The story opens with a newly married Ravi & Suman arriving at his single room house, in Mumbai. Ravi is proud of the little nest he’s built. Suman is wide eyed and slightly unsure of what happens next.
He’s a maths teacher in a municipal school but also a closet poet. It is his imagination that makes his drab life interesting, even fun.
But when he ‘imagines’ her at the magical window in their small home he hears her say that she wishes to be back home, away from him. This breaks his heart and confuses Suman – who doesn’t understand the change in his behaviour.
Over the course of two days we see them find the magic, a common language, as they begin falling in love. This simple film is very refreshing change in the short films you see. There is no message to hammer ora major twist to be anticipated, it is just a gradual discovery of love, gentle shedding of hesitation between a newly married couple. As a maths professor who is poet, Sohum Shah is endearing and brings a certain vulnerability to the role. Anushka Ranjan is a revelation as a demure new bride, right from the way she carries herself as a small town girl, wide eyed but apprehensive, or the way she feels coy and excited at the same time. It is tough for one to take their eyes off her.
The film has beautiful music and wonderful production design and costume.
The film played in Seiger International Film festival, the UP film Festival and got an honourable Jury mention at the 10th Dada Sahab Phalke film festival. Recently it played at the Indian film festival in Stuttgart that was held online.
We spoke with the director Saurabh Gupta who had the following thing to say:
"Gulabi lens was actually a concept that I used to tell my friends when we talked about misunderstandings in relationships. Sometimes you need to see things not as they are but set in a larger context. With a bit of imagination. Softer."
Most of the crew was female and Saurabh reached out to the people he had already worked in the past and funded the film with the writing fees he earned.
You can read his detailed interview here
