Monsoon Walk (2023): The elegant charm of credence

With, Monsoon Walk, National Award-winning filmmaker, Avinash Arun, looks upon loss with compassion and sensitively paints a deeply affecting and personal tale of loneliness and melancholy. The central character of the film is an old woman trying to keep herself connected with a world that is gradually going distant from her with each passing day. Through the protagonist the filmmaker crafts a quietly overwhelming study of human connection and our relationship with our surroundings. This is a quiet film that never tells, only shows, and it does it so well. The narrative depends more on the visuals than on words, to convey its theme. It is realistic enough to make us understand it is about normal people just like us. 

A 75-year-old woman, Girja (Parvati Bhadale), aka Ajji,  lives in the remotest village of the Sayhadri mountain range, with her ailing grandson, Ganesh (Prashant Joshi). She prepares homemade remedies to relieve him. But it is not effective enough to cure the cough of the sick child. It’s monsoon, and there is incessant rainfall in the region. Despite adverse conditions, Girja decides to fetch medicine for her grandson from the hospital. As she crosses the lush and green surroundings of her village to reach the bus stop, she encounters various individuals who draws us close to her feeling of loss and forlornness. She does not teeter on the brink of emotional collapse and embodies determination, and hope throughout the journey.

The beauty of this short film lies in the way how it achieves emotional depth through mundane and quotidian moments. To escape from the rain, when Girija takes shelter in a cobbler's house, he speaks at length to her about how the innovations in medical science have helped him to save his infant. The boatman who helps her to cross the river, similarly, tells her how happy he is about the sudden appearance of fish after the rain. As she waits at the bus stand, he overhears an old age couple quarrel over the husbands decision to travel to the city in the freezing weather. All of these scenes resonate with a humane quality that is filled with the bitter-sweet fullness of life. This is an ordinary tale about ordinary humans, their feelings, and the community surrounding them. It does not have twists, turns, setups and crescendos and so it blurs the line between narrative and life. As Girija waits for the doctor at the hospital to collect the medicine, each passing moment appears like a slowly building tale of a tragedy. After she meets with the doctors, we become aware of her situation and her fate becomes an ode to mortality. The film moves at a languid pace and if we allow it time, it will gently prod us to re-examine our preoccupation with life. 

The screenplay by Manvi Sharma, with additional screenplay by Omkar Achyut Barve and Arun, is a marvel of economy. It does not waste time filling in relationship details or backstories when they can be more powerfully hinted at. Neither does it focus on anything extraneous to the central drama of Girija's journey. As the cinematography Arun also captures the rural landscape with strong visuals that are glorious without being showy. He immerses the viewer in his dreamy spell that focuses on the verdant vegetation in the Syadri region. The astute framing creates an environment in which the protagonist seems enveloped by her circumstances. The sound design by Sanjay Maurya and Allwin Regoto is immersive and sustains the delicate seasonal and emotional mood of the film. The aural space is structured around the rush of wind, the rustle of leaves, and the pouring rainfall. Without a score, the film wisely relies on diegetic sound and the natural world. At times it brings a sublime comfort in simply listening to people talk. The editing by Pravin Jahagirdar is unhurried and has a poetic grace that brings a natural rhythm to this absorbing tale. Parvati Bhadale delivers a beautifully restrained performance that suggests an innate kindness underneath her weary visage.

Monsoon Walk has an enchanting and delicate beauty. It never strains for greater significance or attempts to deliver a message. The film lingers in our minds long after its viewing with an ending that we internalise. 

Monsoon Walk has won the Best Short Narrative award at the New York Indian Film Festival 2024

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