Hotel Salvation
Description
In Shubhashish Bhutiani’s winning debut feature, 77-year-old Dayanand sees his coming death in a dream and insists that his business-minded son take him to a special hotel in the holy city of Varanasi. Rajiv feels thoroughly inconvenienced by his father’s request, one that requires him to leave his job and spend time away from his wife and daughter. His sour mood is apparent from his first moment in the rundown place, which is administered by a curmudgeon who gives his residents two weeks to make their peace and then to pass over to their potential salvation. But he begins to let his guard down when he meets some of the eccentrics assembled there who, like Dayanand, are contentedly waiting to depart this life for the next. Gradually, he begins to explore the man he could be while also discovering hew things about his father. Director and co-screenwriter Shubhashish Bhutiani takes a caressing approach to this bittersweet tale, a moving drama that gracefully captures societal customs in India surrounding death and family, and is based on real hotels that administer such services. Hotel Salvation‘s gentle rhythms and beautiful setting allow viewers to join its characters in contemplating the big questions in life—and death. —Randy Myers
Shubhashish Bhutiani makes his feature-length debut with Hotel Salvation (2016). He made his 2013 award-winning short Kush, which revolved around the 1984 Sikh India riots, when he was 21. The film, his undergraduate thesis project at New York’s School of Visual Arts, went on to be shortlisted for an Academy Awards. Hotel Salvation continues the awards momentum, having already earned Bhutiani a UNESCO award in 2016.
Film Details
Language Hindi
Year 2016
Premiere North American
Runtime 99
Country India
Director Shubhashish Bhutiani
Producer Sanjay Bhutiani, Sajida Sharma
Writer Shubhashish Bhutiani
Editor Manas Mittal
Cinematographer Michael McSweeney, David Huwiler
Music Tajdar Junaid
Cast Adil Hussain, Lalit Behl, Geetanjali Kulkarni