There was a time, a little before Covid, when all filmmakers were making anthologies. These films were usually about common subjects like love and loss. Last week, I watched an unusual anthology titled My Melbourne. Four directors come together to tell you real stories. Shot in Melbourne and featuring women, the stories address gender, sexuality, nationality and disability.
The film opens with Nandini directed by Onir and introduces you to Indraneel/ Arks Das and Chris/Jackson Gallagher who live in Australi. Indraneel’s father is visiting them from India because Indraneel and he have to collectively immerse the ashes of Nandini, Indraneel’s mother. It is a difficult time for the father and son but they make an effort to let bygones be bygone.
Director Imtiaaz Ali’s Jules played by Kat Stewart follows a scavenger who is actually a survivor and an Indian girl Sakshi/ Arushi Sharma working in a restaurant has much to learn from Jules and take a stand with her loved ones. Rima Das’s Emma played by the beautiful Ryanns Dkye Lawson, is about silences, something most of us are unaware of and finally, Kabir Khan’s Setara, a heart wrenching story of an Afghani girl who is a cricket champion. She wants to break shackles and inspires her family to do the same. The family finds a new life in Australia.