堡垒

Chinu is having a hard time settling into his new home in the countyside. He and his mother have relocated there from the big city following his father’s death. The move is supposed to help Chinu get over his loss. He watches a group of boys playing games in the woods with an older boy named Yuvraj. There doesn't seem to be any room for him in their gang. Moreover, at school his cleverness makes the others brand him a swot. Only after he gets the notoriously underachieving Yuvraj out of a jam by helping him solve a maths’ problem does Chinu gain admittance into the clique. But can a genuine friendship develop so quickly? Told in atmospherically charged images in which the weather and landscape also play an important role, the film portrays a difficult period in one boy’s life. Chinu is called upon to find his feet; in doing so he distances himself from his mother who is also struggling to cope with the new situation. Both make a terrible mistake – and are forced to realise that they are alone. Perhaps what they both need is another new beginning. (Berlinale 2014)