Released in 2019

His Father's Voice

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Kris, a young dancer is faced with a growing emotional block, which stops him from dancing, and is troubled by strange dreams about his Father, from whom he was separated from as a child in India.

 

This compels him to travel back to India, to find out more about his musician father, in the hopes of finding peace.

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A debut feature in every way, from Writer/Director K. Kaarthikeyen,

‘His Father’s Voice,’ is clearly a very personal film, and features a lot of new actors too. This is not a bad thing in itself, but it is risky. When added up and viewed from this perspective, ‘His Father’s Voice,’ has achieved the basics of first-time film making. The story is good, and the camera covers what it needs to tell the story. The edit is classical, and the audio and sound mix are of a good standard, which given this film is a musical, is good news. So, very well done for a film that is very low budget.

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However, the film overall is slow. Sadly, there is way too much unnecessary pondering, which spoils what is a sweet story. Given that there’s a lot of musical and dance interludes, the straight dramatic scenes could’ve been a lot slicker, to keep the story moving. This would’ve ended up with it resonating with the Mamma Mia films, which have proved to be so successful.

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It’s actually a shame, as the music and dancing are good, and interesting to watch, but as the action in between is slow, there is a tendency to drift off, and lose focus on the film. ‘His Father’s Voice,’ could’ve also done with a little more bravery in the cinematography department too. Indian dance is highly interesting and the hand and eye movements make it ideal for close ups and a more imaginative style, but all we have here are ‘safe’ masters, mediums and close ups.

 

A last point is that some of the translation for the Indian songs could’ve done with more thoughtful execution as it doesn’t make sense in places. This is tricky as the original language is Sanskrit, but not impossible. However, with over 75% of the film in English, it well find a good audience.

 

It’s a sweet story, about a boy’s search for his Father and his journey towards adulthood, and may well resonate with many.

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