Sir

Movie romance doesn’t have to be all steamy clinches and sweep-you-off-your-feet orchestral crescendos. Sometimes, as in Rohena Gera’s first fiction feature about the growing affection between a live-in maid and her well-off employer, it can be nothing more fervid than private moments of mutual understanding and shy, sweet looks of longing and desire. Sir follows tender-aged widow Ratna from rural India as she moves to the big city with dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Working hard as a housekeeper in Ashwin’s swanky Mumbai high-rise apartment, Ratna sends money home for a younger sister’s studies while warding off criticism from in-laws as she seeks to develop her skills through an apprenticeship with a tailor. Meanwhile, Ashwin is trapped in a box of privilege’s making. Delicately observed, Sir limns the social and economic chasm between these two unlikely hearts. Whether or not they are united in the end is less important than each one’s quiet determination to break free from the narrow bounds of their class and gender-based expectations.

Expected Guest: Rohena Gera  (All Screenings)