe film moves slowly and drops off before picking back up againPrabha could’ve been explored more