Raghunandan’s surrealistic homage to cinema through the toymakers of Daspara revolves around the themes of waiting and moving on.
The entire village is looked through the toy called Kyatketi which has a 35mm film reel in it. This toy is made by the people in Daspara and the entire process of making the toy has been shown through brilliantly crafted close ups and the sounds emanated while making has been edited in such a way that it has a musical quality to it.
The director plays with circular shapes, the red screen, the moon, the dialogue about the earth’s rotation all allude to the circular shape of the toy and the toy’s circular movement. The fact that the village is looked at through the POV of the toy, gives the film a surrealistic feel.
Fictional elements in the docu-fiction include- the kids looking for a red ruby, a woman waiting for her husband to come home and the entire village waiting for the lunar eclipse. These interlaced narratives beautifully explore the theme of waiting and a sense of togetherness. That Cloud That Never Left is a film which is unconventional and experimental in its treatment and it is for this that a lot of innocence and simplicity feels missing in the narrative.
Rachit Daruka
BBA-3