Where the Heart Is follows Umesh Garate’s annual journey from Mumbai to his ancestral village for the Ganapati festival, capturing the warmth of reunion and the shifting realities of migration
Cast: Umesh Garate
Language: Marathi
Director: Ulka Mayur
Love and loneliness have a lot of connotations, especially within the lenses and landscape of cinema. And people often use social media as a tool to vent their inner demons and turmoil. They break the fourth wall and go viral in seconds when the nation begins to relate to their silent battles. But as the toxicity on the platform takes over, we come back to films for healing. And there’s a new short in town called Where the Heart Is. Of course, it’s at home.
The documentary, which had its international premiere last month at the International Film Festival of South Asia (IFFSA) in Toronto, is written and directed by Ulka Mayur. It is produced by Mayur Puri, with Mannan Shaah and Ulka Mayur serving as co-producers.
_Where the Heart Is_ follows Umesh Garate’s annual journey from Mumbai to his ancestral village for the Ganapati festival, capturing the warmth of reunion and the shifting realities of migration. Through the Garate family’s homecoming, the film reflects on belonging, memory, and the quiet transformation of rural homes.
The short stars Umesh Garate, a fitness trainer who relocates to his house to participate in the Ganpati festivities. This allows him to reunite with his family, and gives us an opportunity to witness how the madness unfolds in these ten days. Two emotions for the price of one. The thing about shorts starring actual people is how the lines between fiction and real is blurred even before someone tries drawing them. There are no performances. They are actual people. No vanity, only vulnerability.
But despite the limited runtime in hand, the film presents haunting visuals of its landscape and particularly the Ganpati festivities. When Umesh drives to his house on his two-wheeler, we get a top shot showing us the beginning of his journey. When it’s time to go back, we see a top shot again essaying the end of it. Mayur establishes how the same style can be exploited to convey two contrasting emotions. It’s commendable how the short encapsulates all emotions within 40 minutes. And has our heart.
Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)
End of Article
