Institute History
Description
Rafi works as a street photographer in frenzied Mumbai, snapping improvised portraits for tourists at the city’s landmarks. When his ailing grandmother—who has always hoped that Rafi would start a family—comes to visit, he scrambles to appease her. A chance encounter with kind-hearted and lonely Miloni offers the perfect opportunity, since she is happy to play along when Rafi asks her to be his pretend companion. Yet even as the scheme throws into sharp relief the class differences and obstacles that would stand in the way of such a union, the line between hypothetical and real affections grows ever hazier.
Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox) returns to the Sundance Film Festival with a delicate tale of quiet romance, finding the beauty in fleeting moments of connection amidst the chaos of an increasingly isolating and stratified city. Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra bring warmth and vulnerability to Rafi and Miloni’s bittersweet coupling, as Batra masterfully reminds us of the joy of sharing life’s small pleasures. The result is a tender ode to the rarity of true communion.