All We Imagine as Light made history at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first Indian film in 30 years to compete for the prestigious Palme d’Or. Director Payal Kapadia also became the first Indian woman filmmaker to have a film selected for the main Competition. The film went on to win the Grand Prix, making it one of the biggest international achievements for Indian independent cinema in recent years.
One of the film’s most distinctive qualities is the way Mumbai is treated almost like another character. Crowded trains, narrow homes, busy streets, hospitals and the city’s constant noise reflect the emotional pressures faced by Prabha, Anu and Parvaty. When the story moves toward the coastal village, the atmosphere becomes noticeably quieter and more spacious, symbolizing a sense of freedom and possibility.
The film is also unusual because it focuses on ordinary moments rather than dramatic twists. Cooking, commuting, working at the hospital, sharing a room and having small conversations gradually reveal the women’s private struggles. This observational approach comes partly from Payal Kapadia’s background in documentary filmmaking.
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The title All We Imagine as Light is particularly fitting because the film repeatedly contrasts light, darkness and spaces that feel emotionally confined. The women spend much of the story navigating cramped apartments, hospital corridors and Mumbai’s packed streets before the story moves toward a more open coastal landscape.
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