all we imagine as light [film-review]

One of my favorite parts about engaging with art is stepping into perspective of another, and “All We Imagine as Light” offers exactly this – an intimate window into the lives of women in contemporary Mumbai.

To me this is a story about female friendship.

It is about two nurses in Mumbai (Prabha) and her younger roommate (Anu) living and working in Mumbai. We find out that the older nurse (Prabha’s) husband left for Germany soon after they married, and now rarely contacts her. The younger nurse Anu meanwhile is in a secret relationship with a Muslim boy.

I won’t spoil what events unfold, but over the course of the movie, we are given a lens into the intimacy of female relationships. In fact, the men in the movie rarely make an appearance.

“Yes, those living on the periphery often vanish, leaving behind little to no trace or noise.”

What kind of support system exists in the ‘city of dreams illusions’ especially for women?

For example, we learn about one of Prabha’s friends who is being evicted from a house that she had lived in for 22 years. Her husband had died and hadn’t told her/given her any papers for proof of address. She decides eventually to move back to her village, and both Prabha and Anu help her relocate.

We see three women, each at different life stages, navigating this indifferent city whilst supporting each other.

I like how this movie is all about the subtext. It is just a story with the tragedies and joys of living. No huge grand narratives, but just the daily lives of two women in evolving India. Whilst reading through the reviews, I saw some people say it was ‘underwhelming’. Nothing happens. It’s slow. I love this. It’s a slice of life movie- there is no grand arc or narratives, it’s just an intimate lens on a group of three women navigating a modern Mumbai. I’m reminded of Haruki Murakami’s book ‘Men without Women’ a series of short stories about men who have lost women in their lives. This is a story of women without men.