Riha is a thoughtful film on a sensitive, and tragic subject that is almost invisiblized in mainstream
culture: shell shock.
A large number of films have represented the subject of political prisoners, prisoners of war, or even persons who were unjustly embroiled by the state machinery in false cases and charges. Yet, for dominant films, the point of inquiry stops at the event. In these stories, the focus is not so much about the life of the man, his personhood and aftermath, but the flaws in the regimes of power. Riha is a film that begins its pursuit with the man at the centre. Shell shock is a term that was first coined post the first World War to talk about the trauma and experiences of the soldiers who returned from war. In American films, this concept is regularly exploited, but closer home in India, no popular Hindi film at least comes to mind when we talk of tackling this topic.
Riha captures acutely and sensitively the trauma of a character who was caught in the midst of an unjust tussle, and the implications that they have on his mind, body, social, intimate and personal relations. It is an attempt at an empathetic portrayal of a man who having undergone years of physical and mental torture, now finds himself unable to grapple with fitting into to normalcy, his family, society and civilization.
Read LessA large number of films have represented the subject of political prisoners, prisoners of war, or even persons who were unjustly embroiled by the state machinery in false cases and charges. Yet, for dominant films, the point of inquiry stops at the event. In these stories, the focus is not so much about the life of the man, his personhood and aftermath, but the flaws in the regimes of power. Riha is a film that begins its pursuit with the man at the centre. Shell shock is a term that was first coined post the first World War to talk about the trauma and experiences of the soldiers who returned from war. In American films, this concept is regularly exploited, but closer home in India, no popular Hindi film at least comes to mind when we talk of tackling this topic.
Riha captures acutely and sensitively the trauma of a character who was caught in the midst of an unjust tussle, and the implications that they have on his mind, body, social, intimate and personal relations. It is an attempt at an empathetic portrayal of a man who having undergone years of physical and mental torture, now finds himself unable to grapple with fitting into to normalcy, his family, society and civilization.
