Anu (2023) : A thoughtful tale about love and mortality

Mourning the death of one's partner is a painful process, and the period of healing takes its own time. But these moments of emotional repair are difficult to achieve unless one has accepted the bitter reality. Pulkit Arora's short film Anu is such a heart-rending journey and a powerful meditative look at grief. Highlighting the undying spirit of life and the somberness of death, the narrative explores the psychological turmoil of a woman in distress. Though it is a work of fiction, the challenging situation in which the protagonist is put through evokes a sense of reality.     

The short film is set in during the pandemic. Anu, a middle-aged woman, from India, arrives in New Zealand to live with her son. Before she can meet him, she has to quarantine herself by staying in a hotel alone. We discover that her husband died a year ago, and the annual ritual of Pind Dan is yet to be performed. She has given the responsibility to a well-wisher in Delhi. Due to unavoidable circumstances, the ritual could not be performed. Having exhausted all the options, she decides to confront the situation by herself.     

The mood in Anu is decidedly restrained and delivers an immersive sensory experience. It is an inquiry into the veiled corners and complex inner life of a lonely woman plagued by memories. Its deliberate rhythms, silent reveries, and static frames display a lived-in warmth. As a lyrical drama of loss and the sublime, it transports us to a spiritual zone most of us visit all too infrequently. Arora paints a serene and stately portrait of grief, a grief that rarely erupts in tears but which always lingers. He lets the story build through an accumulation of details, gestures, and conversation through voices from cell phones. He captures the small details of life by delving into the depths of character exploration. The hotel room where Anu's life remains confined defines the void at the centre of her soul like a massive crevice left by the departure of a loved one.     

The performance by Prabha Ravi effectively conveys the anguish of a woman forced to tackle a situation with wit and resolve. She conveys the titular role through a nicely realized performance, the sincerity of which is unquestionable. The cinematography by Adam Luxton captures the protagonist mostly in static frames and draws us closer to her pain. The editing by Lisa Greenfield and Jolin Lee precisely handles the fragments of time, making us struggle together with the protagonist in her quest to perform a ritual. There is an exceptional amount of detail in Bashab Bhattacharya and Christian Tjandrawinata's sound design. It skillfully creates a real space with diegetic sounds that feel natural and organically woven into the story.     

Anu is a short film about an ordinary woman, and the situations and emotions it stirs up are universally profound. It reminds us that death is not simply the termination of life. But it is an inextricable and essential part of living day-to-day.     

Anu was screened at the New York Indian Film Festival 2024. It is currently streaming on Mubi.