'Apna Asmaan' highlights autistic child's trauma

First time director Kaushik Roy's "Apna Asmaan", about the trauma an autistic child and his parents undergo, releases Friday after being screened at several international film fests and winning The German Star of India at the Stuttgart Festival.

The film has an impressive cast that includes Shobhana, Irrfan Khan, Anupam Kher, Rajat Kapoor and Dhruv Piyush Panjnani. It was well received at the Cannes film festival and also made its way to the San Luis Cine Festival International in Argentina.

The movie highlights the complex layers in a parent-child relationship and also the nuances of forced expectations parents thrust on their children.

Set in Mumbai, "Apna Asmaan" is about urban aspirations as represented by a young couple Ravi Kumar (Irrfan Khan) and Padmini (Shobhana). Ravi works in the field of plastics and his wife Padmini is a classical dancer, who gives up her career to look after her family and child.

But their marriage is turned upside down when their only son turns out to be autistic. Though he has a flair for painting, his ailment leads to arguments between his parents and distances them.

Ravi is torn with guilt and Padmini, who craves to be a successful dancer, finds it difficult to handle the situation. They consult many doctors but the result is always negative.

But one day they meet a doctor who gives a drug that works wonders on the boy. But later they realise that they had to pay a heavy price for short-term happiness.

The film might not be commercially viable but after connecting with foreign audiences, it may strike the right chord with Indian viewers interested in serious cinema.

Indo-Asian News Service