Bagri Foundation London Indian Film Festival: Ringan (The Quest)

UK premiere

This moving father and son drama is set against the backdrop of farmer suicides in the drought-stricken state of Maharashtra. Arjun, the father develops suicidal tendencies due to debts caused by drought. But his love and concern for his stubborn son, Abhimanyu, motivates him to earn the money needed to buy back his ancestral land.

He reluctantly takes his son with him when he leaves the village in search of work. They travel across the state and reach the holy town of Pandharpur, where Arjun finds work and Abhimanyu goes in obsessive search of his mother, who has been told, has gone to the Abode of God, which is Pandharpur. The film is a touching, stirring story of unbridled paternal love and fighting against trying circumstances to overcome the odds. It is also a clarion call to that greatest of human emotions – hope.

Ringan, dir. Makarand Mane, India 2015, 105 mins. Marathi with English subtitles.