{"id":406301,"date":"2025-09-07T22:22:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T22:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/406301\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T22:22:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T22:22:21","slug":"indian-toronto-film-in-search-of-the-sky-tackles-mental-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/406301\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Toronto Film ‘In Search of the Sky’ Tackles Mental Health"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIn rural India, families with mentally challenged children face impossible choices between love and survival. Debut filmmaker Jitank Singh Gurjar\u2019s \u201cIn Search of the Sky<\/a>\u201d (\u201cVimukt\u201d) confronts this harsh reality through the journey of a couple who bring their mentally unstable son to the Maha Kumbh \u2014 a massive Hindu pilgrimage held every 12 years that draws over 100 million devotees \u2014 desperately seeking healing. The Braj-language drama has landed in Toronto\u2019s Centrepiece program for the festival\u2019s 50th anniversary.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film follows a couple facing old age and the risk of losing their land while caring for their adult son Naraan, who has intellectual disabilities. Desperate for a solution and clinging to faith as their last hope, they embark on a pilgrimage to the Maha Kumbh, where they must confront an impossible decision about their son\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

\n\tProducer and co-writer Pooja Vishal Sharma says the story emerged from her encounters at an NGO for children with intellectual disabilities and stories she\u2019d heard about people getting lost or abandoned at the Kumbh Mela.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMy time there really made me question the tough balance between love and the heartbreaking circumstances faced by many families that have a child with special needs,\u201d Pooja Vishal Sharma explains. \u201cThrough this story I tried to weave both of these experiences into a film, which highlights how society can be so ruthless, and how an ounce of hope can play such an important role in one\u2019s journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTheatre actor Nikhil Yadav takes on the challenging lead role of Naraan in his first major film performance. To prepare, he spent a week and a half at a shelter home for people with disabilities in Gwalior called Swarg Sadan.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOne thing that stood out for me was their absolute innocence, it\u2019s so unfazed,\u201d Yadav reflects. \u201cI noticed they are full of love and laughter and just an undying hope. I tried to bring a lot of that into my character.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe actor found filming at the Maha Kumbh particularly rewarding: \u201cPeople would stop in the middle of their errands and watch me perform, they would try and help this mentally unstable young boy in their own ways and the actor in me would find his cues like that, all of a sudden \u2013 unasked but highly appreciated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tYadav notes the key difference between theater and film: \u201cIn theater, the audience is seated at a distance, and it\u2019s harder for them to see the whirlpool of emotions an actor carries in their eye but the camera, it\u2019s up close and It captures every detail even things you hope to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCinematographer Shelly Sharma faced the monumental task of capturing an intimate family story within the overwhelming scale of the Maha Kumbh, where thousands of pilgrims filled every frame.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen we got to Kumbh \u2013 adaptability was the element that proved indispensable,\u201d Shelly Sharma explains. \u201cIn the midst of immense and uncontrollable crowds, the key was to begin small, focusing on the elements within reach that could be shaped to serve the vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShelly Sharma relied on deliberate blocking, telephoto lenses, and careful use of color palettes to maintain narrative focus. \u201cFor us, the crowd itself was an important narrative tool \u2013 we had to wove it in with care to preserve the authenticity of the Kumbh while ensuring the story, characters and their emotions remained the focal point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDrawing from nearly a decade of experience in both fiction and documentary formats, Shelly Sharma describes balancing realism with dramatic narrative: \u201cThe paradox of this craft is striking: in cinema, we often labor to make fiction feel real, while in documentary, we strive to imbue reality with a cinematic presence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs a largely self-funded production, the team faced significant logistical and financial constraints. Pooja Vishal Sharma, who also serves as producer, acknowledges the ongoing struggle: \u201cLike any filmmaker I was clear in my head that we could not compromise of the quality of our vision. The story was our anchor and I\u2019ve done everything in my power do justice to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPooja Vishal Sharma credits the committed team for overcoming limited resources: \u201cThe toughest part was shooting the first schedule of Maha Kumbh \u2013 it was a war zone and if this film manages to touch some hearts and may be, just may be change a life or to we would consider ourselves victorious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGurjar emphasizes the film\u2019s authentic approach: \u201cI\u2019ve seen characters like these since my childhood, the culture, the rituals, it\u2019s all part of my upbringing. There are real stories like these happening very often around us so there was no need for an added melodrama, that would have just taken away from the truth of it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe film\u2019s selection at Toronto represents a major milestone for independent Indian cinema, placing their grassroots-made project alongside major global productions in the festival\u2019s 50th anniversary celebration. The team hopes Toronto will unlock broader distribution opportunities beyond the festival circuit.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cFrom the very beginning, the vision for this film was always the big screen,\u201d Pooja Vishal Sharma states. \u201cAs also an executive producer on the project, my vision for \u2018Vimukt\u2019 is to reach theater screens in India, to begin with we will be targeting limited screens. I truly believe that a film like this deserves to be experienced in theatres and that the people of India will resonate with the film closely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe creative team includes music director Manish Kumar, whose work has been showcased at major European festivals; editor Pavan Theurkar, a frequent Netflix collaborator (\u201cFeels Like Ishq,\u201d \u201cTooth Pari\u201d); and executive producer Tushar Tyagi, an award-winning filmmaker whose short \u201cSaving Chintu\u201d was selected at over 30 Oscar- and BAFTA-qualifying festivals and qualified for the 93rd Academy Awards.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe title \u201cVimukt\u201d carries the sense of liberation, representing what Gurjar describes as \u201can endless yet a hopeful journey.\u201d As the film prepares for its world premiere, the team hopes audiences globally will find their own interpretation of this search for the sky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In rural India, families with mentally challenged children face impossible choices between love and survival. Debut filmmaker Jitank…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4317],"tags":[105,139985,218,138490,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-406301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-in-search-of-the-sky","10":"tag-mental-health","11":"tag-toronto-film-festival","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115165353979226294","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}