POPCORN REVIEWSS

There is a philosophical subtext that divides the narrative into ‘stages’ – with each stage being equated to life. The context remains the seven stages of life starting with spirituality – a thread that is far from reach for the humans. The end remains that of pilgrimage – the idea of sacrificing everything for the Almighty, and while the artistic commentary is expressed between these two stages at different sides of the spectrum – the sarcasm lies in these two stages itself. It is almost a commentary on the reverse engineering employed by humans, particularly males across any religion, in the want to invest in the devotion of idols but never aiming for anything beyond that. As a result, the void after the ‘spirituality’ stage is alarming while doubling up as a mirror for the society.

“The Place..” shouldn’t be mistaken for a regular documentary wherein you have real people reconstructing an event through their gaze. The commentary is artistic, almost shifting shapes and forms while tackling the topics of religion, mythology and nature, while equating it to the current infamous trends of misogyny, r*pe and patriarchy. For instance, a consistent thread in the narrative equates womenhood to nature, with visuals of pollution greeting the streets and water-bodies in and around the state of West Bengal. But the narration is mindful of not restricting itself to a particular region while expanding its seeds to other traits.

There is a heavy influence on religion even as the tale unfolds through the gaze of a Muslim woman undergoing an eye operation, only to equate it to a similar restricted gaze of other religions as well. In another moment, the narrative borrows its commentary from a temple that stays closed for 3 days in a month, on the pretext of the ‘Mother’ deity who is on her menstrual cycle of purity. Here, the inference is quick while exposing the double standards that exist in the minds of the people, treating this phase of womenhood as ‘impure’ – something that would restrict their movements. It is a timely reminder on how even the basic concept of religion is shackled in the minds of the people.

The narrative style employs the plight of four women from different walks of life, and each woman has a commentary tagged to it. While physical abuse is one trait explored through the implied commentary on the body of a young woman, celebration of puberty and the subsequent exploitation in play go hand-in-hand through two characters. The fourth one has seeds of an arranged marriage equating it with the Aranyak Parva of the Mahabharata, even while inferring a very specific mythological figure and his ‘innocent’ antics that are still celebrated in jest. The idea of Shubhadra being ‘wrongfully’ kidnapped for a personal gain remains the searing context in a moment of an ‘alternate’ truth, that the documentary wishes to touch upon. It is almost a reverse commentary on how the mindset of the people remains influenced, even as the narrative forces you to ponder on similar inferences of the past.

There is a growing culture on patriarchy that laces the narrative, even as you witness a few kids playing a game of football. This seems like a fleeting moment but the subtext is that of a male gaze ‘passing’ the football (read: women) to each other. The inference might seem extreme in nature but the narrative does ask uncomfortable questions in the same breath. There is a definite political hint in the narrative too that drowns its context in a sea of religion, specifically as the visuals highlight a particular colour at the end. This, even as the camera pans on the innumerous sights of filth that is gathered on the streets – a direct correlation to the minds of people that are consistently infected in the absence of spirituality. All of it, while tears pour down the cheeks of woman who are shown to drown in their own sorrows.