Ship of Theseus stands out among the recent crop of Indian indie films for both its concerns and rich cinematic expressions. This is a highly accomplished film that bedazzles both at the level of idea and execution.
Gandhi makes his intentions clear right in the beginning. Ship of Theseus opens with a shot of an eye blinking to light. Gandhi wants to open our eyes to the brave new world that he portrays. A world that demands a different sensibility to appreciate it.
Ship of Theseus tells the stories of three disparate characters connected thematically. The three protagonists of the film undergo life-changing journeys once the very essence of their being is challenged. Aliya took to photography after she lost her sight. She is an acclaimed photographer whose boyfriend describes to her each of her photographs in minute details. Her life is about to change as she is soon going to regain her sight after a cornea transplant. Gandhi uses the potent setting aptly as backdrop for a discourse on the purpose of art and the relationship between creator and creation.
This story is adventurously photographed by the DoP Pankaj Kumar who uses the interplay between light and shadow to build the mood. It's remarkable the way he uses overexposure as a tool instead of an anomaly.
In the second chapter, Maitreya, an intellectual Jain monk is posed with the question of his life. He has spent his life campaigning against cruelty performed on animals in pharmaceutical laboratories. Now he finds himself caught in a situation where only those drugs can save his life that have been tested on animals. Now he have to decide between his strong set of principles and the need of the hour questioning the meaning and purpose of life as well as dealing with Silence of God over humanity and the afterlife.
Neeraj Kabi's performance as the monk is one of the highlights of the story. He redefines what it means to get into the skin of a character. The protégé is something to look for his dialogs.
While the first two stories are about extra-ordinary characters caught in extra-ordinary situations, the third one deals with a lesser mortal – a money-minded stockbroker who lives a life immersed in his business. His social activist grandmother tries her best to "reform" him but in vain. It has a bit of humor too. Though the segment differs from the first two slightly in its tone due to a few loud performances by secondary characters, it affects the most. It works because of its protagonist who can be related to due to his urban middle class origin and humaneness. He redeems himself and realizes the instinct of morality.
Ship of Theseus is life changing because its protagonists go through life changing journeys. These are no ordinary people: a photographer who is blind. A Jain monk who has to make a choice between dying for his ideology or living to fight for it. An obsessive stock broker who has a trading terminal installed even in his hospital room while he is going through a liver transplant.
Gandhi constructs each of these chapters like a discourse – Aliya, the artist in self-doubt has a professor-author boyfriend who is in the habit of liking things. One of the high points of the first chapter is a long take where both of them argue about art and the need to create it. In the second chapter, the Jain monk Maitreya is pitted against Charvaka. Here the names chosen for the characters are also interesting. In Buddhist tradition, Maitreya is the Bodhisatva who is yet to appear on earth and teach the world the true Dharma, while Charvaka is one of the first materialist philosophers of the world who famously said, "Yavad Jivet Sukham Jivet, Rinam Litva Dhritam Pivet" (Live happily, till your life comes to an end. Don't hesitate to even borrow to have lavish food). And the third chapter is an argument between a social activist grandmother and her money-minded grandson.
The film derives its title from a paradox in philosophy called "Ship of Theseus". It's best described through a story – each of the planks of the ship of Theseus was changed one by one over a period of time, does it still remain the ship of Theseus? While it might sound too "intellectual" – Ship of Theseus derives its power from simplicity. The film isn't only accessible but it also has its lighter moments. Apart from being a serious dialog on the purpose of art and life, it is also simple stories well-told. I would like to believe that Ship of Theseus belongs to the ancient Indian school of discourse where storytelling is used as a means to pose serious questions and seek answers.
Ship of Theseus is a powerful and moving film that's certainly going to be remembered as one of the most powerful Indian debuts of recent times.
Gandhi makes his intentions clear right in the beginning. Ship of Theseus opens with a shot of an eye blinking to light. Gandhi wants to open our eyes to the brave new world that he portrays. A world that demands a different sensibility to appreciate it.
Ship of Theseus tells the stories of three disparate characters connected thematically. The three protagonists of the film undergo life-changing journeys once the very essence of their being is challenged. Aliya took to photography after she lost her sight. She is an acclaimed photographer whose boyfriend describes to her each of her photographs in minute details. Her life is about to change as she is soon going to regain her sight after a cornea transplant. Gandhi uses the potent setting aptly as backdrop for a discourse on the purpose of art and the relationship between creator and creation.
This story is adventurously photographed by the DoP Pankaj Kumar who uses the interplay between light and shadow to build the mood. It's remarkable the way he uses overexposure as a tool instead of an anomaly.
In the second chapter, Maitreya, an intellectual Jain monk is posed with the question of his life. He has spent his life campaigning against cruelty performed on animals in pharmaceutical laboratories. Now he finds himself caught in a situation where only those drugs can save his life that have been tested on animals. Now he have to decide between his strong set of principles and the need of the hour questioning the meaning and purpose of life as well as dealing with Silence of God over humanity and the afterlife.
Neeraj Kabi's performance as the monk is one of the highlights of the story. He redefines what it means to get into the skin of a character. The protégé is something to look for his dialogs.
While the first two stories are about extra-ordinary characters caught in extra-ordinary situations, the third one deals with a lesser mortal – a money-minded stockbroker who lives a life immersed in his business. His social activist grandmother tries her best to "reform" him but in vain. It has a bit of humor too. Though the segment differs from the first two slightly in its tone due to a few loud performances by secondary characters, it affects the most. It works because of its protagonist who can be related to due to his urban middle class origin and humaneness. He redeems himself and realizes the instinct of morality.
Ship of Theseus is life changing because its protagonists go through life changing journeys. These are no ordinary people: a photographer who is blind. A Jain monk who has to make a choice between dying for his ideology or living to fight for it. An obsessive stock broker who has a trading terminal installed even in his hospital room while he is going through a liver transplant.
Gandhi constructs each of these chapters like a discourse – Aliya, the artist in self-doubt has a professor-author boyfriend who is in the habit of liking things. One of the high points of the first chapter is a long take where both of them argue about art and the need to create it. In the second chapter, the Jain monk Maitreya is pitted against Charvaka. Here the names chosen for the characters are also interesting. In Buddhist tradition, Maitreya is the Bodhisatva who is yet to appear on earth and teach the world the true Dharma, while Charvaka is one of the first materialist philosophers of the world who famously said, "Yavad Jivet Sukham Jivet, Rinam Litva Dhritam Pivet" (Live happily, till your life comes to an end. Don't hesitate to even borrow to have lavish food). And the third chapter is an argument between a social activist grandmother and her money-minded grandson.
The film derives its title from a paradox in philosophy called "Ship of Theseus". It's best described through a story – each of the planks of the ship of Theseus was changed one by one over a period of time, does it still remain the ship of Theseus? While it might sound too "intellectual" – Ship of Theseus derives its power from simplicity. The film isn't only accessible but it also has its lighter moments. Apart from being a serious dialog on the purpose of art and life, it is also simple stories well-told. I would like to believe that Ship of Theseus belongs to the ancient Indian school of discourse where storytelling is used as a means to pose serious questions and seek answers.
Ship of Theseus is a powerful and moving film that's certainly going to be remembered as one of the most powerful Indian debuts of recent times.