- Release Date: 14/06/2024
- Cast: Shyama Shree Sherpa, Kiran Dahal, Deoraj Sherpa, Loonibha Tuladhar, Basanta Sharma
- Director: Samten Bhutia
- Producer: Sabitri Chettri
Showcasing the raw and personal aspects of an unseen India, “Tara” captivates with its breath-taking visuals, powerful performances, and moving story
— Ambar Chatterjee
Tara is a 21-year-old who lives in a picturesque and secluded village near Gangtok. She has been suffering from dissociative trance disorder since childhood, which often triggers seizures. Her father is convinced that medical treatment is the only thing that can save his daughter. Her mother, however, holds a different opinion. Blinded by misplaced faith and prejudice, she believes that her daughter is a goddess reincarnate and that her seizures are a sign of this. She has held this belief since Tara’s childhood and would go to any lengths to prove her point. She wants to take Tara to a shaman instead of a doctor, believing that her troubles are more religious and spiritual in nature than biological. Tara is torn between these conflicting views of her parents as she navigates her complicated life. She watches her parents quarrel over her condition, and being the reserved girl that she is, she is unable to do much. Things take an interesting turn when she finds love and respite in her classmate, Suman (Kiran Dahal). For the first time, Tara starts finding her voice amidst all the chaos in her life.
Opening Up a Window into A Fascinating and Captivating World and Its People:
Despite being very close to modern civilization, Tara’s village in the film depicts a world that we often tend to ignore or haven’t experienced up close and personal. I have lived my entire life in cities, and for someone like me, the way of life in a village like the one Tara inhabits, along with its many nuances and complexities, provides an intriguing look into an alternative way of life. This life is very close to my existence but has been just far enough for me to have never been able to interact with it.
How the characters make their way through the day, the different mundane activities they perform, and the things that form part of their life due to the village’s topography all makeup major and interesting parts of this story. To me, these aspects were as compelling as the core plot of the film. The village life and its many nuances are captured so beautifully and with such vitality and realism that it was hard for me not to want to revisit it right after the screening ended. I wanted to watch the film again on the same day to revisit the village and lurk somewhere among the shadows as Tara’s story unfolded.
The depiction of village life, the atmosphere in the village, the interiors of the houses that the characters populate, how we see conversations and arguments happen, and the bus ride through the crooked roads all add to the mood and setting of the film. They beautifully document a slice of the existence of the people in Sikkim villages, which doesn’t get documented all too often.
Medical Conditions, Their Challenges, And How They Are Perceived in Villages:
This aspect of the film’s story forms its core. While the medical condition Tara is suffering from is easily curable with proper treatment, the extreme backlash that her father’s efforts to provide her with medical treatment receive from her mother gradually snowballs her otherwise perfectly curable state into a condition where she is forced to make the most uncalled-for and rash decision of her life. Her condition and its impact on her self-confidence and daily activities are thought-provokingly depicted in the film through a pitch-perfect performance from Shyama Shree Sherpa that adds credibility to these moments.
As the story progresses, we see how Tara’s mother becomes increasingly intense about taking her daughter to a shaman and completing a procedure that she believes will rid her of evil and complete her reincarnation into a goddess. Tara learns of this and is forced to escape this fate, knowing that once she is ordained as a goddess, she can never be with Suman, with whom she has planned her entire life.
Through this portion, Samten Bhutia successfully shows the extent to which a lack of awareness about modern diseases and their treatments still prevails in villages. These diseases are often seen as spiritual or divine conditions that are to be revered and not cured. The film also documents the toll this lack of awareness has on the one suffering from the condition and how it can dramatically change or even destroy lives. The thin line between faith and blind faith is depicted in the film with poignance.
Moments Of Genuine Romance and Care Add a Layer of Heartwarming Emotions and Positivity to The Film:
A large chunk of the film deals with the tragic condition of Tara and how, with every passing day, she is being pushed into doing something that we all know won’t end well. However, amidst all this, there are moments when we see Tara on her own or with Suman when her true self is revealed. We see her smile only during these moments, and the mood and setting of these scenes are the brightest in the film, with almost no rain or clouds characterizing the frames, depicting a feeling of clarity about their feelings in the characters of Suman and Tara. These portions are ripe with genuine romance and care for the characters, giving the audience the necessary respite from the otherwise morose and sometimes heartbreaking tale of Tara and her sufferings.
