Abhilash Sharma’s Swaha has the feel of a modernist Hindi short story adapted to the screen. Swaha (In the Name of Fire) explores the misfortune that visits a brick kiln labourer, his wife and their infant.
Swaha is set in rural Bihar and is in the Magahi language spoken in these parts. The film is almost entirely in black and white, which lends the experiences of the characters a haunting, timeless quality.
The 99-minute movie opens with the discovery of an unclaimed body outside a railway station. We then meet Phekan (Satya Ranjan) who is severely struggling to make ends meet. His wife Rukhiya (Sonalli Sharmisstha) has the unfounded reputation of being a witch, which keeps the rest of the community away from her.
Phekan travels to the nearest town to earn some money. Back home, Rukhiya and her child are slowly starving, forcing her to take desperate steps.
Swaha is being shown at the International Film Festival of Kerala (December 13-20) in the Indian Cinema Now section. Sharma’s film has a striking visual palette, empathy for its characters, and a deep understanding of rural blight. Folk songs enhance the narrative’s rootedness in Bihari culture.
A miserabilist air hangs over the film as does a cruel fog. Never is the suggestion that the characters are trapped by circumstances stronger than in Rukhiya’s experience. The section of the plot revolving around Rukhiya, although well-intended, is heavy-handed and descends into melodrama.
Abhilash Sharma’s examination of little people swallowed up by forces beyond their control is strongest when it sticks to Phekan. His quest for work unfolds like a Kafkaesque nightmare. Phekan’s despair, as well as the people he meets along the way, including crematorium worker Nehura (Chandra Shekhar Dutta), are beautifully captured in spectral monochrome compositions by cinematographer Devendra Golatkar.
