From lone warrior to Game Changer: How Payal Kapadia and All We Imagine As Light found a way through darkness

In a recent roundtable on Galatta Plus, Siddharth spoke about Payal’s predicament of trying to get the Indian audience to watch her Indian film. He said, “Her producers think they made the greatest success of a film, but that film is never going to be seen by the audience that calls their film a good film.” Despite winning accolades almost every other day, Payal’s social media timeline is filled with posts amplifying theatres where All We Imagine As Light is being screened. Like imagine, on New Year, Payal’s wish on X read, “Happy new year – and a special thank you to those who saw our film in the cinema!!! For those of you who didn’t, it’s still available in some cities!!!” 

Even when All We Imagine As Light was winning awards all across the world, making it to the top 10 of prestigious year-enders from across the globe, Payal Kapadia only did one thing… Amplify the news of the cities where the film was running. On November 22, when the movie was released in India, she ensured her followers knew the exact theatres where the movie was being screened. And not just that, she urged people to fight with theatre projectionists if the film wasn’t screened in the proper aspect ratio. She amplified the voices who fought for this, and almost became an aspect ratio crusader that we didn’t know we needed.

It was important for Payal that people not only watched her movie, but watched it the way she intended them to. Oh, and if there were no subs in your screening, Payal swooped in to remind people to fight for their rights. And the sweetest thing? She acknowledged the people who were fighting this good fight. Imagine getting to watch All We Imagine As Light, and getting a pat on the back by the filmmaker herself. Who wouldn’t like that validation? 

Even if there was one show added to the schedule, she made sure it was told to the world. “More shows in Pune… one more in Delhi… Bhopal added… Three shows in Ahmedabad, won’t you go… Now Showing in Goa…” These were some of the posts she shared on her timeline, which became the online version of paper cuttings being scoured to know where your favourite film was running. And in between all this, when there were signed campaigns created for the movie to be screened in places like Raipur, she pushed her distributors, Spirit Media, to find a way for the light to reach that end of the tunnel. Basically, it was a one-woman-show to ensure almost everyone who wanted to watch All We Imagine As Light got to watch it. 

Payal was in such an overdrive that even the news of her film winning the Best International Feature at The Gothams Film Awards was met with a simple yet profound, “This was a dream,” but her happiness about the film returning to the screens after Pushpa 2: The Rule took most of them was expressed as, “Don’t wait for ott releases. Cinema should also be for the cinema…” and “Coming back this Friday in select cinemas.” 

But what were these select cinemas? How would people know it? Should they read the papers? Go through ticketing websites? Refresh the theatre’s booking page? Naah, just go to Payal’s timeline. She posted, “Many of you are asking for screenings in your cities. If you want the film to come back, please tag a cinema near you that has social media. It would help a LOT!” 

When All We Imagine As Light re-released in certain theatres in Mumbai, she urged people in the city to go watch it, and take a few friends while they are at it. She did the same with the Delhi crowds. “And our greatest achievement – Bhubaneshwar… Now fill up those seats or it’ll be done in three days,” she sounded the clarion call. Suddenly, the film was re-released in Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Pune too. Every time a show was added, Payal was there to remind her followers and friends. She rooted for the Delhi crowd, and gave a shout out to the Bengaluru audience. 

Payal even created a form to ensure people from cities like Navi Mumbai, Guwahati, Chandigarh, Jodhpur, Patna, Kanpur and Dehradun, who wanted to see the movie could evince their interest. And… two days later, all of these cities had a show of All We Imagine As Light. The film, which people, including team All We Imagine As Light, would have expected to end its theatrical run after a week or so, especially since Pushpa 2 mania took over, managed to wring it past the Christmas holidays too, albeit in select cinemas. It was a masterclass of hustle and Payal shone brightest in all that we imagined as light. 

This persistence and this doggedness was both inspiring and draining at the same time. While we can completely understand and throw our weight behind Payal Kapadia’s determination in making people watch her film, should it have been this tough? Of course, people who watched the movie have been raving about it, but Payal wasn’t satisfied with only certain kinds of audience watching her film. She was sure that All We Imagine As Light is a film about everyone, and it should be watched by everyone who wants to. But again, should it have been this difficult? 

When Parasite started gaining momentum in the awards circuit, people thronged to see the film in select theatres. But the same leeway isn’t often given to Indian films. Take, for instance, PS Vinothraj’s two Tamil films. His debut feature, Koozhangal, which was another award favourite, didn’t even find a theatrical release in India. His sophomore film, Kottukkaali, which was backed by Sivakarthikeyan, one of the most prolific stars of Tamil cinema, did get a wide enough release. But it was met with derision by many audience members, who expected something completely different considering the names involved in the film. It was a Sivakarthikeyan production, starring comedy actor-turned-hero Soori, who had just given a superhit rural drama, Garudan. Despite team Kottukkaali trying to drill in the information that their film was not your usual commercial fare, many still expressed their disappointment. Of course, there were many who loved the film, understood the intent, discussed the nuances, and analysed the craft, etc… But it opened up an important argument… Should all films fight it out in the same mainstream market? 

Kottukkaali and All We Imagine As Light should have been heralded more for the films they were

Even director Ameer, who made films like Paruthiveeran and Raam, opined that Sivakarthikeyan and Vinothraj got it wrong with their decision to push Kottukkaali for a theatrical release. But then, many argued that audience should be allowed the space to select or reject a film, and not giving them that option is detrimental to the evolution of cinema. But cinema is an industry where commerce is very important. And it is the ‘Number of days it ran’ or ‘What is the opening weekend number’ that takes over the conversations around films these days. 

But what Payal Kapadia has done is to create a space where hustle is the only name of the game for Indian filmmakers who don’t want to be boxed into making the ‘quintessential Indian films.’ Many filmmakers like Payal and Vinothraj are still making films about India… the India that is the reality of the majority. But our minds are tuned to see cinema as an escapist medium, and not as a reflection of our daily lives. For that mind, it is tough to unlearn and see the dark side that we grapple with regularly. 

And for that… what Payal and team All We Imagine As Light tried to do was a game changer. Make the audience own the film. Make them feel proud of themselves for having watched the film, in the aspect ratio it was planned in, with English subtitles that were added right from Day 1. The people who saw the movie in the various cities of India know that they were part of something special… a select group of people who pooled in their time and efforts to watch the film in select cinemas.

ALSO READ | ‘All We Imagine as Light’ gets Golden Globes’ nods: A film India doesn’t deserve but surely needs

It was almost like people had bragging rights. They could actually look at the mainstream audience and say,  “Anyone can watch Pushpa 2, but only the really persistent ones could watch All We Imagine As Light. And we did!” Now, this might not seem like much…

But it was, and if you still have any doubts… Ask Payal Kapadia.