Hotel Salvation

A poetic yet very realistic, rather incredibly humane and enthralling meditation on life, death and karma, set and shot in Varanasi, India. The film is based on the author's experiences backpacking around his home country and stumbling upon hotels where some Hindus go to die.

It was more than a pleasure to meet and have a chance to talk to the very talented and sensitive young Indian director Shunhashish Bhutiani. His debut feature at the age of 26 has an all star Indian cast (kudos to Adil Hussain - Life of Pi - and Lalit Bhel - Tetli).

The film follows a real story of father and son who go to one of these hotels on the banks of the Ganges looking for salvation. What was meant to be the end of it all turns into an enlightening journey of self discovery and family bonding. Sounds rather heavy when reading the synopsis, but having attended the premiere of Hotel Salvation at the BF LondonI, I was emotionally humbled by this story with the perfect balance between drama and comedy, turning it into a colourful, humorous and enlightening experience. Not to mention the amazing cinematography, with wide shots of the Ganges, its people, boats and rituals.

The young director Shubhashish Bhutiani (26) takes on the hard topic of death with this movie and the conflict that arises once the dilemma between a death in dignity and the everyday life arises.

An old man feels like his time has come and wants to depart from life in a way, that suits him. This of course causes quite a fuss within the family and the lack of understanding of a few other people is unsettling but understanding as well. Palomi Ghosh who plays the daughter is just stunning! You will probably see more of her very soon.

The only negative thing I can say about the movie is, that Hindi seems to bee a pretty fast language, so the subtitles are actually not on screen long enough on a few occasions and also the translation does not seem to be spot on. Luckily the director could clarify my questions in the Q&A after the movie and he said that I'm not the first one who asked these. So bare that in mind, that the translation can cause confusion.

Anyway... Watch out for more from this director!

The story itself, of a father sharing his premonitions of an impending death, demanding to be taken to Varanasi to die, is so unique! On top of that, once there, moments where the elderly joke about jealousy when someone dies before them, are absolutely beautiful, and ironic. Adil Hussain, as the man balancing between the stubbornness of his father and the rebellion of his daughter, is absolutely brilliant in showcasing that struggle. This is a movie that stays with you, days after you have watched it. Must-Watch!

#MuktiBhawan is a "deadly" film (pun intended) - it deals with the concept of death, but in an invigorating and 'matter of fact' manner - the title refers to a lodge on the banks of the river ganga, where hindus come to spend their last days with the aim of attaining moksh - the father son bitter, sweet relationship is beautifully and naturally depicted by two fine actors, Lalit and Adil - the locations are authentic - the dialogues are unassuming and humorous - this film needs ur love n support - do watch it in theaters. Rating 4/5.

I was trying to watch this film aince time. Finally got chance to watch it. Experience was totally great during whole movie. Became fan of geetanjali kulkarni work from Gullak TVF series and when i saw that she is also part of the movie then desire to watch this movie became strong and who is not a fan of Adil Hussain , everyone likes his work. Every cast member in this movie has worked fantastically.

The direction of the movie is fantastic, became fan of subhashish bhutiani. The bsaic details which captured inside mukti bhavan and the varanasi captured by Subhashish is truly fantastic. I smiled, i cried this movies leaves really deep on you.