The Marathi movie Photo-Prem deals with potentially dark themes of death and the afterlife with a bright smile and a hint of snark. Intro...
The Marathi movie Photo-Prem deals with potentially dark themes of death and the afterlife with a bright smile and a hint of snark.
Introverted Pune housewife Sunanda is that rare beast – she hates to be photographed. She is one of the last members of that generation of Indians whose limbs and facial muscles stiffen when they are faced with a camera. It shouldn’t matter but begins to when Sunanda realises that the family of a recently departed woman didn’t have a single decent image to remember her by.
Sunanda (Neena Kulkarni) develops a morbid obsession with commemorative photos and obituary notices. She frets about how she will be visually represented when she is gone, especially since she is all but missing from the family photo albums. Yet, her inhibitions prevent her from marching into a studio and getting her picture taken.
There’s more to Sunanda’s camera fright, writer-directors Aditya Rathi and Gayatri Patil will have us know. Sunanda’s internal monologues reveal her frustration at being taken for granted, especially by her obnoxious husband (Vikas Hande). A movie better attuned to domestic politics might have made a deeper connection between Sunanda’s desire to overcome her shyness and her husband’s dismissive attitude. The photograph is to Sunanda...
