Film review: 'Ship of Theseus' soaks you in its fabric

Film: Ship of Theseus
Cast: Aida El-Kashef, Neeraj Kabi, Sohum Shah, Amba Sanyal, Faraz Khan, Vinay Shukla, Sameer Khurana and Yashwant Wasnik
Director: Anand Gandhi
Rating: ****

What’s it about
It’s all in the title. Despite its ambiguous sound and allegorical references, The Ship of Theseus is an exercise in trying to create opinion, raise a platform for debate, or simply narrate a story. Three separate stories and three different voices despite their diversity speak in unison as they address the topic of organ donation. We meet Aliya (Aida El-Kashef), a visually impaired photographer whose words are as razor sharp and unflinching as her black and whites. After a successful cornea grafting operation, her eyesight is restored but her photos don’t come out as they did before. Blindfolded sitting in her apartment she wonders if creative stagnation is the price she would pay for her new found vision. 

Maitreya( Neeraj Kabi) is a spiritual guru on a quest to stop unethical practice of animal testing in laboratories. While saving lives, he is cornered with a life threatening condition that requires a liver transplant. There begins an outward and inward struggle to make a decision, whether to adhere to the principles he vehemently preaches or to give in to the temptation of letting his soul stay in the physical form a bit longer. The final chapter is of Naveen, a stockbroker who decides to expose the dark underbelly of organ smuggling after going through a transplant himself.

What’s hot
SOT is a film that challenges your existing beliefs about everything – religion, the food you eat, the water you drink, your relationship with parents, friends, it subconsciously lets loose a series of stream of thoughts that run through your mind. Anand Gandhi scores in making each of these characters seem real. Nothing seems rehearsed, scripted or gimmicky. There is certain calmness and a sense of maturity in his handling these different stories. Dialogues are often opinionated, heavy and terse, but  given the nature of the  issues they address. Performances are exemplary. Despite being three different entities, the ensemble has a cohesive appeal that works remarkably.  There is no disintegration or abruptness to the shift from one story to another.

Cinematographer Pankaj Kumar’s frames are brilliant. He captures the by lanes of Mumbai with the same passion and integrity as he plays with the snow capped mountains or lush green meadows.

What’s not
You need to be patient with the format and style of Gandhi’s storytelling. There are moments with no sound or dialogue that provide a sort of pit stop to help us gather and soak in the fabric of each chapter.

What to do
Like the ship itself, the film breaks you down from within, part by part as you leave the theatre with images and sounds reverberating in your head making you uneasy. Not in a long time has a movie been able to accomplish this feat!