“The art of filmmaking is silence.” Heavy words from a 22- year-old. And even heavier is young director Karen Kshiti Suvarna’s subject of Alzheimer’s. With her film, September 21, selected for the Marche du Film at the 79th Cannes Film Festival, she shares how she was drawn to such a somber issue, and how the disease which largely afflicts older people resonated with her young years.
Come to think of it, Alzheimer’s as a subject is not new to Hindi film industry. One of last year’s blockbusters, Saiyaara, too dealt with the same. You bet Kshiti has seen the film; only she had finished the shooting of her film when Mohit Suri’s heartrending love story released. If in Saiyaara the patient was a young girl, September 21 revolves around elders, which is when the disease truly strikes.
Besides, while most films dealing with the degenerative illness focus on patients, September 21 sees it through the lens of caregivers. The fact, that her writer Raj Shekhar is himself a caregiver, helped her understand what it means to be responsible for the patient’s well-being. She says, “As a rule, patients get greater empathy and few spare a thought for those whose lives are turned upside down in the process of taking care of their loved ones.”
Basing her film in real events, her debut feature film, she insists, “is not a sob story but a human drama, where silence speaks.” Silence for her is a significant communication tool, not only because she was aiming for global audiences at film festivals. Of course, she nods that you can never custom-make a film for festivals, especially as premier as Cannes. But she adds, “Since, our subject is so meaningful, festivals seemed a good option to showcase it.”
Making the cut in the market section of the festival is undeniably a ‘touch wood’ moment for her, which is yet to sink in. She is not only Cannes ready but also all set to release the film in cinema halls on May 22.