Thin Air
A rare, early work by filmmaker Ashim Ahluwalia, produced on a shoestring budget when he was in his mid-twenties, Thin Air is one of the first films documenting the influence of an emerging globalized…
Thin Air
A rare, early work by filmmaker Ashim Ahluwalia, produced on a shoestring budget when he was in his mid-twenties, Thin Air is one of the first films documenting the influence of an emerging globalized spectacle in Indian society. Shot on mini-DV by a crew of just two people, and directed and edited by Ahluwalia himself, the documentary is an intimate portrait of the world of magicians slowly being eclipsed by the growing influence of imported popular culture. By turns darkly comic and unsettling, Thin Air chronicles the lives of three magicians against the backdrop of contemporary Bombay. Middle-aged magician Shailendra is a prosaic, small-time entertainer whose entire world hinges on the misguided belief that his audience loves him. Twelve-year-old child-wonder Kruti Parekh calls herself "the world's youngest magician and India's first test-tube baby" and long-forgotten legend Niranjan Mathur is a fading conjurer who, having lost his popularity, is gradually beginning to lapse into dementia. This unique documentary traces, with humour and compassion, the urgent desperation of ordinary individuals to make an imprint on the world. Counterpointing the candy-coloured interiors of middle-class Bombay with the uneasy currents swirling around the characters, this film captures a rarely seen side of Indian life. This is also the first documentary of its kind to use English as it is spoken in India, with its instinctively expressive colloquialisms and hybrid grammar. Thin Air ultimately offers a refreshingly complex vision of urban life through three illusionists who have little option but to confront reality.
Thin Air
Documentary
Film Details
A rare, early work by filmmaker Ashim Ahluwalia, produced on a shoestring budget when he was in his mid-twenties, Thin Air is one of the first films documenting the influence of an emerging globalized spectacle in Indian society. Shot on mini-DV by a crew of just two people, and directed and edited by Ahluwalia himself, the documentary is an intimate portrait of the world of magicians slowly being eclipsed by the growing influence of imported popular culture. By turns darkly comic and unsettling, Thin Air chronicles the lives of three magicians against the backdrop of contemporary Bombay.
Middle-aged magician Shailendra is a prosaic, small-time entertainer whose entire world hinges on the misguided belief that his audience loves him. Twelve-year-old child-wonder Kruti Parekh calls herself "the world's youngest magician and India's first test-tube baby" and long-forgotten legend Niranjan Mathur is a fading conjurer who, having lost his popularity, is gradually beginning to lapse into dementia. This unique documentary traces, with humour and compassion, the urgent desperation of ordinary individuals to make an imprint on the world.
Counterpointing the candy-coloured interiors of middle-class Bombay with the uneasy currents swirling around the characters, this film captures a rarely seen side of Indian life. This is also the first documentary of its kind to use English as it is spoken in India, with its instinctively expressive colloquialisms and hybrid grammar. Thin Air ultimately offers a refreshingly complex vision of urban life through three illusionists who have little option but to confront reality..