Indian women filmmakers have been behind some truly remarkable independent films in recent years. The talent has always been there; the opportunities have not always followed quite so easily, especially when it comes to making that difficult second film. That is one of the reasons it is so exciting to see Anuparna Roy back at Venice just a year after Songs of Forgotten Trees. She won the Orizzonti Award for Best Director, becoming the first Indian filmmaker to receive that honour. This year, she is already back in the same section with her second feature, Lovers in the Blue Night.

Roy has a beautiful way of observing people, although I know her cinema will not work for everyone. Her films are slow, and she is clearly not interested in rushing a scene simply because audiences have become accustomed to stories constantly moving forward. For some viewers, that kind of filmmaking can test their patience; for me, it is where the magic lies.

In Lovers in the Blue Night, Roy returns to the streets of Mumbai, this time following four migrants who want more from life than simply getting through another day. Karim is a closeted gay man married to Ameena, a woman working in a bar who desperately wants to be loved. Then there is Sukka, a small-time thief struggling against the weight of caste, who becomes Karim’s forbidden desire, and Omran, a pimp whose own lonely life takes an unexpected turn when Ameena mistakenly believes he is the man behind the letters she has been receiving. Their lives slowly become tangled through love, secrecy, loneliness and misunderstanding, but in the end, they all want the same thing: to be seen and loved.

Much of Lovers in the Blue Night takes place in very limited spaces; small rooms, bars, narrow streets and other corners of Mumbai become the characters’ world. The film wouldn’t have worked if it weren’t for the actors as well; the performances across the film are beautifully natural. There is also a lovely relationship between the camera and the spaces Roy uses. A room that seems intimate at first can suddenly become uncomfortable and suffocating. Karan Gupta’s production design doesn’t overcrowd them either and along with Muskan Mittal’s costumes, the simple surroundings fit naturally with the characters and their lives.

Lovers in the Blue Night is a film about people who want to love and be loved, even when life has made both incredibly difficult and Roy tells their stories with so much tenderness. It is slow cinema in every sense, and it won’t be for everyone, but for those willing to give it time, there is something beautiful about it.

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Written by Maggie Gogler

Featured image courtesy of Venice Film Festival

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