Alaav, written and directed by Prabash Chandra, recently premiered at the Dharamshala International Film Festival. It is a film about a 63-year-old man caring for his 95-year-old ailing mother. The man has been an actor and is a music teacher and doesn’t step outside his Delhi house as he is completely devoted to looking after his mother.
The film is as real as it gets. There is no camera movement at all and every frame is fixed. There’s no background score too, not even during the end credits. Hence, there are times when one feels like they are inside the house of the Gossains and observing the mother and son.
On the flipside, the film is too long. 123 minutes is a lengthy run time for a film where nothing really happens. The film tests patience at multiple places. Ideally, this film should have been no more than an hour long. Moreover, a few questions are unanswered. Did the protagonist ever marry or have children? The more important question, which was left unanswered, was why didn’t Bhaveen ever hire a caretaker for his mother? He seemed well off and it’s common for many in India to employ someone to take care of their parents when they are unable to move.
Bhaveen Gossain is superb and his dialogue delivery and singing especially are impressive. Savitri Gossian is also quite good and Prabash deserves kudos for directing her in this manner.
Vikas Urs‘ cinematography is top-notch. The less said about the editing, the better.
On the whole, Alaav is a well-intentioned film, but the impact gets heavily diluted due to its length.
My rating – ** out of 5!