Actress Shefali Shah’s directorial debut captures the mental and emotional fatigue of frontline warriors.
Someday review: Loving portrait of a mother-daughter relationship in pandemic times
Cinestaan Rating
Release Date: 2021
Sukhpreet Kahlon | New Delhi, 06 Sep 2021 20:02 IST
As the world continues to battle the pandemic, people are still grappling with the unforeseen consequences of lockdowns and quarantines. Actress Shefali Shah’s directorial debut, the short film Someday, takes an incisive look at a mother-daughter relationship that has been altered in the pandemic.
Written by Shah herself, Someday is the story of Vidhi (Shah), a doctor and frontline warrior. According to protocol, she comes home to observe the mandatory seven-day quarantine after 15 days on duty. Exhausted and harrowed by her work, she is unable to meet her mother in person. The situation is exacerbated as her mother suffers from Alzheimer's disease. The film is an exploration of the mindset of someone caring for a loved one with a neurological disorder.
The short film is a glimpse into the ways in which the lives of frontline warriors were radically altered during the pandemic. Not only was their job taking a toll on them, the frequent quarantines meant they could not be with their loved ones in a time of great mental and emotional fatigue. As Vidhi says, “It’s not the disease, it’s the distance that will kill us.”
Vidhi remembers her intelligent, fun-loving, carefree mother who can now barely recall who she was or what she did in life. There are cherished albeit fleeting moments of lucidity and Vidhi hangs on to them, trying to hold on to memories of her mother. We get to know the daughter’s state of mind through the conversations she has across a closed door with her mother.
As the sole artiste in the film, Shah poignantly portrays the pain, grief and emotional turmoil of seeing one's parent slip slowly away into dementia. The nuances in dialogue make one feel this is a pain that has been closely felt. She also directed another short film, Happy Birthday Mummyji, following her debut.
Someday was screened at the 18th Indian Film Festival Stuttgart, Germany, and at the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival which ended yesterday.