A story of love or possibly affection or possibly empathy. There is so much left to interpretation in the movie October, yet the movie does not leave us with mixed emotions. The emotions that you carry on after the movie ends are very much love, caring and grief of losing a beloved.
It is a matured story of a colleague caring for a comatose patient. While the world sees her as a patient fighting for life in a vegetative state, Dan played by Varun Dhawan sees her as anything but a patient. Initially, his visits to the hospital seem like he is looking for answer to the question that she last uttered before going into coma, “Where is Dan?”. After days and months pass and he is yet beside her caring for her like a beloved and being the pillar of support for the father-less and grief stricken family of Shiuli (played by Banita Sandhu).
The emotions keep evolving to deeper love as the movie progresses. Shiuli takes small steps towards recovery and Dan appears deeper in love. While his trips to the hospital is something he never misses, he lets his job slip. Then, he had to move to a remote hilly resort to make a living, and Shoojit Sircar shows here the agony and pain of separation with Shiuli’s condition improving yet not in a desired way. She has seizures, is violent and attacking.
When they meet again, things are as melodious as the music of the movie which brings out rhythm and beauty of nature. Shiuli on her road to recovery picks up words to speak and is attempting to write. We are all made to believe that this would be a happy love story when Shiuli will be all well and in Dan’s arms. But Shoojit has other plans. In an overnight Seizure followed by a cardiac arrest, Shiuli leaves her struggles, pain and vegetativeness.
What we as an audience are left with is a pure love story resembling real life relationships and events which are nothing but interpretations. Sometimes we see a stranger only to “feel” that I have seen that person before or maybe I know that person. Certain words and action by a certain individual leave a lasting impression on ourselves. This feeling of what possibly could be our relationship with a stranger is explored at depths in this movie.
Shoojit has brilliantly touched emotions in our heart that we rarely confront or give a thought to. The thematic brilliance of the movie will stay with you long after you have left the story behind.
Watch to explore your emotions.
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