Barah By Barah follows the story of a funeral photographer finding it difficult to adjust to the changing landscapes of Varanasi. The story here is niche but poetic and philosophical in many ways, calming touching upon the concepts of life and death through the characters that are stuck in a sort of a transition phase between the past featuring their heritage, and the present that features a change. And if you notice the allegory, this transition of the soul between life and death, and life again is what leads to progression, or in terms of the drama here, ‘change’ which is always constant and irrespective of the worldly forces. The screenplay here standing at a shade under 2 hours moves at a leisurely pace almost inviting the viewers to completely surrender to the vibes of the drama by making a conscious transition into the lives that the characters lead in the film. 

Divided into chapters, the proceedings are niche but almost meditative in nature that timely remind you that you are no more than a speck of dust in this entire universe, and that the changing world demands that you change, and in the process evolve too. And this change by itself is told through the gaze of Life and Death, in a drama set in the ghats of Varanasi that is particularly witness to both these aspects of life in equal measures. The politics in the drama is smartly reduced in the background even as you get a gist that the 2019 elections are on the way, and in the lead up to that the beautification of the Ghats would eventually add a modern touch to the age old heritage in the drama. 

The most interesting aspect of the drama is the characterization wherein you clearly see a demarcation between the levels of acceptance between various characters. So you have Sooraj, a character who is a funeral photographer who is subjectively disconnected to his profession but almost going about his chores as a habit. You would question on whether he is ‘alive’ doing his job or just a body who is dead from the inside. His form of escapism(and signs that show that he is alive and receptive to change) lies around making love with his wife or occasionally visiting a nearby brothel with his friend. You also have his father who after years of being a patriarch(you see him not being in agreement of his daughter moving out to study) has slowly allowed his ego to crumble against the cusp of change transpiring around him. Perhaps, there is a sense of regret at the twilight of his life, as he is destined to make a transition soon. Also, there is Dubey(Sooraj’s friend) who is known to be rebellious even as he participates in a slogan-war against the establishment for inducing changes in the Ghats. This is more to do with his rigidity in wanting to adapt rather than a sense of belief around his conditioned mind. 

Contrary to these characters, there is Meena(Sooraj’s wife) who is more accepting towards the change. You can make out that she has been a bridge between Mansi(Sooraj’s sister) who had left home to pursue engineering, and the family of Sooraj, where new found communication helps preserve the bond that they once had. She also indulges in selfies, seen as an allegory of modernization which is different from her husband’s profession, something that signifies her accepting nature. So clearly, the women in this universe are all the more accepting. This, while the writing never loses sight of what it wishes to say about life, death and the constant process of changing and evolving wherein you briefly see Sooraj getting acquainted with a modern day photographer which doubled up as his alter ego. And yet at the end of it, the beautiful reminder acts as a constant that nothing is constant and that we will also be reduced to a portrait once the almighty presses his button! The screenplay is delicately woven and a beautiful representation of change.