PHOTOGRAPH: A Quieter Look At Love & Loneliness

It’s a story not unlike many we’ve seen throughout history. Two individuals from totally different backgrounds are brought together by chance and fortune. They have no business falling for each other, but that doesn’t stop them.

Rafi’s grandmother won’t take her medicine until he takes a wife. When he takes a picture of Miloni (Sanya Malhotra) in Mumbai, he sends it to his grandmother as proof he’s found someone. When grandma decides to visit, Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) convinces the shy woman, who’s on track to become an accountant, to pose as his love interest. He’s from a poor family from a farming village, and she’s from a seemingly more wealthy family from the city. You can imagine the rest.

It should feel familiar, but Photograph from writer and director Ritesh Batra feels unique. Maybe it’s the quiet, subdued nature of their story and what we see. Maybe it’s the cultural implications of and larger commentary on India and Mumbai in particular. Maybe it’s the nuanced performances from the leads, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra. It could also be because the idea of falling for each other isn’t a love story, but rather a story of discovering exactly what you want.

It’s likely a combination of all of the above. While Batra‘s story is frequently too slow to engross yourself in, it’s unique and intriguing enough to carry interest. Photograph examines the familiar pressures and expectations that permeate our lives. It’s a compelling cultural look at loneliness, even when surrounded by people.

Photograph is far too quiet

Photograph is in no rush to get to the point. You could even make the argument that the end of the film is really just the beginning of Rafi and Miloni’s story together. The story we see is one of two lonely people finding out what it is they want in a lover. The problem there is that both of the lead characters feel so quiet and so passive in their own stories.

Rafi is reactive to his grandmother when she refuses to take her medicine and seems without any agency for most of his own story. Only at the end do we really see a more vocal, outward facing side of him. Miloni is introverted pretty much the entire film.

There’s a lot of key moments in Photograph that we never see. I had to watch it twice to really figure out exactly how everything goes down. Whether lost in translation or on purpose, it feels like we really miss the parts where we get to know the characters, see them bond and where their story comes to life. Photograph goes beyond being subtle to making the viewer really put the pieces together.

Rich lead performances

Although both characters are extremely introverted and passive, that doesn’t make them unlikable. Rafi is extremely sympathetic thanks to an outstanding performance by Siddiqui. He sends all of his money back home to the village to pay off his father’s debts. He goes to extreme lengths to try to find the discontinued soda Miloni likes. And through it all, Siddiqui uses subtlety to make you believe he’s as good a man as he seems.

Malhotra on the other hand plays Miloni to a tee. She’s a well to do woman with certain expectations. Her family seems to make her go to get her accounting degree and tries to set her up with a wealthy man who’s going to move to the US. Slowly, we see her gain her inner strength and forge her own path. It’s small differences in facial expressions and tone from Malhotra that bring her character’s growth to life. They’re both performances that transcend language.

An all encompassing loneliness

Throughout the entire film, a foreboding sense of loneliness permeates everything. Even when Rafi and Miloni are together, they never seem happy with their situations. The weight of societal pressures, both professionally and personally, weigh on them. The pressure is palpable. Only when Rafi’s grandmother gives him permission to live his life and forget about everything holding him back in his home village can he feel truly free to pursue Miloni seriously.

Photograph is a harsh commentary on the pressures people feel and the economic divide that adds to a feeling of isolation. At one point when Miloni is on a date and mentions she’d like to live on a farm in a village, her date is in disbelief. As if her desire for something different, something other than what society deems she should want, makes her an outcast or other.

A picture of discovery

Photograph is not a love story. At least not the part of it we see. It’s an extremely quiet, slow paced look at two people who come together to realize that it’s okay to not conform to family or societal expectations. It’s a story in finding what you truly want and accepting that. The rich leads bring these lessons to life – it’s easy to feel for them and easy to root for them. But most of all, Photograph is a moving look at why we feel lonely, and how we can break free from that.

Have you seen Photograph? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below!

Photograph was released in the US on May 17th in select cities.