There’s ambition and courage to burn in Onir’s I Am, a bold exploration of contemporary issues not often tackled by the traditionally conservative Indian film industry. That the film amounts to slightly less than the sum of its parts does not diminish the admirable intent of the young writer-director, whose approach represents a naked flame to some potent thematic fuel.
Onir, an openly gay artist whose films have often defied India’s archaic anti-homosexual laws, structures his film as four short stories, all highlighting individuals with needs and circumstances which place them on the fringe of society. Their plights are different but each protagonist suffers through similar prejudices and self-doubts before emerging stronger for the experience.
In episode one, we meet Afia (Nandita Das), an upwardly-mobile woman struggling to reclaim her self-worth after a failed relationship. Her hopes of starting a family appear dashed until she decides to defy the accepted wisdom of her social and familial circle and have a child on her own. Despite exploring such a contentious issue, the director rests on cinematic convention with cutesy scenes in a sperm-donor clinic and soap opera-like plotting; it is the least engaging of the narrative’s quartet.
Episode two follows Megha (Juhi Chawla), a displaced Kashmiri Hindu whose return to her hometown of Srinagar after 16 years evokes complex and confronting memories. Despite some turgid melodrama and sub-par acting, the story is effective in conveying the haunting nature of repressed memories that resurface in the face of social change.
Onir finds his surest directorial hand in the film’s second half with plots that would, on the surface, seem most relevant to his own experiences. Sanjay Suri (in his fourth film with the director) stars as Abhimanyu, a documentarian whose teenage experience of sexual abuse subconsciously infuses his career and continues to impact on his adult life. And in the final episode, Rahul Bose is Omar, a gay man brutally exploited by a sadistic policeman. These characters and the conflicts that dictate their lives are the most fully-realised of Onir’s script; Suri and especially Bose are standouts in the large company of players.
The characters are linked, however tenuously, by social interaction; it’s a rather too-convenient and awkward device that never convinces. Confusingly, it also renders lead characters to fleeting support roles, while those whose presence was minor suddenly get close-ups and backstories.
Onir’s storytelling skills are unwieldy and his methods occasionally overstated, but his passion and fearlessness in dissecting taboo topics cannot be faulted. I Am is a daring shout-out to those that perpetuate injustices. Although aimed at the narrow-minded in Indian society, the film, despite its flaws, sends a clear and universal message.
