Path of Return (Maraluva Daari)

Student Films

Sep 15

Synopsis

This hybrid, poetic documentary overlays a conversation from Ahalya and Sita, two of the strongest women in Indian mythology, with cityscapes. The women speak about seeking agency, question conservative ideologies and opinionate on how humans have lost their paths, and how we might find it again.

From the filmmaker

Maraluva Daari is the film I directed for my Graduation Project at NID, Ahmedabad. Over twelve months of sustained inquiry, collaboration, and immersion in stories of ecological resilience, my practice underwent a decisive shift; I learned how to navigate the exposure fatigue and human-centered frameworks that limit the sustainability discourse, and emerged with a further strengthened and politically attentive orientation toward storytelling, deeply committed to discovering and articulating new ‘paths of return’ that nurture cultures of care and coexistence in our shared home.