
Uniforms,morningrollcall,order,anddisciplinedeterminelifeataprestigiousboardingschoolsomewhereintheHimalaya’smistyfoothills.16-year-oldJaivardhanaisn’tthrivinginthisauthoritarianenvironment.Anopportunityfortemporaryrespitefromthisstrictregimepresentsitself,whenaformerteachervisitstheschoolandoffersinterestedstudentsaphotographyworkshop.DuringMrSapru’sinspiringlessons,theyoungpeopledon’tlearnaboutdepthoffieldorshutterspeed,buttheydolearntoopentheirsensesandexperiencetheworldaroundthem.<br/> ThephotographylessonsalsointroduceJaivardhanatoTarini,anewstudenthehasbeenwatchingforawhilenow.Somethingcautiouslydevelopsbetweenthetwotimelesslovers–becausetheirpresentmeetingprovestofulfilacenturies-olddesire,thatreferencesaclassicIndiantaleabouttragicloversandanevil,jealousruler.Whenfatestrikes,JaivardhanadecidestoseekoutthemythicalfigureHanuman.<br/> Thislendsthiscoming-of-agefilmacosmicdimension,thatdirectorRahatMahajanalsoexpressesinhisdebutfeaturefilm’snarrativeform.Contemporaryandancientstorytellingmeetinanoriginalfusionofclassiccinema,withexpressivestorytellingtraditionsfromthesouthofIndia.Mahajan’sownboardingschoolexperienceswerenotonlytheinspiration,butalsoprovidedthefilm’sprincipallocation,asitcameaboutincollaborationwithstudentsandstaffofhisformerschool.




