Birds in the Dark
Romance Drama Punjabi
A police informant Jagtar takes Amir, a Muslim man from Kashmir, into custody. As they travel through the jungle and the mountains towards the bustling city, Jagtar eventually sets Amir free and returns to the hometown he once fled. There, as agricultural workers begin to organize a struggle, Jagtar reunites with Raman, a landowner and his former lover. Meanwhile, Amir comes to the town looking for Jagtar and meets Dilraj, the leader of the workers' organization, and begins to feel a sense of solidarity.
| Cast: | Mauli Singh, Sapna DAS, Harwinder Singh Aujla, Shahnawaz Bhat, Navdeep Bajwa, |
|---|---|
| Director: | Shashank Walia |
| Writer: | Shashank Walia |
| Editor: | Reema Kaur |
| Camera: | Shashank Walia |
All Guild Reviews of "Birds in the Dark"
Caught Between Its Fine Intentions and Self-Serious Form
For all its political urgency, Shashank Walia’s film, too often, mistakes solemnity for substance.
There’s a particular kind of independent film from India that has permeated the festival circuit in the last few years. They hint at the recent political turmoil, the social inequities and taboos of an increasingly rigid society. The sound design is decidedly sober, the camera is mostly still, the characters speak soft and slow. The titles are usually long English phrases or sentences (more frequently in the aftermath of Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light). It’s a hard trick to pull because a ‘meditative’ film can easily tip over into a ‘self-conscious’ one. Shashank Walia’s Birds in the Dark (Punjabi title: Hanere de Panchhi), which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, lands somewhere in the middle of its fine intention and self-serious form.
Latest Reviews
