Bombay or Mumbai, Calcutta or Kolkata, Madras or Chennai - a generation will always mourn the changing names of cities, as attached with them are a range of emotions. Faraz Ali's stunning debut, Shoebox, is also set at a time when Allahabad is about to be renamed Prayagraj. But the film is more about Allahabad, the city that is trying to cling to its values.
Through a movie theatre Palace, Ali and co-writer Noopur Sinha explore how the city is being gentrified, and how the older residents are struggling to come to terms with their heritage being 'destroyed'.
Mampu (Amrita Bagchi), the protagonist, comes to her hometown Allahabad from Pune to look after her ailing father Madhav (Purnendu Bhattacharya). Once she lands in her city, she finds that her dad's health isn't the only challenge. She also has to fight the system as he father's once-thriving single screen theatre is chosen as an ideal location for a shopping mall by builders, who are actively supported by the encroachment mafia. Doesn't this remind us of the reality we are living now?
As Mampu tries hard to convince her father to move with her to Pune, she also realises that the one thing that keeps him going is his determination to prevent the theatre from coming under the hammer.
The story moves back and forth between Mampu's childhood and the present events. The traumatic accident and eventual death of her mother, the bond she shares with her best friend and her strict father have made her the person she is.
Mampu doesn't have a huge attachment to the city of her birth. There are no new memories. The memories that she derives comfort from are from her childhood - bunking school with her friend and watching movies together, taking on bullies, playing with WWF cards. There's one object that's still very dear to Mampu, that takes her back to the days when she created something for a science project - a shoebox.
But in the present time, Mampu is faced with a tough choice - to stay on and protect what's dear to her dad or leave the past behind.
A still from Shoebox.
(Photo Courtesy: Pinterest)
Shoebox throbs with this dilemma. The film captures the effect capitalism has had over Allahabad. We see old mansions crumbling next to fancy American brands. Builders pull down age-old structures stacked with history, just so that they can construct grotesque buildings that scream new money. One of the most poignant scenes in the movie shows the audience whistling and cheering as Amitabh Bachchan's Mard plays in the palace theatre, reminding us of a time when films of the veteran actor would play for months in cinema halls, attracting huge crowds. Cut to the present day, when a larger-than-life poster of Amitabh gets wiped out from a building facade, pointing out that there's no place for nostalgia.
Shoebox leaves us with a sense of void and a fear of displacement. Shuttling between cities, the idea of 'home' for Mampu is alien. The only reminder of simpler times is the shoebox. There's no closure for Mampu; the process of going through all the emotions will be a long and arduous one. We embark on this journey with Ali and Mampu, and we are hopeful of things looking up for her.
Shoebox was recently screened at the New York Indian Film Festival
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