The chemistry between Shyama Shree Sherpa and Kiran Dahal is infectious and quickly enveloped my senses. While the two characters say some of the corniest lines you can imagine from a modern perspective, these lines work wonderfully considering the world they inhabit and how the two characters are built up. It also works because of the nature of the love that they are shown sharing and how dreamy and surreal their romance is. The setting of the film and the backgrounds in which they are shown getting lost in each other’s company add a layer of realism and character to this surrealistic love. The romance between the two forms a strong backbone for the entire film and is one of the most engrossing aspects of the storytelling.
Shyama Shree Sherpa Leads a Fantastic Ensemble Cast with A Disarming Performance:
I cannot praise enough the performance of Shyama Shree Sherpa, who had an extremely difficult and nuanced character to portray. The entire film banked on whether the audience was able to identify with her tragedy or not, and if her character failed, it would mean doom for the rest of the film. With that kind of expectation and pressure, it becomes even more difficult to not overplay one’s character. Shyama Shree was not only able to depict the various aspects of her character in the most genuine and nuanced manner but was also able to grab the attention of the audience and mould their feelings about the character and her condition from scene to scene. This not only gave wings to the storytelling but also allowed the focus to shift to other aspects of the film, such as its visuals and how best to utilize its topography as a character.
She shares wonderful chemistry with every other character in the film and is able to depict different dynamics with each and every one of them. This adds to the drama and ensures that her character is not only well-rounded but has meaningful exchanges with the rest of the ensemble cast. She sells the climax of the film like nothing else in the film. I have to admit that I was a touch disappointed by the climax, not because of how it was envisioned, but because of what happens to her character in the end. That’s how much she made me care for Tara. This alone is proof of how successful she has been in depicting a complex and layered character and deserves the highest of praises.
Deoraj Sherpa and Loonibha Tuladhar play Tara’s parents, and to me, they were the voice of all that was wrong with dealing with medical conditions in Tara’s village. Samten Bhutia does the smart thing of making Deoraj’s character a believer in medical science, which makes the conflict and the insanity of what Loonibha Tuladhar’s character was trying to do with Tara even more pronounced and heartbreaking. The exchanges between the two were filled with vitality and felt like an old couple quarrelling. It felt so genuine and was ripe with so much emotion and gusto that I couldn’t help but be attentive to all that they were saying to each other.
Deoraj Sherpa has a sense of poignance in how he looks and reacts to situations and how he deals with Tara. His performance was in strong keeping with his understanding and educated self. Loonibha Tuladhar, on the other hand, was one character in the film that I despised, and it was because of how she was written and acted. As the story progresses, she becomes all the more despicable to me as her focus is only on catering to her own false beliefs and her misplaced sense of pride and honour in the village that was all set to destroy her daughter’s life. Tuladhar’s depiction of the mother was in strong keeping with these aspects and was so lifelike that many will cite her as the one true villain of the film.
Kiran Dahal as Suman has a very one-dimensional character but he does just enough to make his chemistry work with Shyama Shree. This was the best thing that he could have done as underplaying his character ensures that these tender moments became even more poignant and rewarding and reverberated throughout the story of the film.
Breathtaking Cinematography:
I have travelled to Sikkim frequently enough to know that anything you aim your mobile phone at and shoot might just end up being beautiful enough to save as wallpaper. The place is that beautiful. If you haven’t been here, I urge you all to do so at the earliest opportunity. Having said that, one still cannot take away the credit of the cinematography that involves a lot of science and technology primarily because of the kind of challenges that the unpredictable weather and topography pose. Every frame of the film is in strong keeping with its mood, story, and setting, and it feels straight out of a fairy tale.
Few films can make one feel a certain way primarily because of how they look in a particular frame. “Tara: The Lost Star” is one such rare film. If not for anything else, one can watch this film just for its beautiful visuals and to soothe one’s eyes and senses, considering the kind of content we are consuming every day.
Final Words:
“Tara: The Lost Star” was selected for a marketing screening by the National Film Development Corporation of India at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival at the Marché du Film, and after watching it, I am not surprised. With breathtaking visuals, strong performances, and an internationally relevant story, “Tara: The Lost Star” is the kind of film that must watch to appreciate the finer aspects of filmmaking and cinema.
To me, it came as a break and a breath of fresh air from the commercial products that I consume (not complaining) in the name of cinema throughout the week. It is raw, pure, heart-breaking, and personal. I urge all my readers to take some time this weekend and appreciate this film from an India that you might not know exists and, in the process, pave the way for more such great films in years to come.
Ambar Chatterjee's Reviews 