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Film Review: Dark Wind (2017) by Nila Madhab Panda

Climate change is real and India has been facing problems caused by this for years. Tsunami, earthquakes, floods and draughts can be found in the news from a certain part of the country or the other on a daily basis. However, the number of films dealing with these problems, particularly in the Hindi language is scarce. 's “” delves into such situations without being preachy about it, using a simple but hard-hitting story.

Hedu (Sanjay Mishra) is a blind elderly man living in the village of Mahua, Rajasthan. Like the majority of the people in the village, Hedu's son, Mukund () is also long due on a farming loan taken from the bank. The arrival of the new loan recovery officer Gunu Babu () with a reputation of being Yamduth, The God of Death, scares Hedu along with the farmer suicides in the area and the disheartened state of Mukund. To save his son from any harm, Hedu makes a deal with the initially aggressive Gunu Babu to give him information about when and where he should go to successfully recover money from the village farmers.

Dark Wind screened at Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles

As a film about climate change, “Dark Wind” doesn't give long expositions on the subject matter, but the atmosphere and the unraveling of the story show the problems. The only time it is actually mentioned is when a boy in school tells the teacher how he has only seen two seasons, the hot and cold ones rather than the four seasons that are being taught. Later Hedu agrees with the boy, noting that there was a time when there was four seasons. The desert-like landscape and the dry wind that talks to Hedu itself show us why the farmers needed the loan and can't repay it anymore. Although Gunu Babu is first introduced as a despicable character that only cares about money, by the end of the film his circumstances are also revealed and although the audience never completely sympathizes with him, it is enough to empathize.

The importance of the film is better pronounced by the events happened during and following the release of the film in India. During the releasing month itself, Delhi smog rose to alarming levels closing down schools for weeks and players from Sri Lanka almost choked during the Cricket match. At the beginning of March 2018, more than 30,000 farmers from the state of Maharashtra participated in the Kisan Long March demanding loan waiver. As portrayed in “Dark Wind” a number of these farmers live in villages without much use of electricity using the naturally available resources for the most part.

Sanjay Mishra is known for his comedy roles; nevertheless, here he gives one of his career-best performances as the blind old Hedu. The way he walks through the desert with his wooden cane using wind to understand the surroundings, and especially the scenes of him travelling in a bus and the final scene showcase the extraordinary range of Mishra, and particularly the contrast with his comedy roles and even some of his character roles. Ranvir Shorey also gives a fantastic performance as Gunu Babu who we approach as an antagonist, but eventually allows the audience to learn that he's facing problems that are the same and the exact opposite of the villagers. His Odia dialect, along with his aggressive nature make him extremely convincing as the Yamduth of Mahua. Tillotama Shome's part as the wife of Mukund is also commendable for her subtle portrayal of the ordinary village woman doing the chores around the house.

“Dark Wind” is a compelling and darkly comical drama which is hard-hitting and above all, raw and real. Panda's treatment of the story by Nitin Dixit does more than justice to the spirit of the story in creating a world which is real and tough to look at, but the authenticity of it is compelling the audience not to look away either. The desert wind from the first scene never seems to leave the screen and creates a world where the dry dark wind is an omnipresent entity. 

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