Paar

Paar is the first in a trio of films by Goutam Ghose, who explains the genesis of this one: "I was highly disturbed by news from Bihar, my neighbouring state, of caste violence and considered making a documentary to record people's migration to the cities. So I went there for a recce but then I thought why not make a fictional film? I took a clue from a story by Samaresh Bose about a crossing and thought that could be an interesting metaphor for human endeavour and endurance." Paar is a heart-wrenching story of desperation and hardship, the journey of a village couple from a lower caste, haplessly caught up in political turmoil, struggling to escape with their lives and livelihoods, in the shape of cattle they must drive across a treacherous river to safety. Notable for moving, earthy performances from two of Hindi cinema's most gifted actors, Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah, Paar highlights the atrocities committed against people of a lower caste, shot in a gritty neo-documentary style. In Hindi with English subtitles.