The actresses play a closeted lesbian couple who share a few stolen moments in a day in this short film by Rohin Raveendran Nair.
The Booth review: Amruta Subhash, Parna Pethe are the heart of this pensive love story
Cinestaan Rating
Release Date: 2020
Sonal Pandya | Mumbai, 17 Jun 2022 23:30 IST
Rohin Raveendran Nair’s short film The Booth (2020) looks at the pieces of our real selves that we have to hide away from the world. Set in a shopping mall, the 15-minute film is a delicate but sombre story of two women, Rekha (Amruta Subhash) and Sargam (Parna Pethe).
Rekha works as a security guard at the mall entrance, frisking women as they enter. As we first meet her, she is folding away her sari and taking two steel boxes with her to the small booth where she works. We soon find out why.
With the steady stream of visitors comes Sargam (Pethe) with purpose. They furtively embrace and show their affection, away from the crowd outside. Rekha transfers the tiffin to her, but this moment doesn’t last long enough for them.
Writer-director Nair doesn’t introduce that much information about Rekha, Sargam or their past, but we see how this relationship animates their dreary lives. Amruta Subhash packs in so much with Rekha’s looks; loneliness, despair, and constant worry encompass her daily life. Pethe’s Sargam, who is much younger, is more impulsive than Rekha and could risk it all for their union.
The use of spaces in the film is quite interesting and telling. Swapnil Sonawane’s camera follows Sargam as she roams around the mall, waiting to be close to Rekha again, often going in circles; while the married Rekha is trapped in a literal box.
Both women can't be their real selves and have to satisfy themselves with a few stolen moments a day. The camera often watches them from far, often lost in a crowd. There is a moment of fear when a man is stalking Sargam and later when Sargam is seen leaving the booth via CCTV footage, but thankfully it doesn’t lead to anything... yet.
Produced by Vikramaditya Motwane, Nair’s short film is a pensive yet unfulfilled love story, one that many closeted couples like Rekha and Sargam must endure, especially in a society as stifling as ours. Bolstered by terrific performances by both actresses, The Booth takes a wistful look at their inner lives.
The Booth is now streaming on MUBI India.