Vihir (The Well)

Director: Umesh Kulkarni
Starring: Madan Deodhar, Alok Rajwade, Dr Mohan Agashe
Run time: 120 mins | Recommended Certificate: 18
Language: Marathi, Hindi | Year: 2009 | Country: India

A wonderfully moving coming of age tale, stunningly filmed amongst the grandeur of the rolling Indian plains. Young Sameer leaves the city with his parents to visit their country family, who are preparing for a wedding. Sameer, however, has only one aim, to meet his cousin and best friend Nachiket. The two adolescent boys are inseparable and Sameer looks up to his older, free thinking cousin, who teaches him many truths as they stand at the cross-roads of their lives, with the innocence of child-hood slipping away. This change is echoed by the fate of Sameer’s female cousin, who is being forced into a marriage for the family’s petty gains. Nachiket becomes increasingly distraught by this marriage, until he can take it no longer, leading to an action that will change Sameer’s young life forever.