Film Review (Short doc): Ladies Special (2003)

Two one-way journeys on the Mumbai local trains every working day are the sole domain of the women commuters of Mumbai. Virar-to-Churchgate in the AM; Churchgate-to-Virar in the PM - 2 'Slow' trains i.e. stop at every local station in between the end points and blend every flavor of the fiesty brand of women that are unique to the megapolis.

I've done the less manic Andheri-Churchgate circuit for the 2 of 3 years that I spent in Mumbai and occassionally wondered about the atmosphere in this one-of-a-kind train ride. Now, Nidhi Tulli allows everyone a glipmse of the life inside - a glimpse that will at least partly satisfy the curiosity of the millions of men who ride the Mumbai trains everyday and are perhaps restricted to a second-hand verbal account of the stories and friendships that sometimes unfold over years of sitting together in the same compartments every day.

30 mins can't capture this lifetime, but they definitely verify that some of the train myths are indeed true - celebrating a fellow passenger's transition to a married life, prayers offered to the rising sun, lyrical feats from Bollywood numbers to bhajans, and the piece-de-resistance...preparation of the vegetables for the evening meal. Its a journey that the passengers seem to cherish as much, if not more, as what awaits them at their destinations - a far cry from the daily solitary car ride shared with the FM radio or with a voice over a mobile phone.