Photo Review: Silence Speaks Volumes In This Stirring Lockdown Tale

Writer and Director: Utsav Gonwar

Cast: Mahadev hadapad, Sandhya Arakere, Veeresh Gonwar, Jahangeer MS

Available in: Theatres

Duration: 98 minutes

Despite the simplicity of its narrative, Utsav Gonwar's Photo comes through as an exercise of great intricacy. It's a heaving film that has lots to exclaim but never does it allow its underlying anguish or sorrow to get in the way of its tall journey. The silence, as they say, speaks volumes here and that is because, for the writer-director, the film is more than just a visual document. Instead, he sees it as an opportunity to address the viewers directly, to politely ask them to stop the pretend act and to tell them that they too are partially complicit in the problem.

The problem, of course, is centred on the mass exodus of migrant workers during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. The entire event, which now seems like a distant memory, has been the subject of a lot of discourse and popular cinema such as Anubhav Sinha's 2023 film Bheed, too, has shared its two cents on the matter. Bheed cast a searing and emotional gaze with its reconstruction of the exodus, peeling several layers of the social apathy that had come to the fore. 

The Hindi film's black-and-white frames painted a vivid picture and its loud, chaotic tone amplified its message. Photo, in contrast, opts for a completely different approach and remains still and silent throughout. And unlike the many threads of stories that Bheed weaves together, Photo follows the solitary tale of a father-son duo and its labyrinth trip back home during the lockdown. What both films do is they comprehensively and boldly underline the systemic mismanagement that we saw at play at the time, but they both have starkly dissimilar voices to get the job done. 

The son is a kid named Durgya (Veeresh Gonwar) who lives with his mother Gangamma (Sandhya Arakere) in a remote village in North Karnataka whereas the father, Gynappa (Mahadev Hadapad) lives alone far away in Bengaluru as a daily wage construction worker. Durgya spots several of the homes in his neighbourhood boasting a picture of the Vidhana Soudha, with families merrily posing in front of the landmark building. For the boy, this seems like a mandatory thing to do and he soon starts to throw a mild tantrum to his mother about visiting his father in the big city. 

Who knows, he even might get to see DBoss (Challenging Star Darshan) while in Bengaluru, but the priority is a visit to the Vidhana Soudha and then clicking a picture right in front. His mother finally obliges and Durgya is off to see his father, to realise his latest dream.

The whole setup unfolds without any fuss or noise and Utsav Gonwar ensures nothing is on the nose. We don't get any sense of the conventional drama or conflict but rather a slice-of-life scenario that's tender and endearing. Unlike the norm, there are no hurdles in Durgya uniting with Gynappa or the latter being a spoilsport in the kid's business. In fact, surprisingly for a film like this, the director constantly dispenses light-hearted situational humour in his attempt to keep us engaged. When the all-important announcement of the lockdown is made nationwide by the prime minister, the film still chooses to not make a big deal of it.

Consequently, everything becomes dead-pan-like in the film and that's where the ingenuity of Photo lies. When we see people mindlessly parade on the streets with their 'Go Corona Go' chants, clamping thalis and breaking the very protocol meant to save them, the irony is instantly felt. When we see a well-off, privileged man exploit the duo for the sake of a 'reel', we gather just how easy it is for us to trivialize the plight of the underprivileged. And when we find out that, despite all the hardships, Durgya is only concerned about his friends teasing him for his failed trip to Bengaluru, we smile but with a strong hint of worry.

The Covid-19-led lockdowns were truly dark and harrowing times for millions in the country but a majority of us may have no idea of how devastating things were for the migrant labourA force. Studies reveal that close to 45 million of them returned home and as many as 35 million took the long walk. Many even lost their lives because of one reason or the other, though exact data or statistics remain elusive. 

So, any film or work of fiction can detail the struggle only to a limited extent because nothing could come even remotely close to the first-hand ordeal. Perhaps that is why Photo, as an endeavour, succeeds really well because it does not try to force us to feel something, but simply wishes for us to watch and soak it all up. It intentionally keeps us at a distance.

It helps that the details are defined almost entirely through visuals, with Dinesh Divakaran's wide frames providing an immersive experience. The pricks that Durgya and his father feel on their feet, their parched throats, the sweat dripping down their faces and the hopes that are diminishing with each minute - every single feature of the gruelling journey gets imprinted on our minds without any prompt. Unlike most other films dealing with such fragile moments, Photo doesn't function as a guide or a recreation but only as a matter-of-fact and sincere tale. Even though the film is doused in bleakness, never does it wish to manipulate us through music or external devices. 

What it employs incredibly well is authenticity. Along with the central cast, actor Jahangeer M.S, who was once popular on the small screen as 'Paapa Pandu', delivers a superb performance as Husenappa in the film. Collectively, the entire manages to transport us to its world with minimum effort and there are several portions in the film that play out like a documentary. One must give kudos to veteran actor Prakash Raj who stood by the film and ensured it received a theatrical release, which at one point did not look very promising.