Dir/scr: Jaishankar Aryar. India. 2022. 104mins
Illiterate and impoverished, Shivamma (Sharanamma Chetti) has a daughter ready for marriage, a son at college, an ailing husband and a testy relationship with her brother, who grudgingly bankrolls his poor relations. So, when Shivamma learns about a pyramid scheme selling a miracle health product, she wholeheartedly buys into the myth of imminent riches. But, as this downbeat social realist drama emphasises, nothing good can come of Shivamma’s misguided attempts to get rich quick. This Kannada-language first feature, set in the rural state of Karnataka, in the southwest of India, is issue-led but unpolished; its non-professional actors frequently seem ill at ease. But it is unusual and commendable for the fact that, in the hapless but hard-nosed Shivamma, it foregrounds the story of the kind of woman who rarely gets to take centre stage; in Indian cinema and elsewhere.
The unvarnished approach extends beyond the plotting and takes in elements of the filmmaking
This is the first feature from Jaishankar Aryar, whose 2019 short film, Lacchavva, won Best Film at the Bangalore International Short Film Festival and a Special Mention at the Mumbai International Film Festival. Following its premiere in Busan’s New Currents strand, the film could find a home in other festivals; particularly those with a focus on social issues although it may struggle to connect with audiences outside of Kannada language-speaking regions in…
