Hotel Salvation

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