I love documentaries about artists as it’s always so inspiring and this one is no different. Seeing it in the morning sends a jolt of energy to my entire day, glad I got to see it on the big screen. The film’s main subject Manish Chauhan has a likable, earnest quality about him that you root for him right away and his dance talent is out of this world. The film opens on the busy streets of Mumbai which reminds me of the chaotic Jakarta traffic where I grew up. Dance is such a big part of the culture as we see young people showcasing their dance moves, including Manish. It’s incredible what they can do with their bodies and the raw talent they possess without any training whatsoever.

Manish only wants to do one thing and one thing only in his life: dancing. Some tell him he’s got amazing acrobatic skills but he wants to be known as a dancer, ‘Call me dancer’ he says, hence the title. So it seems fated that he meets an Israel-American former professional ballet dancer Yehuda Maor at an inner-city dance school. Yehuda taught dance for 20 years in San Francisco before moving to Mumbai and is still passionate about classical dancing at 70+ years old. He has an eye for talent and so Manish and another dancer Amir, who is 8 years his junior, became Yehuda’s protégés.

Filmmakers Pip Gilmour and Leslie Shampaine keep the focus mostly on Manish and his student/mentor relationship with Yehuda, with glimpses of Manish’s family who live in a village in the Himalayas. Like most Indian parents, they want their kids to go to college, but Manish’s sweet grandma becomes Manish’s unlikely ally in getting his dad to let Manish follow his dreams. Despite his phenomenal talent, at 21 Manish was deemed too old to start classical dance training. His dream to be a professional dancer proves elusive, it really takes hard work, determination, and perseverance. Sidelined by a shoulder injury also proves to be a roadblock as it takes some time for him to recover. Yet Yehuda continues to believe in him, and through various hurdles he stuck by his student, even relying on his connections to get him auditions around the world.

There’s an interesting movie-within-a-movie here as Manish was offered to be in a Bollywood movie so it was amusing to see a few behind-the-scenes clips with Manish as the star. With his boyish good looks, he could’ve easily gone the Bollywood star route but Manish stayed true to his calling to be a dancer. His journey takes him to Israel, New York, and Washington DC while he remains patient and hopeful he will achieve his dreams one day.

This is such a vibrant, dynamic, and lively film that celebrates the potent power of art in Indian culture. The music fuses hip/hop, featuring Bangladeshi-American hip-hop artist Anik Khan, and an Indian score by Nainita Desai and Nina Humphreys really makes you want to get up and dance. I was entertained and deeply moved by Manish and Yehuda’s story of an unlikely but life-changing friendship.

BROKEN EYES

Many documentaries are eye-opening as they offer insights into subject matters we’re not familiar with. With the case of Broken Eyes, it is literally eye-opening, especially for someone like me with a high prescription. I considered getting Lasik surgery a while ago, as like most near-sighted people, I thought it would be so nice to be able to see my alarm clock in the morning without having to reach for my glasses.

Minnesota filmmaker Dana Conroy’s debut feature is a deeply personal one as her own vision was destroyed by Lasik. The research and investigation into this multibillion industry sends chills down my spine and even makes my eyes twitch a bit seeing stories of many patients whose lives were negatively impacted by the complications. Conroy and other patients she interviewed describe chronic pain, migraines, dizziness, blurry vision, etc. that persisted for years despite consultations with numerous specialists across the country.

Conroy says she spent $6k on the surgery and an additional $3+k on post-surgery treatments! Interviews with various ophthalmologists and eyes surgeon reveals disturbing facts about what Lasik does to a person’s cornea which is a living tissue with thousands of nerves that cannot heal once it’s been cut off. It’s alarming the percentage of patients whose visions are permanently scarred by Lasik, in fact, one patient started a Lasik Complications Support Group to help others cope with this debilitating condition in which there is no cure.

After watching this film, I’m certainly glad I never got Lasik. I might have come across some articles about the side effects of this popular procedure, but I never knew the extent of the damage and the pain it caused those who have complications from the surgery. Artistically, this isn’t the most visually appealing film. The graphics and camera work are not the most polished and at times overly reliant on stock footage. But what Conroy set out to do is educate people about the danger of Lasik and encourage consumers to learn more about the procedure before making a risky and irreversible decision. In that regard, it’s a job well done.

Stay tuned for more MSPIFF reviews!