Have you ever seen a family react and cope with the news when a member is diagnosed of cancer and is in the terminal stages? While people stricken by the terminal disease survive it as long as they can with sheer will power and those who are weak succumb, the other members pass through an emotional upheaval as life begins to appear diminutive. Aakhari Padaav – The last mile , a 31-minute short film by Sreedhar Parigi concentrates on interpersonal relationships, the turbulent feelings and helplessness that members in a family go through rather than the disease itself or the issues surrounding it.
Dr Sanjeev (Prasanna Ketkar), a paediatrician goes through an avalanche of emotions as sees his mother on the ventilator and is struggling to communicate; her cancer is in an advanced stage and his aged father too goes through the turmoil of seeing his wife suffer.
Slow narration
In keeping with the mood of the story, the narration is slow; but slick editing could have added value to the film. Nevertheless what strikes one at the end of the film is that nothing can stop destiny, despite all the discussions, arguments or efforts by the family to help the patient.
Dr Sanjeev deliberates before telling his father that euthanasia would be a good option to put an end to his mother's agony and gives an example of Dr Christian Barnaard, who performed the world's first human transplant operation, who thought it would be disastrous for society to restrain medical research; that we must take steps to ensure that lifesaving techniques are used to enhance life rather than to prolong hopeless suffering and sustain people in vegetative states. We should not stop a dying individual who sees that his life has deteriorated to utter meaninglessness and chooses to end it.
Sanjeev's father is aghast and recollects how Sanjeev was born; his wife was advised termination of pregnancy as she was weak but went ahead and here the son is looking to ease her out. Sanjeev, his wife (Swati Shaligram) and his father (Sunil Godbole) are the primary characters in the film which has been adapted from M Hemalatha's Telugu story Amma Ki Abhinandanalu . This film is in Hindi, had been shot in Pune over two days and is getting ready to be screened at film festivals.
