Published in: Short Film Reviews

VSAFF 2021 Short Film Review “The Light of Other Days”

Author OneFilmFan

Published on: November 11, 2021

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE

First, the Recap:

I remember how it used to be. A statement often visited upon us reflecting about those facets of our lives or world around us that has since experienced a noticeable alteration, sometimes not for the better. Longing for the ways things were, we make the attempts to live as if nothing has actually been transformed, keeping that ideal picture in our mind, even if the actuality of it all remains intact. For a young girl (Yalini Sharma), it is as if it was a typical day walking to school. Yet, even as she traverses the railroad tracks and streets leading to her destination, interacting with only one lone milk man (Girish Sharma), it becomes more than evident that all that once was is only an eerie echo of what currently is.

Next, my Mind:

We have seen more than our fair share of cinematic efforts that are finding their foundational premises housed with a certain global event that shall not be named (heard enough about it already), but what always strikes this critic about this–it never gets old to me to SEE filmmakers utilize the malady in order to create truly affecting and completely relevant reminders of exactly how much the face of our planet HAS been impacted, the varying means by which we deal with it, and the heartfelt methods humanity is striving for to build up and encourage one another through it. With this short film from writer/director/producer Piyana Bandyopadhyay and producer Carroll Chiramel, it only takes 9 brief minutes of a viewer’s time to be utterly immersed in the weight of  global circumstance being deftly  and impactfully narrowed down to the perspective of one person’s experience and the ramifications therein.

Seen during its screenings as part of the 2021 Virtual South Asian Film Festival presented by Toyota USA, supported by AARP, produced by Jingo Ventures, in association with DFW SAFF & NYC SAFF, the narrative focused on a young girl simply aiming to do and achieve everything a normal day going to and attending her school would encompass is engagingly, beautifully, but hauntingly depicted in a manner that you’re hard-pressed NOT to be influenced by. A very intelligent and perfectly suited employment of sounds is a key factor that elevates the film even more here, and paired with the equally adept visual presentation and settings the story takes place within, it only makes what we’re seeing all the more moving and most certainly, sadly, relatable. But, as always, this is the wonder of indie film and its consistently present willingness to take the real world and put it on display in the context of a fictional offering in order to make us feel that intentional accessibility to the state of affairs explored, even when they’re heartbreaking.

An additional thought that came to mind while watching this project was actually the film’s title and what at least I felt was the deep significance of it in relation to the narrative being conveyed, for science has proven that it takes the Sun’s light 8.3 minutes to actually reach Earth. So even though it may not be a literal possibility here, I just felt that the general notion of time and how light takes those minutes to arrive could just further substantiate the grander overall concept here of how we’re “seeing” the light from other days past that are the aforementioned “echoes” showcased through the sounds our protagonist is hearing which are also from, at this point, the past as well. That might be stretching it a bit, but isn’t that the allure of interpretation as well as a more abstract but perhaps still attainable viewpoint to have here? In whatever form you choose to see this film, by its highly stirring finale, you are lucidly aware of our world’s current truths.

I keep running into so many statements I’ve shared before, and hey, if they’re worth sharing, why not? In this case, it’s once more how impressed I am with the level of talent out there amongst child actors, because so many of them have a performance maturity that without question belies their age. For this critic, it has occurred again thanks to Yalini Sharma in her role here as the young girl, an evidently happy-go-lucky kid whose ideas about her day to day routines have not changed despite the presence of a actual, radical shift in life around her. She follows the known path to school she’s taken for some time, and yet even as she interacts with those surroundings, the undeniable barrenness and blatant lack of activity stands out so largely against her innocent meanderings. Once getting to the school and taking some quick advice from one of the only other human beings she even sees, it quickly becomes apparent to her that all is NOT as it was. Her reactions to this are all strictly visualized with no dialogue, and the potency of it here is palpable.

As the girl manages to complete her journey, it’s such a painful portrait off all that’s been transfigured, again not all for the best but out of necessity, and throughout, it’s the understated, uncomplicated, and yet fully realistic approach Shalini delivers her performance through, one cannot help but be endeared to her character and the dilemma she faces. It’s an excellent effort and I applaud Shalini for pulling it off like she does. There’s only one primary supporting appearance made, which is by Girish Shalini as the solitary milk man the girl comes upon outside of her school. So, in total, from its abandoned trainyards, derelict playgrounds, and a school’s shadowy hallways, “The Light of Other Days” exhibits and delivers another dose of resonant applicability to our contemporary times and shows it through the eyes of innocense in a style that, I hope, ultimately continues to allow us an opportunity to look forward to the time when the reverberations of our own footsteps will no longer have to be the only sounds we hear.

As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!