Ship of Theseus - Movie Review

'Ship of Theseus' (SOT) is an awesome movie that too coming from an unexpected place, the Indian film industry known for its 'run of the mill' inane and insipid movies. SOT is a movie about three different stories united by a single narrative. Each story exploring different aspects of human existence and karma.


SOT starts by posing to the audience the titular thought experiment "Theseus' ship paradox". This is to do with the question of identity
and is commonly posed as whether a ship built by replacing every single part is still the same ship and if all the replaced parts are used to built another then which among these two, if either, is the original ship?

The first story is about a blind photographer and her search for beauty. Having lost her sight to a corneal infection in childhood, she has developed a keen seen of "capturing memories" photographically. But when she regains sight she grapples with lost creativity and void in her inspiration.


The second story is of an ailing monk and his struggle for animal rights to provide them a life of dignity (his karma) in the innumerable medical / cosmetics laboratories. His fight is unexpectedly interjected by a revelation of his imminent death which unfortunately maybe alleviated if he chooses to take the very medicines that he has been opposing all along.


The last of the three stories is of a stock broker and his search for truth. The truth about his recent kidney transplant. He suspects that he has been given a stolen kidney as is common occurrence in India. He resolves to find the truth and set it right not monetarily but literally by returning his kidney.


Simply put the three stories represent the essence of the adage "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" (Truth Righteousness Beauty). It has been a long time since I saw such a beautiful story. But I must say that one should have some patience to enjoy it. Here are some of the reactions from established and critically acclaimed Indian film directors like Shekar Kapur, Dibanker Banerjee, Anurag Kashyap, Karan Johar sharing their views on how they felt after watching SOT.


You can watch the original print online that too for free legally published by the producers of the movie. Ever heard of open source creativity? Here is the link: http://cineoo.com/sot


If you enjoy it as much as I did, then you might consider supporting the film makers Recyclewala Labs' next cinematic venture "Proposition for a Revolution" that attempts to capture the new wave of "common man" politics that has taken over our country.


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