I, Poppy

Indian Features

Sep 15

Synopsis

Vardibai wishes to stay quiet and continue her generational poppy farming, while her activist son, Mangilal, wants to fight the corrupt agricultural system taking advantage of fellow farmers. As poppy growing seasons turn, this multilayered narrative transcends its Indian context to explore universal themes of justice, family and the human cost of standing up against institutional power.

From the filmmaker

My fascination for the poppy plant along with the disgust for the bureaucracy that oppresses the plant and the people made me want to make this film. Being an artist, I also wanted to realise it in a deeply felt but also a very aesthetic way. This defined the approach to the film and why it took about 8 years from the research to the final film. It has been a beautiful arduous journey.