A Tale of Love, Sacrifice, and Regret
In between balancing a family and an impressive career, CineBuzz is exploring familial love, duty, and often invisible sacrifices in their latest film, Bridha Ashram. A deeply moving tale about the fraught dynamics between a mother and the teenage son she is unable to connect with, this addresses the plight of older parents in a rapidly changing culture.
The story revolves around a loving mother who has spent her entire life caring for her son, Ravi, doing everything for his happiness and health. But as time goes by, the son she raised with a loving heart starts to see her as a burden. Ravi, an average middle-class man, is caught in between he loves his mother dearly and does the best he can for her, but his wife, Anjali, puts more pressure on him to spend. Carrying the burden of caregiving is too much for him, amplifying the cracks in his already tenuous relationship with Anjali.
It follows Anjali, who, struggling with her marriage and the presence of her aging mother-in-law, eventually convinces Ravi to make the difficult choice to put his own mother into a care home. This leads to the film’s most devastating moments, where the mother’s quiet agony and Ravi’s internal struggle raise to the forefront.
Bridha Ashram escalates emotionally and touches a spiritual chord when the mother, through her intuition, feels her son waking up to the enormity of her love. This transformation isn’t immediate, but a process: all of which starts to haunt his conscience as he remembers the numerous quiet sacrifices made by his mother, his unconditional love for him. She visits him in his dreams and this peculiarity serves as a poignant reminder to him about their divine relationship which forces him to reflect on the fundamental nature of his relationship with her.
Bridha Ashram will hit you hard with the depiction of parents sacrificing so much, and the emotional fallout when those who were once a great support system is ignored. Anyone who watches this film, however, will come away with a more profound perspective on family, aided by the drama of the film. Once more, Cinebuzz has achieved a heartwarming cinematic triumph, compelling audiences to re-evaluate how we relate to and care for those we love.
The other invites the director to explain himself, suggesting that the film does not, as some have argued, showcase a natural evil specifically in sons or daughters-in-law. Instead, the narrative focuses on the importance of communication in overcoming obstacles and reaching mutually beneficial solutions through dialogue. A central message of the film is a formal accusation against the common habit of arriving at conclusions about Bridha Ashram an elderly care organization that features in the movie based purely on hearsay, or hearsay of hearsay, or hearsay of hearsay of hearsay, etc. The director stresses, however, that such a practice results in an inept understanding and little more, and, what’s worse, can breed distorted views, predominantly negative or, too often, uncritically positive.
The director urges you to reach out directly to the organization for a more informed opinion. For this reason, those who visit the Ashram, meet elders, and ask questions, will have a more accurate and compassionate perspective of what happens in the Ashram. This effort advocates for the challenging notion that personal experience and storytelling can help fill in the void of understanding.
Moreover, the movie is unflinching about a sobering reality: Some who associate with Bridha Ashram might use it to enrich themselves, while others see the facility as a burden, a place to dump the elderly rather than a living, breathing community. Like many organizations, Bridha Ashram may have shortcomings and inefficiencies, the director emphasizes. Consequently, it is our responsibility as members of our community, as those affected, to analyse these issues closely and critically. Rather than rushing to condemn or uncritically support the organization, we should try to pinpoint its failings and come together to work toward pragmatic fixes that help it serves older people better.