Mithilesh Edavalath’s ‘Roopanthara’ is a philosophical multi-threaded quilt, whose stories shine with humanity in the best possible way

The number of plot threads may make the film sound like some sort of anthology, but it’s more like a series of slow-burning fuses leading to an existential firecracker that explodes with a big bang.

In the Arabian Nights, the king made his queen Scheherazade tell him a new story every day if she wanted to stay alive. And she spun fantastical and magical tales of flying carpets and genies and forty thieves who hoarded their loot in a password-protected cave. Mithilesh Edavalath’s Roopanthara operates on a premise that’s similar, yet different. Here, too, we have someone who spins tales to save their life: this time, it’s an old man in a dystopian future where people wear masks (must be the air), and water packets are some sort of currency. And just like the king whose whim made his wife tell him those tales – because he had the power! – we have some men with guns who, on a whim, pick this old man for execution and offer not to kill him if they like his tales. But the tales themselves are different.

You can read the rest of the review here:

https://www.galattaplus.com/mithilesh-edavalaths-roopanthara-is-a-philosophical-multi-threaded-quilt-whose-stories-shine-with-humanity-in-the-best-possible-way/

You can watch the trailer / video review here:

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