Manav Kaul-Starrer Kashmir Is as Heart-Wrenching as It’s Powerful

Sugandha Garg knocks it out of the park.

Manav Kaul in a still from Kashmir.

(Photo courtesy: Terribly Tiny Tales)

Kashmir. A potent name in Indian history for as long as we can remember. There’s so much devastation, violence, displacement and loss packed into that one term, one place, one people. Actor-director Sugandha Garg gives Kashmir a face in her eponymous short film, released on the YouTube channel of Terribly Tiny Tales ahead of Father’s Day.

Kashmir revolves around a middle-aged man (Manav Kaul), who sits in a stark white, oft-dissolving room to come face to face with his deceased father (Avijit Dutt), and later, his childhood self (Faisal Batliwala) - a father who had to leave Kashmir with his family and couldn’t go back for a visit before passing on. Father and son sit and talk of the past and the present, the disjointed conversation throbbing with the pain of life paling into parchment-yellow memories.

Manav Kaul and Avijit Dutt in a moment from the film. (Photo courtesy: Terribly Tiny Tales)

The little over 10-minute film is as powerful as its sparse, riding on the excellence of the actors and the dialogues (written by Sugandha).

A still from the film. (Photo courtesy: Terribly Tiny Tales)

The lack of drama and the blanket white setting reflect the desolation at Kashmir’s soul even as it wrings your heart. In the end, whatever reconciliation comes is in the guise of the hidden child in one’s soul, who refuses to get lost.

A powerful, powerful film. Watch it here: