Review: Shaam Hi Toh Hai (A Night After All, 2024)

Anshul Agrawal’s Shaam Hi Toh Hai is a chamber drama that depends on the acting skills of its leads. With a run time of about 14 minutes, this film is a daring undertaking set to narrow-peg the audience's curiosity through a subtle interplay between the two actors-the way they glance, listen, or respond to each other. The film, using performance and subtext, expresses the intricacies of the protagonists' conditions in surprising and deeply enlightening manners.      

The film traces the marriage between two people in their sixties; Supriya- a retired teacher, and Kishore, a retired government officer. It takes place over a single stretch of night. After years of transferring, the couple seems to have finally settled into a home. Supriya is taking care of her sick niece while her elder sister is away. The medical expenses are taking a toll on them both emotionally and financially. They opt for a board game on a sleepless night. The plot revolves around two people wrestling with the dilemma of how to help the young girl with maximum comfort.      

The board game that Supriya and Kishore play throughout the night is now turned into the medium through which their emotional and financial status discloses itself. It turns out to be a metaphor to convey that something weighty lurks in their words the moment they open up to one another. As they squabble with one another, it gives the impression that each one cares for one another in some special way. Their relationship is mature and healthy; it is completely devoid of toxicity, posturing, and misdirected rage.       

The conversations between the characters are deliberately presented without being too fancy or exaggerated. The interaction becomes the spine of the film. The dialogues hold on to their exposition, reflecting subtly the presence of impending crisis in the couple's life. The exchanges follow a natural flow that allows each one to simply read the other's thoughts with movements of the hands or changes in body language. The filmmaker places the weight on catharsis, and Srijan Chaurasia's cinematography captures small but raw facets of life with a minimalist appeal to project the moods and emotions that the film intends to render. Seamless editing by Shashwata Dutta ties scenes together in a fluent rhythm infusing the moments with a lyrical sense.      

The film comes into its own with the wonderful performances of the actors. Ratna Pathak Shah exudes an easy charm to her character. She elevates the role to a different plane, as a woman who is caring and anxious, in equal measure. Her comic timing and dramatic weight are exquisite. We also see Rajit Kapur embody his character in an equally calm, smooth, and reassuring manner. The chemistry of both characters is excellent. It caters to our attention through the entirety of the narrative.      

Shaam Hi Toh Hai is a sensitive film and has a quiet restraint that avoids the awkwardness of melodrama and does not distort the narrative with heavy-handedness. Uniquely beautiful in bringing out its themes of care and sacrifice, it is a quietly aching tragic tale of love at its core. 

*****