I admire Santosh Sivan's work and I'm proud that directors and cinematographers of his calibre are emerging from a bollywood inflicted film world. The cinematography, light, grays, darkness, textures of the landscape is so rich that you taste it and feel like you are in it. It was a visceral and voyeuristic experience watching this movie. Your heart goes out to the silently portrayed heart-broken mother played so beautifully by a very expressive actress Sarika (very underrated actress unfortunately). Disappointed by Rahul Bose's depiction of his character, Anupam Kher's character's dialogue had profound implications and conveyed so much of the film's underbelly. There is hope, hopelessness, faith, desperation, innocence all rolled into one. Without being political or aligned with either side, santosh sivan manages to portray just what is-a sad time of Kashmir's history, loss of an immense spiritual tradition and history, and shows how the downtrodden are the ultimate puppet victims in a game played by governments and terrorists. There were a lot of loose ends for me in this movie however, what happens to the mother's search, what happens after the intended plan is foiled- I was left wanting to know more but felt watching the credits roll by a little unresolved. The movie is slow to unfold initially but builds up to an almost intolerable suspense. The visual richness will keep those with an eye for this satiated. I was grateful to watch the Kashmiri landscape and play of light in every one of Mr. Sivan's shots. The subtleties were not lost upon this fan. More please Mr. Sivan!
