Naseeruddin Shah starrer 'The Daughter' review—of death, dying, filial piety
Naseeruddin Shah and Ira Dubey starrer The Daughter is the latest short film to release on JioCinema as part of its ongoing Digital Film Festival. The festival commenced with Satish Kaushik starrer The Comedian and has featured films such as Nawazuddin Siddiqui's Bebaak and Rajit Kapur's Birha. The heavily open-ended and extremely subtle The Daughter feels literary, subdued, and charged with emotions.
Story of worn-out daughter, ailing father
There isn't much to write about The Daughter's plot; it is one of those projects you must soak in and truly feel to comprehend what the characters are feeling. In a curfewed town, a middle-aged woman, Indu (Dubey), has brought her father (Shah) to a makeshift hospital, and though not explicitly stated, it is implied that he wishes to end his suffering through euthanasia.
Setting and film's mood match that of protagonist
The 16-minute-long Soumyak Kanti DeBiswas directorial begins with Indu staying in a dilapidated house. She looks utterly exhausted, worn out, and sleep-deprived; it is not tough to imagine that both the house and she must have seen better days than this. When we realize that the town is suffocated by a curfew, the fog of confusion instantly uplifts—there is despondency in extreme amounts here.
Would you love irresponsible father? 'The Daughter' asks
This is no spoiler here since the film makes it quite discernible—Indu, frantically toiling and trying to save her father's life, conjures him in her thoughts. Thus, when she travels in her van to fetch a doctor, she has imaginary conversations with him throughout. He was an alcoholic, a wayward, irresponsible father, but Indu doesn't know better than both love and loathe him.
Father becomes mystical figure
Since these conversations exist only in Indu's mind, we are privy to only the incidents she allows us access to. Thus, in these scenes, he exists only in her memories: he is scattered in her mind and exists solely in fragments. He speaks in riddles and utters poetry without a pause—there is a divide between them that has never been breached.
Areas of improvement: Too short for its own good
I appreciate The Daughter for its subtlety, open-endedness, and how it nudges viewers to do their due diligence and stay on top of the events in the film. But The Daughter undeniably also runs the risk of becoming boring and drab at times. It needed more characters, an engaging (even if brief) backstory, and a better, more fast-paced screenplay.
You can stream it on JioCinema
The Daughter certainly has areas of improvement; I wouldn't have minded watching a 30-minute short if it included more well-rounded characters and more screen time for Shah. Nonetheless, if you gravitate toward films painted with strokes of silence and nuances, it will capture your attention. I particularly liked the last shot that features a burning sun—no matter what, life goes on. Verdict: 2.5/5 stars.
