Sometimes cinema can be closer to poetry than prose

Filmmaker Payal Kapadia opens up about her film 'All We Imagine As Light'

- BEDIKA

Cinema can sometimes be closer to poetry than prose, said filmmaker Payal Kapadia, whose much acclaimed "All We Imagine As Light" is an ode to women, their inner world and the bustling city of Mumbai that becomes home. To convey it all through the story of two Malayali nurses, Kapadia uses literature and sound for the many lyrical notes of the film, which became the first Indian film to win the 'Grand Prix' award at the Cannes Film Festival this May.

"I like literature a lot, so I keep thinking about making the dialogues a little more literary. I believe cinema can sometimes be closer to poetry than prose. The story is there no doubt, but can we have fun with that in the telling? That's what I enjoy the most," Kapadia told PTI in an interview.

The poetically titled "All We Imagine As Light," which began its theatrical run on November 22, features dialogues that often seem like short verses. "I am a huge romantic, so I can't run away from love stories and the exploration of romance. I think going forward, I would like to do that," she said.

Kapadia's short film "Afternoon Clouds" and documentary feature "A Night of Knowing Nothing" also carry elements of romance and poetry.

In 'All We Imagine...', she has used sound to explore the lives of her two primary characters Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha), roommates and colleagues in Mumbai. The silence of their lives unfolds against the cacophony of Mumbai's noisescape. Prabha's life is thrown into disarray when she receives a rice cooker from her estranged husband. Anu is struggling to find a private spot in the bustling city to be with her boyfriend. Prabha's best friend Parvati (Chhaya Kadam), a widow, is being forced out of her home by property developers.

Kapadia, 38, said that it's easy to depict what's on a character's mind by simply writing 'she thought' in a book but that's much more challenging in cinema.