Seeking Anchor

Today,Gandhi finds himself under the spotlight once again. However,the platform strikes a sharp contrast to where he began his career — Gandhi’s feature film Ship of Theseus,which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last week,has been receiving favourable reviews from the international media. The film is about three people — a devout monk stricken by illness,a young photographer who continues to work after she goes blind and a stockbroker who sets out to combat the illegal international trade in human organs. They are linked by a connection unknown to them.

Gandhi’s stint with writing began early in life. He had been penning plays since the age of 15,even as he dreamed of becoming a scientist,artist or magician. After his play Sugandhi was staged at Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre and was selected for the Saarc Theatre Festival,Gandhi knew he had found his calling. He discontinued formal education and instead chose to pursue a diploma in philosophy. “That’s when I experimented with television. It clicked and I decided to move on and make movies,” he recollects.

In 2009,the Mumbai-based filmmaker wrote and directed short film Right Here Right Nowwith the help of his friends. It was screened at various international festivals,including the Tribeca International Film Festival. However,Continuum,his second short,set the base for Ship of Theseus. “After Right Here Right Now,I spent a whole year in the hospital where my grandmother was admitted. Seeing death and disease at a close proximity challenged my ideas on change,identity and evil,” he explains.

These ideas first shaped Continuum,which he co-directed along with Khushboo Ranka. Through a montage of simple stories,the director explored the continuum of life,death,love,hunger and enlightenment. Its success prompted him to adapt the ideas into Ship of Theseus.

The phrase “Ship of Theseus”,derived from Greek mythology,stands for a paradox,which also forms the theme of Gandhi’s full-length feature that is set in Mumbai. The characters in each of these stories resonate with the questions that Gandhi found asking in the one year he spent in the hospital. “The lack of eyesight in the photographer has been taken for granted; it is her questions regarding authorship and objectivity of aesthetics in her work that become the focus,” he points out.

The monk in question,on the other hand,is a supporter of complete non-violence,but when the only cure to his illness is a medicine derived from or tested on animals,he reconsiders his own ideology. This,says Gandhi,looks at responsibility,choice and change — can one be responsible for one’s actions from seven years ago?

The third story is that of a stockbroker in a frictional relationship with his grandmother who has been hospitalised. He realises how delicate morality can be when he sets out to locate and return the stolen kidney of a man in the hospital. “If you are in need of a kidney and you find someone willing to sell it for an amount they have never seen and desperately need,what will you do? The story questions both the parallel economy and the various ‘Occupy movements’,” explains the 32-year-old.

The TIFF premiere has helped Ship of Theseus bag a selection at the 56th BFI London Film Festival this year. The India release,however,is yet to be planned.