Underplayed Gems

Paltadacho Munis (2009)

Paltadacho Munis poster
Original title
Paltadacho munis
Directed by
Laxmikant Shetgaonkar
Genre
drama film
Country
India
Runtime
1h 32m
Rating
6.0 of 10 from 2 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A widowed forest ranger living in a shrinking forest finds a lost woman and starts an unlikely bond. The story works to reduce stigma around mental illness in a rural Indian setting.

slow-burnmelancholiccontemplativeintimateunsettlingpoignantrestrainedatmospheric

What happens

Paltadacho Munis or The Man Beyond the Bridge is an Indian film in Konkani directed by Laxmikant Shetgaonkar. Set in Goa, the film is about a recently widowed forest ranger in a dwindling forest, who strikes up an unlikely relationship with a woman he finds lost and alone in the woods. The film tries to destigmatise mental illness, often equated with being possessed by the devil in rural India. The film was premiered at 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the prize of the International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI Prize) for Discovery. It was chosen as opening film of the Indian Panorama section at the 40th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2009. Thereafter it went to receive international critical acclaim, including the narrative jury award at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. It was included in the world's best films of 2009 list. According to a review, it strikes a perfect balance between the personal and the political. Laxmikant's cinema is rich in metaphors, remarkable in its restrain and exciting in its modern sensibility. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Konkani at the 57th National Film Awards. The film was also nominated for the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) award, Berlin. Shetgaonkar's next film was Baga Beach. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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