Two nurses you want to get to know.

“All We Imagine as Light” is a complicated Indian drama about characters with complicated issues, all spoken in Hindi, Malayalam, and Marathi. And yet, it doesn’t have to jump to conclusions. Meaning these characters don’t resort to cliches or predictable storylines. That there can be a whole different side to this, and what modern day India brings to them.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard all the positive feedback towards “All We Imagine as Light.” As I started watching, I noticed that the two main heroines are complete opposites in tone and personality. And as I continued and made it to the end, I learned more about them. Maybe not everything, but still enough for us to root for whatever they’re going through and whether or not they can thrive. This is a near perfect example of personal resilience, and writer/director Payal Kapadia delivers.

It tells the story of two Malayali nurses living together in Mumbai. The stern Prabha (Kani Kusruti) was married to a man who immediately migrated to Germany after their wedding, while the outgoing Anu (Divya Prabha) is having an affair with a Muslim man named Shiaz (Hridu Haroon).

Prabha receives a rice cooker from Germany (and maybe from her husband), and she’s so committed to her marriage that she must rebuff the affections of another doctor named Manoj (Azees Nedumangad). And Anu wants to continue her what may be considered forbidden romance, but she also has family problems of her own.

There’s also the hospital cook Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), who quits her job and relocates to her home village in Ratanagiri. So, Prabha and Anu tag along to help her move, but this trip also becomes an emotional journey for them, based on their respective aspects.

I’m not completely familiar with all Indian traditions, and who are committed to them, but I can tell “All We Imagine as Light” wants to be authentic, but in its own low key and personal aspect.

We acknowledge that Anu’s parents want her to marry someone else and that they might not take her affair with Shiaz too kindly, but we don’t need to see them or their outcome. We’re going to have to make a lot of assumptions after the film, as we’re not always sure what life has in store for everyone.

And as for Prabha, will she ever reunite with her husband? Was that rice cooker actually a gift from him? And will she find her happiness through and through? These are very good questions, but I can’t guarantee they will all be answered. I can promise you that her husband story will have a completely different outcome. And I’m not spoiling anything for you.

I like how the film uses poetry and piano music to help bring out its ambiance and tone. It’s not too somber and it’s not too fast. It’s equally balanced with a jazzy sense. At least that’s how I like to view the music, which is composed by the late great Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou. And every now and then, you get a poem or two, and it’s spoken beautifully. There is more than one way a film like this can be passionate without being corny or predictable.

I already mentioned the complications the characters go through and how they handle them. But I must also empathize the universally profound performances from Kusruti, Prabha, and Haroon, who don’t cater to American audiences, but allow them to connect with them. What their worlds deal with and what they deal with is represented with truth.

“All We Imagine as Light” is more than a bright film. It’s a revelation.

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